The Golden State Warriors are navigating a turbulent 2025-26 season. Despite having Stephen Curry still performing at an elite level and Jimmy Butler as the blockbuster mid-season acquisition from the previous year, the team has yet to find the consistency needed to re-establish themselves as true championship contenders. As of mid-November 2025, the Warriors’ win-loss record remains modest, with impressive victories mixed with frustrating defeats. Many fans are starting to wonder: Is Curry and the veterans’ championship window slowly closing, or is this just the usual early-season turbulence?
Amid all this, old offseason 2024 stories are resurfacing—and the central figure is none other than Draymond Green, the defensive soul of the Warriors but also the epicenter of countless controversies.
The Fan Incident: “Don’t Call Me a Woman”
Just a few days ago, during the Warriors’ 124-106 blowout road win over the New Orleans Pelicans on November 16, 2025, Draymond Green once again stole the headlines—not for a defensive stop or a punch, but for a heated verbal exchange with a courtside fan.
Green explained afterward: “It was a good joke at first, but the guy kept calling me a woman. I’ve got four kids and a fifth on the way. You can’t keep calling me a woman. It’s all good—he shut up eventually, so everything was fine.”
The fan, named Sam Green (no relation to Draymond), had repeatedly shouted WNBA star Angel Reese’s name to mock Draymond, implying he was grabbing rebounds but… missing too many easy finishes around the rim in the first half. Green walked right up to him, face-to-face, until referee Courtney Kirkland had to intervene and pull him away. The NBA ultimately issued only a warning to Green, with no fine or suspension.
This isn’t the first time Draymond has lost his cool with a fan, but it’s another reminder that he remains the Warriors’ emotional detonator—a double-edged sword the franchise simply cannot live without.
Draymond Green: The Behind-the-Scenes Boss Who Said No to Lauri Markkanen
The real drama that has Warriors fans boiling, however, dates back to the summer of 2024: Draymond Green was the one who personally intervened and convinced the front office to walk away from a potential trade for Lauri Markkanen from the Utah Jazz.
According to detailed reporting from Anthony Slater (The Athletic/ESPN), Green didn’t just offer “a veteran’s opinion.” He proactively met privately with GM Mike Dunleavy and owner Joe Lacob, urging them not to green-light any package for Markkanen. The reason? Danny Ainge and the Jazz were demanding an astronomical price: multiple unprotected first-round picks, pick swaps, plus key young talents (Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, etc.).
“I really like the way he plays,” Green admitted to Slater. “But when you’re talking about a deal that big, you have to be 100% sure it’s the right move. History shows we rarely beat Danny Ainge in those negotiations.”
The result: the Warriors backed out. Markkanen signed a massive 5-year, $238 million extension with the Jazz (including a renegotiate-and-extend on his final year), and he has since become the most terrifying scoring machine in the league.
As of November 19, 2025, Lauri Markkanen leads the NBA scoring race at 30.6 points per game (per Basketball-Reference and ESPN), shooting nearly 48% from the field and around 39% from three. He is only the second player in Jazz franchise history to average 30+ PPG through the first 13 games of a season, joining legend Adrian Dantley.
Was Draymond… Wrong?
Had Markkanen joined the Warriors in the summer of 2024, a lineup featuring Curry–Butler–Markkanen (a 7-footer who shoots threes like a guard) would have been a spacing nightmare for every defense in the league. A big man dropping 30 points, stretching the floor, and protecting the rim could have been the perfect missing piece for the Warriors to go all-in one last time for Curry’s fifth ring.
But Green saw the bigger picture: mortgaging the entire future (picks + young talent) in a deal where the Jazz held all the leverage was far too risky. The Warriors preserved Podziemski, Kuminga, Moody, and their draft capital—assets that could be used for other moves (like the eventual Jimmy Butler trade) or to build for life after Curry at ages 38 and 39.
Still, watching Markkanen drop 40-point games on a nightly basis in Utah, more than a few Warriors fans are quietly thinking: “What if…”
Conclusion: The Warriors Stand at a Crossroads
Draymond Green remains the defensive brain, the loudest voice in the locker room, and sometimes… the person effectively steering the franchise’s direction. Rejecting the Markkanen trade may prove to be the correct long-term strategic decision, but it also exposes a harsh reality: the Warriors’ championship window is narrowing fast, and they no longer have the asset surplus to go all-in the way they once did with Kevin Durant.
The season is still young. With Curry still exploding, Butler healthy, and the young core progressing, the Warriors can absolutely turn things around. But if they continue to sputter, the question “What if we had Lauri?” will haunt Dub Nation for a very long time.
Did Draymond Green save the Warriors from a losing gamble… or did he inadvertently slam shut the final door to another championship? Only time will tell.