During an interview with NBA reporter Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green was asked on a scale of one to 10 how much he previously despised Chris Paul and Green didn’t hold back.
“Eleven! I hated him,” Green said. “Eleven! But I think that’s also a sign of respect.”
The Warriors traded Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards for Paul this offseason. Golden State’s new general manager, Mike Dunleavy Jr., talked to Green and Paul to see if this partnership could work.
“I wanted to hear from both of them,” Dunleavy told ESPN. “Really anytime we make a big move, whether it’s going to Steph, Klay, Draymond, you want to kind of feel it out and see what they think. All of them initially, including Chris, sort of had some pause. But then they thought about it and real quick became like, ‘Let’s do this. This is going to be great.'”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Draymond Green, Chris Paul, Golden State Warriors Updates
Paul averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists last season for the Phoenix Suns while shooting 44.0% from the field, 37.5% from beyond the arc and 83.1% from the free-throw line. The Suns traded Paul to the Wizards in the Bradley Beal trade and then Washington dealt him to Golden State. Paul was on a plane to New York when Phoenix traded him. He was then playing basketball at his gym in North Carolina when the Warriors acquired him.
“A guy that’s at the center of everything,” Green said of Paul. “At the center of every play, what the other team is running at the center of their defense, talking on both ends of the floor, working the referees, working our coach, working players in the middle of every tussle. Battling. Elbowing. Nasty.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Draymond Green, Chris Paul, Golden State Warriors Updates
The Warriors are expected to start Paul, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Green next season.
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