Draymond Green Reveals LeBron James Recruiting Pitch, Says Warriors Would've Been 'Right Decision'

Draymond Green did his best to persuade LeBron James to the Golden State Warriors in free agency, but in the end, his efforts weren't enough as James joined the Philadelphia 76ers.

Green recently explained his recruiting pitch on Open Season on Draymond Green (h/t Andscape's Marc J. Spears):

"I told him all the great things. How cool would it be for him to join Steph, who's pretty much carried the NBA for the better of the last 15 years, 'Bron a little longer, but they are 'the guys.' And how cool would it be to [challenge] these young guys who are kind of taking over? Their time is up now to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and all these [young] guys. How cool would it be for the two guys who's battled on the biggest stage for so many years in the NBA who now see these younger guys taking over, just for one time to say, 'Hey, fellas, we can still do this. Yeah, move over'? How dope would that be?

"Everybody speaks about the basketball side. Most people don't understand how important it is to have teammates that you rock with at this age. Teammates that are like-minded. Teammates that have similar lives. Teammates that when you go to dinner, you want to go to dinner and sit with. As you get older in this league, that becomes a weird thing. We'll have that. This will be the greatest show on Earth, by the way. Stephen and LeBron together?

"How much has [James] gotten into golf? There's no better place to be for golf than San Francisco. I also thought from a business standpoint, there's a whole business side of business that he hasn't tapped into [in Silicon Valley]. From a business standpoint, what can that mean? I know for sure this would be the best organization you've ever played in. I know that for certain."

Green noted, though, that James' history against the Warriors may have stopped him from coming to the Bay Area, even if Green thought it'd be the "right decision":

"He just couldn't get over the past, which is, 'I battled these guys over and over again. What is that now going to look like for me if I come there? What type of beating am I going to take if I come there?' And ultimately that's why it didn't happen. … I also think that's why it took so long to make the decision, because I know this [Golden State] was the right decision. He just couldn't land on it."

James, of course, played in four straight NBA Finals against the Warriors during the 2010s while he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State won three of those matchups, though James and Cleveland pulled off a historic 3-1 comeback in 2016 to upset the 73-win Warriors.

With that type of history, it's possible James may have felt joining Curry and Green may not have been the best decision.

Instead, James will team up with Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe in Philadelphia after leaving the Los Angeles Lakers. With a star-studded roster, James will now attempt to win a championship with a fourth team.