Draymond Green and LeBron James are longtime buddies, despite their many NBA Finals battles. In the offseason, you might even catch Green hanging out with James on one of James's many media ventures.
But when the two men face each other, as they will on Wednesday evening in a Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Lakers fight for the No. 7 seed, that friendship goes out the window.
ESPN's Rachel Nichols interviewed Green in the lead-up to the game and asked him about his usually easygoing rapport with James and fellow Lakers superstar Anthony Davis. Green noted that they aren't communicating about the upcoming game all that much, and when it's go-time, he won't be holding back.
"Everyone always says, 'Oh man, why are they friends? That sucks,'" Green began. "[But] that's what makes it fun for us, to be able to go out there and destroy your friend, destroy your brother. When you go in there, they're trying to take your head off. When they come in our lane, we're trying to take their heads off. That's what it boils down to."
Individual friendships between players on rival teams has rankled lots of sports pundits, but it's nothing new. Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were longtime friends who, unfortunately, actually had a falling out years after their playing careers ended. And the famously competitive Jordan played golf against Danny Ainge, one of his playoff opponents, mid-series. The legend goes that because Ainge talked trash and beat Jordan at golf, MJ responded by dropping 63 points in their next game.
Point being: Green is right. Nothing wrong with being friends with your opponent. Sometimes that friendship activates an even better performance on the court.
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