Draymond hilariously remembers badmouthing Kobe when he was a rookie originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Draymon Green He’s notoriously known as one of the NBA’s biggest talkers, but the Warriors forward still learned a tough lesson from a legend during his first pro season.
In an interview in “Jimmy Kimmel live!“, Green shared a funny story about trying to get his teammates Steph Curry and Klay Thompson to join in their banter with their opponents, an invitation the Splash Brothers quickly declined.
“I remember walking into the locker room the first day, I was sitting next to Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson), and I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s talk bad about everyone!’ Green told Kimmel, “They told me, ‘You’re on your own, we don’t really do that.'” I told them, ‘You better talk trash to me or we’ll have a problem.'”
Green continued recapping his first NBA meeting with Kobe Bryant Hall of Famewith the Los Angeles Lakers legend immune to the Warriors forward’s attempt to engage in trash talk.
“So I go out, being the dumb rookie that I am, and try to badmouth Kobe Bryant,” Green explained to Kimmel. “Mind you, I come into the game, I probably played 24 seconds in that game. I come into the game for a defensive stop that will take us to overtime in regulation. Most people run a play… but Kobe just He went to the ball. So he went to the ball, and it’s just Kobe and me. Hand in hand and I block, I sit down. We know what shot Kobe is going to make, he goes over the left shoulder.
“I said, ‘Yeah! Let’s go honey, let’s go do overtime.’ He said, ‘Come on, young man, that has nothing to do with you, I just failed.’ with key!’ Meanwhile, he just walks away with a “whatever” face.
“It hurts, it really hurts.”
Green then revealed how much he appreciated the opportunity to face Bryant, before hilariously detailing how the Hall of Famer brought out the best in him in the mind games in which he typically emerges victorious.
“It was my first time playing against Kobe, before that game I missed all my pregame stuff because I watched his whole pregame warmup, just dazzled,” Green told Kimmel. “And then we have that moment, and he leaves me feeling like garbage.”
Green and Bryant would end up facing each other eight times in their NBA careers, with Golden State emerging victorious in five of those games. While Green has remained one of the most vocal players on the court during his decorated career with the Warriors, it’s safe to say that he never forgot the moment that welcomed him to the league, courtesy of Bryant.