LeBron James’ Decision Not to Join Warriors Driven by ‘Haters,’ Claims Draymond Green

The Golden State Warriors were rumored to be at the top of LeBron James' list before the latter announced his departure from the Lakers.

LeBron James’ Decision Not to Join Warriors Driven by ‘Haters,’ Claims Draymond Green

Draymond Green and LeBron James (Image via FirstSportz)

As much as it was surprising that LeBron James joined the Philadelphia 76ers, what left many fans disappointed was that he did not join the Golden State Warriors to play alongside a star in Stephen Curry he loved to play with, and one of his closest friends, Draymond Green.

Had he joined them, the health concerns would have been the most talked-about topic throughout the course of this collaboration. If they overcame that and did win an NBA championship, it would transcend sports.

As many analysts and James’ agent, Rich Paul, claimed, the Warriors would have become a global organization, simply because of what the two biggest would accomplish by lifting the Larry O’Brien Trophy together.

But now, that dream is well and truly moot. Despite all the recruiting efforts of both Curry and Green, James decided he was better off with the 76ers. This raised questions about why he didn’t want to team up with them.

We live in a day and age where everybody who doesn’t have anything to say have something to say. He’s gonna get crushed if he comes to the Warriors, ‘Aah, man, you went to team up with Steph. Aah, you had to go to them.’ Ultimately, that weighed in on the decision. That played a big role in the Warriors not landing LeBron.

Draymond Green said on his namesake show

The former Defensive Player of the Year was essentially pointing out that James was going to get a lot of ‘hate’ if he joined the Warriors. Kevin Durant didn’t rejoin them for the exact same reason, since anyone is allowed to say anything nowadays.

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Draymond Green believes ‘haters’ have scarred LeBron James

LeBron James would have been criticized no matter which team he chose. After all, this was not an end-of-the-run veteran who does not directly contribute to winning.

Last season, he produced a season good enough to be one of the best in the league. Therefore, any team he joined would be touted as a contender, and that ensuing criticism is why Draymond Green thinks his friend did not repeat another edition of his ‘Decision.’

I think you guys got Bron scarred. One of the biggest mistakes they made was ‘The Decision’. I think the decision raised like $4… And they got crushed for it. It made a lot of money for charity… Now LeBron just released a video with Philly, and just a caption… He did something great for charity, and y’all crushed him.

Green said

Green felt that fans believed that James would come up with a second version of his ‘Decision.’ But since the first one drew that much criticism and ‘hate,’ the four-time champion left it as just a Shams Charania reveal on X, and a series of posts from James on both that platform and Instagram.

It was the four-time league MVP‘s way of making it as undramatic as possible, since quite a few naysayers were already talking about how the wait was frustrating them, the league, and everybody else

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Warriors left with nothing after losing out on LeBron James race

Draymond Green mentioned that he knew beforehand that LeBron James was not going to join him and Stephen Curry on the Golden State Warriors. While many believe that it is because the franchise was not able to get Anthony Davis via trade, the defensive ace believes it is all about the vitriol.

Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Steve Kerr
Stephen Curry, Green, and Steve Kerr (Image via NBA Central/X)

Whatever the reason was, Green and his team are now left with nothing in free agency. Sure, there are a few players still waiting to be signed. But none of them are a good fit for the Warriors.

This means that other than draft picks Yaxel Lendeborg and Lajae Jones, the Warriors have not brought in significant additions. At a time when the likes of Curry and Green want to compete for a championship, this team might not even be good enough to finish in a play-in spot.

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