“Reminds Me A Lot Of My Grandfather”: Draymond Green On Steph Curry Keeping Him In Check

Draymond Green, in a sensitive world, remains one of the last crazed warriors of physical basketball. One day, he will go into the Naismith Hall of Fame for how good a defender he has been throughout his career, but in some sense, he has always been a liability. For that, he has needed other players on the team, including the legendary Stephen Curry, to keep him in check.

Green is a hothead who racks up technical fouls, starts fights, and attracts the wrong kind of headlines. It is the double-edged sword with him. One moment, he does something miraculous. The next, he is barking at the refs or swinging at players on the other team.

Perhaps the only Golden State Warriors star not afraid of Green is the one who has known him the longest. And that is Curry. Green admitted as much on the Unguarded podcast, explaining how Curry manages to cool him off.

“Steph is actually a very like, you know how some people hate tough conversations? Steph loves tough conversations. Thrives in tough conversation moments, man. He will tell me, and like in a Steph way, he ain’t just gonna be like ‘Boom!'” said Green.

A player like Curry could easily just mentally step away from Green’s moments. But that is what makes Curry an all-time great. His cool demeanor on the court during high-pressure situations is why he is a four-time champion. It tracks that he would use that same confidence to tighten the leash on Green when he becomes unhinged.

Green later compared Curry to his grandfather, a man he’s spoke about many times through the media. “It remind me a lot of my grandfather. My grandfather say a million words and only said two but you get it. Steph is like that which is great.””

Draymond says Steph is one of the people that check him when he’s wrong and doing too much:

“Believe it or not — Steph. Steph is actually a very like, you know how some people hate tough conversations? Steph love tough conversations. Thrives in tough conversation moments, man.… pic.twitter.com/iIOBqFiAuO

— aly ✶ (@jinthirty) March 9, 2026

It’s clear that Green has a lot of respect and admiration for Curry. He’s more than just someone he shares the same uniform with. The two are close friends. Curry even expressed his love for the Dubs’ defensive guru during a recent interview with NBC Sports. 

“When it comes to seeing somebody for who they truly are and what they bring to the table, there’s no better example of a friendship and a teammate relationship that can stand the test of time,” #30 said.

“Because there’s just trust at the end of the day. I know he’s going to show up with the right mentality and do it his way and over the course of a season. I can rely on that.”

When all is said and done, that is all we really need in this world: a friend to rely on. So often, especially in professional sports, relationships are transactional. This is not to say that every teammate in history needs to form a brotherly bond. But it is apparent how successful closer relationships can be.

The important thing to remember about Green is that he is only human. The silly things he does on or off the court reek of attention-seeking behavior, but no one can deny his competitive spirit. So thank goodness for Steph Curry. A basketball icon and a good friend to the lovable and scary Draymond Green.

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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