The Golden State Warriors have been there and won it all, and want to win it again.
After trading for Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green declared the Golden State Warriors will go on to win the championship this year.
And despite a shock defeat to the Denver Nuggets resting Nikola Jokic, the Warriors are flying high, and determined to deliver on Draymond’s promise.
A sign of their competitiveness came in their win over the New York Knicks days earlier, a hard fought 97-94 victory.
And the story of the game was Draymond Green’s battle with Karl-Anthony Towns, that he leaned into.
Draymond Green had been forced to apologize to Karl-Anthony Towns in the lead-up to the showdown between the two teams.
It came after Draymond had claimed Towns had sat out an earlier clash between the two due to previous history with Jimmy Butler. Towns was actually attending a funeral of a family friend.
During the game Draymond was seen jawing with the usually quietly-spoken Towns, and praised him afterwards, claiming it was the most physical he had ever seen him play, admitting he had given him some extra motivation.
Cameras also showed some choice words being exchanged on the court, with Draymond revelling in the battle.
Matt BarnSpeaking about the encounter, via All The Smoke, former Warriors star Matt Barnes gave his appraisal of the two players.
Barnes respects Towns, but feels Draymond sensed a weakness in his game and attacked it.
He explained: “I love KAT, I think KAT is probably one of the most talented player in the league, but his issue is he’s a cat, he’s not a dog.
“Still skilled, will be a Hall of Famer, still an All-Star, but he’s just not a dog.
“And I think Draymond can see that, and sniff it out, and he attacks. He’s one of the greatest to ever do it at that.”
Towns did still score 29 points in the contest – but did not have it in him to drive his team to victory, with Draymond scoring an important late bucket when it mattered, and taunting the Knicks with Steph Curry’s famous ‘night night’ celebration.
Matt Barnes believes when all is said and done, Draymond Green will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, with his achievements outweighing his statistics.
He explained: “First ballot, I think so, four time champion two time Olympian, All Star, Defensive Player of the Year, one of the greatest teams of all time, I think first ballot is stamped.
“If you just look at the statistical numbers people would question that but when you look at the accolades and what he’s meant for that organization I think that puts him over the top.”
