Draymond not worried about CP3’s Warriors fit: ‘He’s a winner’

Draymond not worried about CP3’s Warriors fit: ‘He’s a winner’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The biggest question the Warriors face heading into the 2023-24 NBA season is how Chris Paul will fit into a team that has had an established hierarchy for over a decade.

On the latest episode of “Dubs Talk,” Draymond Green told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Zena Keita why adding the 18-year veteran to this championship core is a recipe for success.

“Number one is his demeanor, his approach,” Green said. “Like you said, he’s won a lot, he wants to win, he is a winner. I think it starts there. You’re combining winners. That’s always a good thing. People that don’t win question combining winners because they don’t know what it takes to win. So someone that doesn’t win would actually rather combine themselves with a loser because they’re used to losing ways.

“I’d much rather link with a winner because they have winning ways. They understand winning. I don’t have to teach you winning ways. Sometimes, you have to teach a loser winning ways, and it might not work. So I think for us, we identify, and we know Chris [Paul] is a winner.”

Green has appeared in 48 games against Paul in his career, including 18 times in the NBA playoffs. That firsthand experience has given Green an elevated appreciation for the fact that he and Paul now will be stepping on the court as teammates rather than foes.

“We’ve battled Chris. We know what that’s like to be in a foxhole against Chris,” Green said. “To step into that foxhole with Chris. Well, stepping in against him wasn’t fun, so I can imagine stepping in with him would be a lot more fun, and I’m looking forward to it. When you can add a guy that has the respect around the league that Chris Paul has, that has the resume that Chris Paul has, and the basketball knowledge, and the will to win that Chris Paul has, that’s a positive for any team.”

Green then reiterated that he and the rest of the Warriors are unconcerned with outside noise or criticism around the move to bring Paul to Golden State. For Green, it all comes down to a simple formula of adding a winning basketball player to a team littered with them.

“We’re not going to sit here and look at our team and try to nitpick at every little reason that most people want to nitpick and say, ‘Well, he won’t fit because X,’ ” Green said. “But he does fit because he wins, and we win. And that’s the most important thing when you’re playing this sport.”

Paul is a surefire lock to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame when his playing days are over. However, the most glaring omission from his stacked resume is the need for an NBA championship.

With his mindset and the Warriors’ proven pedigree, this could be the marriage that helps him earn his ever-elusive first title while cementing the Golden State dynasty’s place in the pantheon of NBA history.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast