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As soon as Kevin Durant announced his decision to join the Golden State Warriors last July, the team had a quick turnaround from being one of the most-loved teams to villains of the league.
But for their power forward, Draymond Green, Warriors label doesn't matter as much. Green knows it's something they can adjust to in time and he won't let that bother him. He will just focus on the task at hand, which is to win another championship.
Per ESPN's Chris Haynes:
“I think it's all how you look at it. Some people say we're villains. I don't think we're really going into it saying we're villains, we need to do this. Who cares? It's like, it really doesn't matter what people try to make you play. It's about getting on the court, getting between these lines and performing.
“End of the day what everybody else draws up, make you out to be, they can make you out to be whatever you want. If we're winning games or not winning games, that's what matters. So, I don't think this team is looking saying, ‘Hey, villains, let's do it.' Nobody cares.”
Despite getting a lot of criticism in the past from basketball analysts, other players in the league like Paul Pierce and Damian Lillard, and from fans around the world, the Warriors look to embrace the new moniker and just continue to win games.
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Even a former Warriors player scrutinized his old team and teammate when Marreese Speights allegedly said that Green was causing the team to lose its chemistry – though Speights later refuted that he made those comments.
In any case, back-to-back MVP Stephen Curry came to Green's defense over the purported comments.
Green added that what's important is how they approach things as a team to make sure nothing affects their ultimate goal:
“It really don’t matter to us that this person says they hate us and they love us. At the end of the day, it’s about getting in between these lines and performing. Everything else outside of that, it really doesn’t matter at the end of the day. Things are going to be said, some things are not going to be said but when it’s all said and done, the only thing people are going to talk about at the end is whether you won or lost.”
The Warriors have been very impressive in their preseason games and have shown that Durant fits in their system. If they continue to show that throughout the season, it will be very difficult for other teams to beat them – especially now that they have an extra weapon who is a four-time scoring champion and one of the best players in the world.
