Key Takeaways
- Draymond Green says he wasn’t surprised LeBron James chose a two-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers over the Warriors because he’d heard the move was in the works and believes Golden State’s Finals history with Cleveland was a mental hurdle LeBron couldn’t clear.
- Green argues that LeBron returning to the Cavaliers or Heat risked tarnishing his past titles there, while Philadelphia offered a clean slate without an earlier chapter of his legacy to "mess up."
- He believes fear of fan and media backlash over teaming up with Steph Curry — fuel for critics eager to tear down LeBron’s legacy — played a major role in James ultimately passing on Golden State.
Draymond Green has shared that he thinks LeBron James' decision to join the Philadelphia 76ers and not Golden State ultimately came down to what the critics would say.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, shared on Tuesday (July 28), Green said he was not caught off guard when LeBron announced he was signing with the Sixers.
"I wasn't blindsided because I know a few people that know a few people," he said. "And I knew the stuff was in the works. So I wasn't quite blindsided. However, I didn't know exactly when the announcement would come. I didn't know exactly how the announcement would come."
LeBron's free agency came down to four finalists: Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Miami Heat. He ultimately landed with the 76ers on a two-year, $8 million deal with a player option, framing the move as his "last" decision.
Green believes LeBron, who previously won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, didn't join the Warriors due to two reasons, with the first being history. Cleveland and Golden State met in four consecutive NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018, including LeBron and Cleveland's infamous 3-1 comeback in 2016, and Green doesn't think that weight ever lifted.
"You look at Golden State, and I ultimately don't think Bron was ever able to get over the history, and I understand it, I get it," he said. "What we all ultimately always knew was like, that's the hurdle to get over. I don't think it's the team, the organization, anything else. I think it's the history."
He applied the same logic to Cleveland and Miami. "If you go back to Cleveland, even if you go back to Cleveland and win a championship, it's not going to be as good as 2016," Green said. "So you can only really go mess that up. And if you go to Miami and win a championship, it's not going to be as good as 2012, 2013." Philadelphia, by contrast, carried no previous James chapter to protect or repeat.
Beyond history, Green's second reason he thinks LeBron decline teaming up with Steph Curry and co'. comes down to the court of public opinion.
"We live in a day and age where everybody who doesn't have anything to say has something to say," he said. "And so, he's gonna get crushed if he comes to the Warriors, 'Ahh man, you went to team up with Steph, you had to go to them.'"
Green added that legacy attacks have become routine in today's media environment, and said he believes the prospect of that backlash "played a big role in the Warriors not landing LeBron."
