Draymond Green 'Always Wanted' to Play With LeBron James, Talks Friendship With Lakers Star

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green told Melissa Rohlin of the California Post that he "always wanted" to play with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James..

"I've always wanted to [play with him]" Green said. "Saying I wanted to go to his team, that's not the case. I'm very comfortable in my situation with 30 [Curry] and what we've built and what we have. But I think him and Steph shared the want to take the court together, and they got the opportunity to do that in the Olympics in Paris. I've always wanted the opportunity. Just to experience it, to see how he thinks, to see, all right, what I could do to help him and his thinking. Or what can I learn and pick up about what he's thinking."

Green and James have never played on the same NBA team. The two have combined to play at the last six Olympic Games, but James (2004, 2008, 2012, 2024) and Green (2016, 2020) have never participated in the same year.

There was no love lost between Green and James once upon a time, nevermore than during the 2016 NBA Finals, when Green was suspended for Game 5 for what the NBA then called a "retaliatory swipe of his hand to the groin" of James after the two got tangled up in Game 4.

However, the two have grown closer and even hung out away from the court over the past few years, per Rohlin.

"LeBron James and Draymond Green flashed wide grins as they danced at a Bad Bunny Concert in Puerto Rico in July," Rohlin wrote. "They walked the streets of Monaco as fans gathered around them taking photos in 2024. They sang side-by-side at a Brent Faiyaz show in Toronto in 2023."

All that said, Green most likely won't get the chance to team up with James, in part because it might be the 23-year veteran's last season in the NBA.

James was asked on Jan. 28, when his Lakers fell on the road 120-99 to his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, whether this could be in last game in town. He provided the following response.

Green and James will at least share the court together at least one more time, though. The Warriors and Lakers face off three more times this regular season, beginning Saturday in L.A.