Draymond Green told friend he’d never team with Chris Paul days before they became teammates

The beef between Draymond Green and Chris Paul wasn’t just an assumption from watching their heated interactions across their lengthy careers.

They really did dislike each other. Like, a lot.

Green especially made that much clear on The Draymond Green Show episode that dropped on Thursday. Paul, in his first year as Green’s teammate with the Golden State Warriors, joined him as a guest.

Their dislike for one another went on until this past July. And it was burning hot — in Green’s heart at least — to a point between the Phoenix Suns’ trade of Paul to the Washington Wizards for Bradley Beal and the secondary trade that redirected Paul to Golden State.

Green was in Paris, at a wine dinner with one of his good friends, an NBA fan.

“See, I kid you not — God works in mysterious ways — (my friend) asks me sitting at the wine dinner, ‘Who’s your least favorite player in the NBA? Who could you not see yourself (teaming with)?” Green retells. “I said, ‘there’s zero (expletive) chance I’m ever playing with Chris Paul. It’s not happening, it cannot happen.

“Literally, C, two days later from that dinner, I’m flying back from Paris. I get a call from (Warriors general manager) Mike Dunleavy and I’m taking off. … He’s like ‘aight, it’s a little urgent, kind of need to know. We actually have a chance to bring in Chris Paul.’ I was like, ‘listen, Chris Paul is a winner, Chris Paul is a dog, Chris Paul want to win, Chris Paul plays basketball the right way. We can figure it out.”

But Green admitted he wasn’t always mature enough to handle that possibility.

Paul and Green recounted several of their clashes through Paul’s time with the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns. During their careers, Green’s Warriors three times went through Paul’s teams (Clippers, 2014; Rockets 18-19) in a playoff series.

But they did get over their rivalry after the trade happened this summer. It began with a long lunch in Los Angeles after Paul was dealt to Golden State.

“(My wife) was almost like giving me a pep-talk while at the house,” Paul said. “She’s like, ‘alright now, be cool, be good. You good?'”

Green said that the topic of he and Paul not getting along was addressed in 2021 by Suns guard Devin Booker, who was then Paul’s Phoenix teammate. Booker has known Green since his high school days in Michigan.

“I’ve always had a great relationship with Book,” Green said on the podcast. “I mean, I love Book, that’s my dog. We played in the Olympics in 2021 and I’m like, ‘Book, I hate (Paul). And Book a real one. I love Book, man. Book said, ‘I feel you Dray. I don’t know if he really feel that strong about it, Dray. He don’t talk about it like that.’

“I said, ‘I know he probably don’t talk about it, Book … I (expletive) hate CP, man.’ He said, ‘Yeah Dray, he don’t be on it like that. He don’t (expletive) with you, but he don’t be on it like that. C’mon, Dray.’

Green admits that beef in his own mind came from immaturity. And he and Paul agreed that they are relishing the opportunity to be teammates after clearing up their past. Even if the Warriors are 19-22 as of Thursday morning and Paul is sidelined with another serious hand injury.

“That goes back to, I got to say it … immaturity,” Green said. “When I look back and I think about things I’ve done, there are things that break the internet that I wish I could take back.”

Follow @AZSports