It's no secret that Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is extremely close to LeBron James. So much so, that some folks have come out to criticize his relationship with the Los Angeles Lakers talisman in that it could serve as a distraction or a hindrance when they battle each other on the basketball court.

Well, Draymond is having none of that. The Warriors veteran recently made a guest appearance on Podcast P with Paul George presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, and his relationship with LeBron was one of the topics of conversation. Green got brutally honest about how he doesn't allow his relationship off the court to impact what he does when they face each other on the hardwood:

“When you step on the court there is no friends,” Green said. “… As far as us being as tight as we are, that's my big brother. Love him to death. Ain't nothing changing that.

“… Best of friends work at Google and Apple. … It's not an issue. It's like, ‘Oh, that's cool,' but because [our relationship] is on display in front of the world, then like, ‘Oh, it's an issue.' But how I separate the two is, at the end of the day I'm trying to win these basketball games, and I'm trying to win these championships. If you stand in the way of that, you stand in the way of that. We're gonna battle and I'll take your head off. To this day I still will take ‘Bron's head off, no problem when we're on the court. And he's still gonna try to take my head off, no problem when we're on the court. But there is a respect and a love that's there that no basketball is gonna change.”

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As Draymond Green said, LeBron probably feels the exact same way about him when they're on the court. This is what makes their relationship special and this is also why they have such a high level of respect toward each other.

They may be best of friends off the court, but it's a totally different deal when they're battling on it.