Warriors’ Draymond Green applauds Kings, De’Aaron Fox after series win: ‘I’m very thankful’

Draymond Green might have earned the villain persona during his team’s seven-game series against the Kings, but the outspoken Warriors forward had nothing but praise for his opponent after Sunday’s Game 7 victory.

“I’m very thankful to have played in this series,” Green said. “It was a fun one.”

The Warriors won 120-100 at Golden 1 Center on the back of Stephen Curry’s 50 points, Kevon Looney’s 21 rebounds and Golden State outscoring Sacramento by 22 points after halftime. Green had eight points, six rebounds and two steals while playing his typical stingy defense.

“You talk about that DNA and that experience,” Green said. “We leaned into that today. But you gotta give those guys a lot of credit, starting with the head of the snake, Mike Brown. To come to an organization that hasn’t seen the playoffs in 16 years and bring the team together the way he did is absolutely incredible, so you give Mike Brown credit.”

Green played under Brown while he was an assistant with the Warriors for six seasons before coming to Sacramento last summer. Brown was the team’s defensive coordinator and Green is one of the Warriors’ most important defensive players.

“I just want to say congrats to Sacramento, to Mike, his staff and his team,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “They were incredible, had an amazing season. This was a fantastic series. Great basketball for seven games. They’ve had frankly a much better season than we had. We’ve been up and down all year and they put together a whole season where they just became a contender. The young talent, the coaching, it was impressive to watch and really difficult to play against.”

The Warriors’ core has played in 28 playoff series since their first with Curry in 2013. This was the first with this current iteration of the Kings led by Brown and All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.

“They were really good. I didn’t know what to expect going into the series,” Looney said. “I’ve played in a lot of playoff series, and this was definitely one of the toughest ones we’ve had to play in. There were adjustments each game. Each game was like a chess match with lineups to different defenses, different offenses, it was tough. That’s what we expect from Mike Brown. He’s a great coach. He knows us really well and it was fun to really see where we were as a team. They really tested us and I think we’re gonna grow from it.”

Fox, of course, was an All-Star for the first time and was named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year for leading the league in scoring in clutch situations. He finished with a series-low 16 points on Sunday, his third game with an avulsion fracture on the index finger of his left, shooting hand. Fox’s 192 points in his first ever playoff series was the second-most behind LeBron James’ in 2006 (214).

“De’Aaron Fox, being the head of the snake from the player’s perspective,” Green said. “Leading his guys. Tough, tough player. One of the futures of this league. This won’t be the last we see of Fox. This won’t be the last we see of the Kings. They’re headed in the right direction and you got to give them a lot of credit. I’m honored to play in that series.”

Fox and Green shared smack talk throughout points of the series, but the two shared an embrace after the final horn sounded on Sunday.

“Pay my respect,” Green said. “I’ve been in a lot of playoff series against a lot of different guys. And if I’m honest, we leave most with less respect for a lot of guys. Whether it’s how they act in a moment, how they step up to the pressure. I’ve lost a lot of respect for guys over the years in the playoffs. And then there are some that you gain respect for. You see them and you know they’re cut from that same cloth you feel like you’re cut from. And Fox is one of those guys.

“And so I paid my respect. Hard fought battle. Obviously, he’s on the wrong end of it. I’ve been there before.”

Green mentioned the Game 7 the Warriors lost on the road against the Chris Paul-led Los Angeles Clippers in 2014, a year before the team won the first of its four championships.

“It’s part of it. You have to go through that to ultimately reach where you want to go,” Green said. “So I was really just showing my love and respect for him as a competitor. It was an honor to compete against him today.”