Draymond Green wishes to be a lifetime Warrior, rebuking rumors of him leaving 'The Dynasty': “Five guys that’s been on a team for 11 years-plus”
Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors have had an interesting couple of months. After winning their fourth championship in June, the Warriors' Big Three of Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were back on top of the league. With that, of course, came questions about their future together. After all, Green was going into a contract year with the Warriors.
At the end of this season, he will be faced with a choice, opt into his $27.5 contract for next year or opt out and become an unrestricted free agent. After the Warriors won the championship, all signs pointed to Green opting in and returning. However, things quickly changed this offseason when Green and teammate Jordan Poole were involved in an altercation during practice.
Things turned ugly during training camp, with Green punching Poole in the face after the young player shoved him. The situation immediately put the future of the Big Three into question as many wondered whether Green would be traded. After the two men agreed to put the situation behind them, lingering talks about Green's contract decision continued to arise.
During a recent interview, with Andscape, Green spoke about the situation and his upcoming contract decision, saying:
"It’s incredible when you look at the amount of guys who’ve played for only one team. You can look around the NBA right now. There are five guys that’s been on a team for 11 years-plus. We have three of them (along with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson). It’s a very rare thing.
"There’s 470, 480 players in the NBA? There are five guys that’s been with his team for 11 years-plus. That’s amazing. So, you don’t just give that away. So, absolutely I’d be interested in that."
Could Draymond Green join the ranks of players like Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant?
As Draymond Green pointed out, the list of players who spent more than 11 years with one team is pretty small. In the modern NBA, only Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard have been on the same team for as many years as Green. Beyond that, there are only two active players to spend more time with one team: Steph Curry and Udonis Haslem.
Curry has spent 14 seasons with the Golden State Warriors, while Haslem has spent a whopping 20 seasons with the Miami Heat.
In the case of Haslem, he sits in second place, tied with Kobe Bryant, who spent 20 seasons with the LA Lakers. At the top of that list is the one and only Dirk Nowitzki, who sits at the top of the leaderboard all by himself with 21 seasons spent with the Dallas Mavericks.
Should Green opt in to his player option next year, he will move up on the list. Only time will tell whether he's able to climb the ladder and move up to the level of Nowitzki.
Below you can see some highlights from arguably the greatest European player to ever play the game, Dirk Nowitzki.