Why Draymond believes the OKC Thunder’s opponents don’t fear them originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
There is off-court work to be done for the Oklahoma City Thunder before becoming legitimate NBA title contenders.
On Tuesday’s episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” Warriors forward Draymond Green showed what he believes is preventing the Thunder from establishing themselves as a legitimate championship contending team.
Hint: it has everything to do with the physiological part of the game.
“The one thing I see with the OKC team that’s kind of alarming to me is like their post games,” Green told co-host and former Golden State guard. Baron Davis. “Like, seven guys in the interview. There’s a certain seriousness that you need to win in this league and there’s a certain fear that you have to instill in teams to win.”
Instead of instilling fear, the four-time NBA champion sees a young, talented Thunder team that finished the 2023-24 NBA season first in the Western Conference, doing the opposite, especially in front of cameras postgame.
“And I don’t know if they instill that fear in teams with all the bromance and stuff after the game,” Green added. “Like, ‘Bro, we’re all the bros and the mates.’ It’s like, that’s cool.
“There’s a time and a place for that but after every time someone is in the interview, you guys have seven guys, eight guys. Then you have the same seven, eight guys with pictures with Josh Giddey right after they played.”
Green, himself, had a lot of fun on and off the court during his illustrious career. He’s not against the Thunder doing it either, but the veteran forward made it clear that the time for Oklahoma City to go down in league history is now.
After all, if anyone knows what it takes to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, it’s Green.
“Again, I’m all for having fun,” Green said. “It’s an 82-game season, you should have fun, but you also have to understand when people look to you to be the team and you have to understand when it’s your moment.
“And now, I don’t think OKC understands, but their moment is now. Their moment started last year. You go out and have that regular season, your clock starts now. You are no longer the team that just builds through the draft.
“You have arrived. Now it’s time for you to take that next step, and I’m not sure they fully understand all that that entails. They understand the play; [those] boys [are] special They go there and they win.”
Time will tell if a superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the Thunder roster are following Green’s sound advice.
