Draymond Green Reacts to LeBron James' Viral Statement

“I don’t know why it’s discussed so much in our sport and why it’s the end-all, be-all of everything,” James said. “You tell me Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, and Steve Nash weren’t f–king unbelievable? They can’t be talked about with these guys because they won rings?

“They don’t ever discuss that in their sport. Barry Bonds never won a World Series, and you can’t sit here and tell me that he’s not the greatest baseball player to ever touch a bat... Jerry West went to like nine straight NBA Finals and was only able to win one ring. And he’s the logo of our league.”

Draymond Green, who has his own show, The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, was asked about James' comments. The four-time champion defended James but also acknowledged how important the ultimate goal for a team sport is.

“I think ring culture took a big turn and came into play in large part due to the success of the Golden State Warriors," Green said. "What Bron was saying is that you get guys like Stephen A. [Smith], and to me it felt like Stephen A. is someone who talks a lot about rings, and you don’t know what it takes to win a ring because you’ve never won a ring.

"You don’t understand because you’ve never gone through it. And because you don’t know how hard it is because you’ve never gone through it, then you start using it to lessen the greatness of some of the greats."

“Is having a ring important? Of course. Does it add to legacies? Does it stamp legacies? Absolutely. I’m not going to sit here and act like having a ring or rings doesn’t matter. It does matter. But it doesn’t make [Charles] Barkley less great than he was. It doesn’t make Allen Iverson less great." Green added.

"I think when people use it, they use it to dim the greatness, dim the light on guys. And that’s what I felt like Bron was getting at.”

Green has never been the best player in the Warriors' championship runs. With career averages of 8.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.6 assists, he was never asked to be the primary scorer, rather the enforcer; a defender and facilitator who makes a team great because of the intangibles.