What Marshawn brutally told Draymond after Warriors drafted him in 2012 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Warriors’ NBA Play-In Tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings last Tuesday has many reflecting on Golden State’s dynastic run over the past decade.
Draymond Green has the perfect story to sum up Golden State’s decade-long success and development as a franchise, which was largely due to the consistent stardom of Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
On Thursday’s episode of the “Draymond Green Show,” the 12-year NBA veteran shared a story about Marshawn Lynch and his humor surrounding the Warriors’ struggles heading into Green’s freshman year in 2012.
“Lamar Woodley – one of my OGs, [a] big brother from Saginaw, Michigan; Pittsburgh Steelers legend, Super Bowl champion – he always had a camp in Saginaw every year in the summer,” Green prefaced. “And Marshawn Lynch always came to camp. Marshawn loves Saginaw, I’m sure it reminds him of Oakland. I have nothing but love for Marshawn, [a] big brother of mine. But I will never forget this moment.
“We were in the parking lot of Stardust Lanes in Saginaw [and] Lamar said, ‘Yo, [Draymond] He just got drafted to the Warriors and will be in Oakland.” And Marshawn said, “Ha-ha-ha, you all suck. The Warriors never win. You’re all bad.’ And I thought, ‘Yes, that’s going to change… I’m never bad, that’s going to change.’ I’ll never forget.”
Lynch, then a star playing for the Seattle Seahawks, represented most people’s perception of the Warriors at the time — especially in the East Bay, the former home of Golden State for 47 years. He’s a Bay Area icon, grew up in Oakland, attended Oakland Technical High School, played collegiately for the California Golden Bears and essentially finished his storied NFL career with the then-Oakland Raiders – if anyone had a reason to putting a positive spin on the Warriors it was hometown Lynch.
Nevertheless, when Green was selected by the Warriors with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Golden State was coming off a 23-win season and a five-year playoff drought. While Green wasn’t happy with Lynch’s jab, he understood that the narrative surrounding the Warriors needed to be addressed, and it’s safe to say it has been.
“This was a moment in my life that I will never forget,” Green added. “I’ve never been a loser in my life. I’ve won at every level of basketball. So when I think I’m coming to an organization that likes to lose, lose, lose, I think, ‘Oh no, we’re going to win.’ I was stupid enough to believe we would win. We won 23 games the year before, I was so naive. For example, I had never lost in my life.
“That story is less about Marshawn and more about who the Warriors were. To come out of college and get drafted into that organization, and twelve years later think: [we] won four titles with the same guys – six finals with the same guys, won 73 matches with the same guys. [We] almost never lost. We’ve lost three play-off series in 11 years, which is insane.
“The general idea of the organization was what Marshawn said. We were definitely the laughing stock of the NBA.”
Green was far from naive, as he and the Warriors made the playoffs seven straight times to start his career with three titles. He refused to be a ‘loser’.
But he was right about Lynch’s assessment, as this was the norm regarding the Warriors for a while.
Classically, Lynch wasn’t going to let the then-rookie go easily.
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