Draymond Green: LeBron James ‘wasn’t able to get over the history’ with Warriors

Draymond Green thinks he knows why the Warriors came up short in the LeBron James sweepstakes.

It wasn’t Stephen Curry. It wasn’t the roster. It was everything that came before.

Speaking on the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, Green suggested James ultimately couldn’t get past the history between himself and Golden State after years of battling the franchise in four straight NBA Finals.

Green’s comments came on the same day he reportedly agreed to a one-year, $27.7 million contract to return to the Warriors, ensuring Golden State’s longtime core will remain together for at least one more season.

“I ultimately don’t think Bron was ever able to get over the history,” Green said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “I understand it. I get it.

“What we all ultimately always knew was like, that’s the hurdle to get over. I don’t think it’s the team, the organization, anything else. I think it’s the history.”

Green acknowledged that joining the Warriors would have opened James to criticism from fans and media who may have viewed it as teaming up with the very franchise that helped define much of his career.

“He’s gonna get crushed if he comes to the Warriors,” Green said. “‘Ahh man, you went to team up with Steph. You had to go to them.’ All the things people would have said. I think ultimately that weighed in on the decision a lot.”

James ultimately signed with the 76ers after Golden State created salary flexibility earlier this offseason in hopes of landing the four-time MVP.

Green believes concerns about how the move would have been perceived played a major role.

“I’ve never seen so many people who want to find something to tear someone’s legacy down,” Green said. “Had he come to the Warriors, that would have been something everyone tried to use to tear his legacy down.

“We live in a miserable world where people just want to find anything to tear someone’s legacy down. Needless to say, I ultimately think that played a big role in the Warriors not landing LeBron.”

Whether Green is right is impossible to know. But he was one of the players actively recruiting James to Golden State, making his perspective one of the more interesting ones to emerge since the four-time MVP ultimately chose Philadelphia.