Browsing: Draymond

Following the Golden State Warriors’ 119-109 season-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, Warriors star Jimmy Butler revealed the bet he made with teammate Draymond Green.

While speaking to reporters after the game, Butler divulged that he bet Green he would have a higher free-throw percentage than Stephen Curry this season:

When asked by a reporter if he believes he can come out on the winning side of the bet, Butler said, “Of course I think I can.”

Curry was later informed of the bet by reporters and asked if it is “plausible” for Butler to shoot a higher percentage from the line. With a smile, Curry replied, “No chance.”

Over the course of his 15-year NBA career, Butler has consistently been a strong free-throw shooter, making 84.4 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe overall.

However, Curry is the all-time NBA leader in free-throw shooting percentage at 91.2 percent, and he has led the league in that category five times, including last season when he shot 93.3 percent.

In qualifying seasons, that was the second-best mark of Curry’s illustrious career, behind only the 93.4 percent he shot in 2010-11.

Both Butler and Curry got off to perfect starts Tuesday night with Butler going 16-for-16 from the line and Curry going 8-for-8.

While they are technically tied, the fact that Butler made all 16 of his free-throw attempts against the Lakers means he has a bit more margin for error moving forward than Curry does.

As strong as Butler has always been from the line, he has never shot better than 87.0 percent in a season. That could prove to be an issue, as the only time Curry made fewer than 88.5 percent of his foul shots in a season was 2011-12 when injuries limited him to only 26 games.

Although Butler is 36 and Curry is 37, they both continue to play at a high level, which is why they managed to reach the second round of the playoffs last season.

The Warriors will continue to go as Butler and Curry go, and they both excelled in Tuesday’s win, as Butler led the team with 31 points, while Curry added 23 points.

Butler and Curry may not necessarily need any additional motivation outside of chasing a championship late in their careers, but perhaps the bet will give both of them an extra push to lock in even more than usual at the free-throw line.

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Draymond Green had some fun at LeBron James’ expense following the Golden State Warriors’ 119-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the season opener for both teams.

After the game, Green joked that James’ “old ass was over there in his Phil Jackson chair” watching on the bench due to the sciatica that prevented him from playing against his longtime rivals.

The reference is about the custom chair that Jackson used later in his career that sat much higher and had more padding than the standard NBA-provided chairs.

Jackson dealt with several health issues later in his coaching career, including two hip replacement surgeries in the span of eight months from November 2006 to June 2007.

James appeared to be carefully managing his sciatica injury while sitting on the bench during Tuesday’s game. He maintained a very still posture throughout, rarely reacting to what was happening on the court.

This marked the first time in James’ NBA career that he missed a season-opening game. The future Hall of Famer’s return timeline hasn’t been officially established, but he is reportedly targeting mid-November to get back into action.

Green and the Warriors were probably happy they didn’t have to deal with James. They held the Lakers to 8-of-32 shooting from three-point range and forced 20 turnovers to start their season off on a high note.

The Lakers’ lack of depth without James really showed up in this matchup. Luka DonÄić was great with 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in 41 minutes. Austin Reaves added 26 points and nine assists. The rest of the team had a total of 40 points.

These two teams don’t meet again until Feb. 7 at Crypto.com Arena.

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After over a decade of continuity for the Warriors, it’s clear that nobody in the organization gets special treatment. Not even the centerpiece.

Two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry is coached the same way as everyone else. Draymond Green elaborates on coach Steve Kerr’s style.

“Most people think Steph can do what he wants,” Green said. “No. He’s on Steph’s ass all the time. Defense, turnovers. He coaches Steph really, really, really hard. I don’t think people realize that.”

There have been multiple occasions where Kerr has shown his frustration with Curry through his body language. In a game early in the 2023 season, Curry flung a careless fourth-quarter pass in Minnesota, landing out of bounds near Kerr. The coach stomped around in disgust on the sidelines.

“The next day I pulled him aside,” Kerr said, relaying his message to Curry. “‘Hey, I was watching the tape and I saw my reaction, I shouldn’t have done that.'”

Curry’s response: “Hell no. That was a terrible decision. You got to coach me.”

Many coaches live by the theory that your best players should be coached the hardest in front of everyone to set the tone. Sometimes this can lead to a disconnect between star play and the coach.

“Not all players in this league can handle that being put out to the public,” Kerr said.

Curry is a rare breed. On the court, everyone can see why, but it’s his temperament outside the lines that can be overlooked.

“He actually probably gets on me more now than ever,” Curry said. “The one conversation we’ve had is to coach me like you would coach everybody because that’ll help strengthen your voice in the locker room, create that trust.”

Creating a culture starts with building an identity and holding everyone involved to the highest standard, including one of the best players of all time.

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Jonathan Kuminga said he consulted with a number of his teammates during his lengthy contract stand-off with the Golden State Warriors, including Buddy Hield, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry.

“I spoke to Buddy. I spoke to Draymond. I spoke to Jimmy. I spoke to Steph. All of them. I had a 20-plus type of conversations of how contracts work, how to feel about certain things. They were teaching me certain things,” he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “We had a [players] team camp out there in San Diego. I did not go. That’s when I had to speak to Jimmy and tell him how things were going and that I can’t get there. He’s one of the guys that really understands where I was coming from because he’s been through contract situations. And me and Steph had a long, long talk and I really appreciate that. Me and Draymond, obviously we always talk, but we had a long talk after he was coming back from China. They just gave me hope and patience for sure. I felt like I was comfortable after talking to them. You’ve always got to hear from certain outlets and they’re the ones that I really needed to hear from.”

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

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Golden State Warriors teammates Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green were present at UFC 320 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev looked to defend his title against former two-division champion Alex Pereira in the main event, while bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili sought to defend his title against Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event.

Butler and Green are also gearing up for the 2025-26 season with the Warriors, their first full year sharing the court.

The Warriors acquired Butler during the 2024-25 season as part of a blockbuster trade with the Miami Heat on Feb. 5.

Golden State immediately excelled following the acquisition, ending the regular season by posting a 23-7 record in 30 games with the six-time All-Star in its lineup.

Butler averaged 17.9 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game as a member of the Warriors.

Golden State ended the year with a 48-34 overall record, advancing to the Western Conference semifinals before falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. It’s worth noting that Warriors superstar Stephen Curry only appeared in one contest during the series due to hamstring issues.

Meanwhile, Green continued to anchor Golden State’s defense. He averaged 9.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game on 42.4/32.5/68.7 shooting splits last season.

The Warriors will open their 2025-26 campaign against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 21.

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The anchor of the Warriors’ defense has had one common thread for the past 13 seasons: Draymond Green.

The Michigan State alum has proven all there is to prove in his successful NBA career, but he’s never content. Green was asked Monday about possibly being selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team for a 10th time as the 2025-26 season begins.

“It would mean the world to me,” Green admitted to reporters at Warriors Media Day. “That’s my motivation, to go and try to make another All-Defensive Team and join that list. It’s an amazing list. All first-ballot Hall of Famers.”

Green’s defensive resume speaks for itself. His accolades include being the 2017 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, a nine-time NBA All-Defensive selection (five First Team, four Second Team) and a finalist for the 2025 DPOY award.

“To try to put myself, my name in the hat with those guys,” Green continued. “Like any time you can put your name next to guys like — you’re talking Kobe [Bryant], Tim [Duncan] … And I can put my little name next to that? That — I mean, that would be a dream come true.”

The four-time NBA champion has had some ups and downs in his career, but cementing himself as one of the greatest defensive players of all time clearly is on his radar.

“That is definitely a motivating factor for me this year, for sure,” Green said.

Along with the personal quest for a 10th All-Defensive selection, Green and Golden State are looking to hoist another Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy this upcoming season.

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