Draymond Green excited to learn from hated rival Chris Paul on Warriors

Draymond Green knows the record of the internet shows that he’s openly stated his dislike of Chris Paul in the past.

Now as teammates on the Golden State Warriors, that doesn’t suddenly change. They will at least have to talk it out.

On The Pat Bev Podcast released Wednesday, Green told another Paul-antagonist, co-host Patrick Beverley, how he expects to mend the relationship with Paul, who was traded from the Phoenix Suns and then redirected from the Washington Wizards to the Bay Area this offseason.

“Me and Chris have had our differences over the course of my 11 years playing in this league, since Year 1,” Green said on the podcast. “Chris is the way he is, I am the way I am. The same sentiments I had about Chris, they don’t just leave.

“I’m an adult, Chris is an adult. We can talk amongst men,” Green added. “That I look forward to. There’s no sugarcoating what has happened all these years. This real life, man … I’ve publicly said I don’t like Chris before.”

Any dislike or hate between them, though, comes with respect.

Green and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr see how Paul can improve Golden State’s functionality on the court, even if the team’s movement and pace don’t seem to fit Paul’s apprehensive style.

“There’s a reason we all hated him. When you’re playing against him, he got to do whatever he got to do to beat ’em,” Green said. “We’ve been in battles against this dude, like battles, to get the (expletive) ‘ship. Steve was like, ‘Draymond, it’s the very reason everyone hates you when they play against you.'”

Green said he’s excited to have an opportunity to learn from Paul, who has earned The Point God nickname and been an aggressive antagonizer of opponents throughout his career.

Beverley, who has also publicly disparaged Paul in the past, even added that Paul will bring the Warriors something they’ve never had in the current era with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Green.

“When you listen to the take, you gonna be like, ‘What do you mean they’ve never had that? They have Steph Curry.’ No, no, no,” Beverley said. “They’ve never had a person who can dissect the game at a level offensively without scoring the ball. Just put you in places.

“OK, cool, that’s how they’re guarding now. Dray … we’re going to short-roll every time. Steph, Klay, y’all be in the corners. Open treys all day ’til they switch. OK, Dray they switching, OK cool. Alright, post-right, mid-post, backscreens, we’re doing to do flare action. … It don’t take, like, losing a game and then coaches (say) let’s go to adjust. Chris, CP, he going to adjust right there on the fly, at the time.

“He a (expletive). But that’s the reason why (expletive) don’t love him.”

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