National Basketball Association

Draymond Green expresses desire to bury his beef with Chris Paul

Updated Jul. 19, 2023 2:11 p.m. ET

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is looking to bury his beef with Chris Paul now that they'll share the court in 2023-24 as teammates, and he took a step toward doing so in an appearance on the "Pat Bev Podcast."

At about the 30-minute mark in the episode, Green addressed his past issues with Paul and expressed a desire to move forward from them:

"Everyone's like, 'How they supposed to be teammates now?' said Green. "And I'll tell you how. No. 1, I've never been in the situation really to build a relationship with him. I'm an adult, Chris is an adult. Like, we can talk amongst men. And that, I look forward to. There's no sugarcoating what's happened all these years. This is real life. Like, people get it twisted. Like, oh man, you're in character. No, this is real life we're living when we're playing in these games.

"So to just go front and act like all those things was fake — like I publicly said I didn't like Chris before. I'm not going to just be like, 'Oh, man, that changed now that he's my teammate.' No. I look forward to talking amongst men. I look forward to working with another adult. I've had my fair share of days of not working with adults, and people who don't move like adults. So I'm looking forward to going to work with an adult. You know what I'm saying? Chris is a pro. I'm looking forward to going to work with a pro. He's super smart, and he's shown to be a great leader."

The root of the issues between Green and Paul seems to originate from remarks made by Green during a guest appearance on the "All The Smoke" podcast in 2020.

During that podcast, Green expressed his unfavorable opinion of CP3, while acknowledging his respect for Paul's work ethic and high basketball IQ. Meanwhile, Paul said that he thought Green aimed to hinder his off-court bond with Stephen Curry. In response, Green admitted to intentionally sowing "discord" between Curry and Paul, driven by his loyalty and support for his teammate.

In response to Draymond's segment on Pat Bev's podcast, Anthony Poole, the father of former Warriors guard Jordan Poole, spoke out in reference to Green and Poole's physical altercation last offseason.

Green has had his fair share of run-ins with teammates, but he has also been a significant part of a franchise that has won four championships, showing an ability to build relationships when it matters most. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out as the Warriors add the presence of Paul into the mix.