The blockbuster trade that sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers stunned the entire NBA and sports world, but perhaps no one was as confused as Draymond Green.
However, Green’s bewilderment stemmed from a reason beyond the actual trade and more from a hypothetical one.
The Warriors star forward joined “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and hilariously recalled how his confusion unraveled thanks to a little premature information from Golden State majority owner Joe Lacob.
“When it first happened, we were at a Warriors charity poker tournament,” Green remembered. “I had just saw Joe Lacob 10 minutes before this happened. Joe gets excited. Joe goes, ‘Draymond, I think we’re going to get Kevin Durant. It’s right there at the finish line. It’s happening. We’re getting Kevin Durant back.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, man. Here we go. Let’s go.’ And we talk about it. He asks if I think it’ll work. I said absolutely. He leaves, he comes running back two minutes later like, ‘Draymond! Draymond! I wasn’t supposed to say anything. Don’t say nothing to nobody.’ I’m like, ‘Joe, I got you. I won’t say anything to anyone.’
“So we’re at this tournament and I go sit down and about 15 minutes later, Steph yells, ‘Draymond, you see the trade?’ And I go, ‘It happened?’ Steph goes, ‘Wait, who?’ I said, ‘Oh, never mind, nobody. What happened?’ And he’s like, ‘Luka got traded.’ “
Whew.
You can only imagine the emotional rollercoaster Green endured over those 20 minutes or so.
First, he had to fathom the thought that Durant was returning to the Bay, where he helped bring two championships, to then — like so many others — try and wrap his head around Dončić and LeBron James teaming up, to finally realizing that Durant was, in fact, not on his way to San Francisco.
What a whirlwind.
“I couldn’t believe it, I thought Shams was hacked,” Green said of the Dallas Mavericks trading Dončić. “There’s videos out at the charity event of us reacting. I couldn’t believe it. Superstars at 25 don’t get traded. Luka’s a megastar.
“Then I thought, ‘I have to be next if Luka’s getting traded. It’s coming for me soon.’ “
To be fair to Lacob, several reports indicated that Durant’s return to the Warriors was a possibility before the 15-time NBA All-Star turned down a reunion.
Maybe next time, Lacob will wait for the trade to be official before spilling any premature beans.
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