Warriors' Draymond Green admits beef with NBA analyst pushed him to play better originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Warriors star Draymond Green always has been fearless in expressing himself, especially when others call him out in terms of his performance on the court.
Following Golden State’s 126-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 11, 2025, Yahoo! Sports NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor pointed out the Warriors’ veteran players, such as Green and Jimmy Butler, as a major reason for the team’s disappointing 6-6 start to the 2025-26 season.
As a guest on “The Kevin O’Connor Show,” Green revealed how this particular online exchange provided an extra boost for him to perform better in the Warriors’ next few games without pointing the finger at the team’s young players.
“You definitely motivated me,” Green told O’Connor. “When you said that, hey motherf—-r, I wanted to say something back. But, I agreed, and what I didn’t enjoy during that time, and I agree with you on, [that] there was too much blame being pointed at the young guys.
“We have to play better, right? If our defense is struggling, I can’t point at Brandin Podziemski and say ‘Hey man, our defense is struggling. What are you going to do about it?’”
“It’s not Brandin Podziemski’s fault,” Green added. “Can Brandin guard better? I’m sure, as everyone else could, right? We can all do better, but it’s not his fault that our defense is sucking and we’re .500. That falls on me, and I said that to your point. When you get credit for things, you also have to take blame.”
In the Warriors’ blowout loss to the Thunder, Green only recorded three points, two rebounds and four assists with three turnovers in 22 minutes on the floor.
In Golden State’s next two games against the San Antonio Spurs, including an NBA Cup matchup on Nov. 14, 2025, Green had a combined 12 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists with three blocks and one steal. The Warriors won those two games against the current Western Conference champions.
“Going into those games against San Antonio, back-to-back games in San Antonio, they had gotten off to a pretty good start, and Victor Wembanyama was starting to come into his own,” Green stated.
“So, for me, as a guy who’s getting older in his career, I always say, ‘When you play these young guys early, if you want respect later, you better get them early.’ And so for me, I’m going out in these games, or however much longer I play, whether it’s two years, whether it’s three years, I want the respect of this guy. The only way I can get the respect of this guy for those next two or three years is if I do it right now, and that was my focus.
“Trust me, I took those games [seriously]. I was watching film like I was in a playoff series on this guy because I wanted to have that impact. I wanted to have a good game.” “Here’s where the experience comes in. You ultimately know, [me] and Steph, you ultimately know, all right, we’re .500. These two wins can change the course of where we’re headed right now.
“And so, you go in with that mindset and understanding that we need to change the course of this. Jimmy [Butler] was locked in, Steph [Curry] was locked in, I was locked in, and two of our biggest wins of the season, we were able to win both of those games.”
Despite winning the next three games to gain momentum after their 6-6 start, the Warriors finished the regular season with a 37-45 record and exited the postseason after their 111-96 loss to the Phoenix Suns in the NBA play-in tournament.
Golden State will look to retool its roster this offseason with the hopes of returning to championship contention, especially with Green, Curry and Butler inching closer toward the end of their careers.
