Lakers news: Danny Green details what it's like to play with LeBron James

Veteran guard/forward Danny Green talks about his experiences playing with superstar LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Throughout his NBA career, Danny Green of the Los Angeles Lakers has played with some legendary players. He played with and ultimately won an NBA title with Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli on the San Antonio Spurs, where he spent the majority of his career before moving on to win another title alongside Leonard with the Toronto Raptors last season.

Now Green is wearing purple and gold and could very well be on his way to winning a third NBA title playing with another future Hall of Famer in LeBron James. During a recent appearance on the Battle for LA Podcast with myself and Tom Azarly, we asked Green what it's like playing with LeBron and if it ever gets old.

“No, playing with any star, is a lot of fun, and not just when you see them operate on the court and in the facilities, but in real life, and it's cool to see and for all to see guys like us or those guys be just like you,” Green said on the Battle for LA Podcast. “They have the same issues. They go through the same things, same thought process, carry themselves the same way every day. How they operate when they take their kids to school, or picking up facetime and talking to the people, their business handling manager, how their thought process is, its cool to be around, cool to see, and also to bond with those type people, even though they’re looked at as superstar type people, and they give you stories that they heard about, like that’s crazy, like oh shit.

“He actually knows this person; he’s interacted with this person. Certain things like that, you know, you guys look at us as celebrities, when we’re really not, we’re just basketball players. To see those types of guys, have experiences similar to yours, with other people who you’ve looked up to or watch or celebrities, and have cool stories.

“It brings you back to your kid days, and you’re still like a little kid, and you want to hear this info, these stories. Just like you guys with your podcast, even my podcast, I want to hear these stories, what people have to say. On the daily and a lot of that stuff, you can’t share, but it’s good to know.”

Green actually played with James once before starting his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2009-10 NBA season. It turned out to be LeBron's last season with the Cavs before leaving for the Miami Heat and eventually returning in 2014.

The Lakers guard/forward compared what he saw from James during his rookie season in Cleveland compared to joining forces with the three-time NBA champion in Los Angeles many years later.

“Um, obviously he went to Miami to learn how to be a winner, he’s definitely older, more mature, his kids are older, he has more kids now, but he’s still a big goofball at the same time and is a lot of fun,” Green said on the Battle for LA Podcast. “But he understands his personnel better. He understands where he needs to put people in the right places or where they need to be for him to be effective. ‘I need you in this corner, AD I need you setting this screen, they help here, I got a layup, dunk, or lob to AD or I got Danny in the corner,' so simple things like that.

“Knowing the time/score, the little things, 50/50 plays, being a winner, winning a championship, you know he takes a lot of those things seriously. He watches a lot of film and holds himself accountable because a lot of the times most coaches won't hold their stars accountable, but Frank will at times, he’ll tell AD about what he’s doing, sometimes they’ll do it themselves, they don’t need frank to do it, they’ll hold themselves accountable, they’ll say my fault, I’ll make sure to be better, I’ll be better for you guys. It’s good to see.”

With the two veterans padding their legacy this season with both players trying to win three titles with three different teams, Green and James are on the same page as they enter the NBA bubble with championship aspirations. The Lakers will play one of three scrimmage games starting on July 23, leading up to the restart of the season getting underway on July 30, where Green will go up against his former Spurs and Raptors teammate, Kawhi, in what could be a Western Conference Finals preview.

You can listen to the full podcast with Danny Green on:

Apple: Battle for LA Podcast