Draymond Green responds to comments from Heat players

Feb 20, 2020; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) stands on the court before the game against the Houston Rockets at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Draymond Green sounds more amused than anything else at how Miami Heat players took his predictions during their series against the Boston Celtics.

Multiple Heat players called out Green after their Game 6 win over the fact that Green predicted the Boston Celtics would ultimately advance to face his Warriors. The Heat suggested they had viewed Green’s comments as disrespectful, and had used them as motivation.

Green responded with amusement, saying it was “exciting” that the Heat had cared so much about what he had to say.

“It was exciting to know that people pay that much attention to my words and what I say. Wow. They really watched what I had to say and that motivated them? I’m getting better at this motivational thing. That’s great,” @Money23Green to @andscape on the Heat being motivated by him

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 30, 2022

Green was never going to be bothered by this. He says what he thinks and does not care if it is used as fuel by opponents. In this case, he ended up being correct, too, although it took all seven games for him to be proven right.

Of course, Green uses other people’s comments as motivation all the time. The art is that he seems to know better than most when to take the bait, or when to bait others.