Draymond Green on Warriors' victory parade: 'I look forward to winning another'
Draymond Green is set to become a restricted free agent, but he's given every indication he'll be returning to the world champion Golden State Warriors.
After a victory parade brought out over a million people to celebrate the team's first title in 40 years, a humbled Green seemed even more certain of his future in the Bay Area.
"Man, incredible day," Green said in a video for Bleacher Report's Uninterrupted series. "This is 40 years in the making, these fans been waiting for a championship, and we delivered it. And that parade today was phenomenal, like nothing I've ever seen before in my life and maybe nothing I'll ever see again ... You dream about these things, but it's nothing you can ever understand unless you go through it. The feeling was amazing.
"Seeing the support that we had - 1.1 million fans - it's incredible. To do this for the city of Oakland, for the Bay area, it doesn't get any better than that. And I'm thankful to be a part of this, to have the opportunity to be a part of this."
Green started the season as a presumptive bit player who incoming coach Steve Kerr penciled in for 12 minutes a game off the bench. A preseason injury to David Lee thrust Green into a starting role, which he ran with and never looked back, establishing himself as a vocal leader, an indispensable playmaker and defender, the team's emotional center, and an embodiment of its cultural and stylistic identity.
Even if he had to settle for a moral victory in the Defensive Player of the Year race, he seems all but assured of a max contract this offseason. In other words, the 25-year-old has a whole lot to look forward to. Still, Green knows the feeling of the storybook season he just completed - in which he went from afterthought to championship centerpiece - will be difficult to replicate.
"I couldn't be more humbled and more honored," he said. "I look forward to winning another one, but I just don't know if it'll ever be like this.
"But," he was sure to add, "it'll be sweet. And we'll get it done."