Draymond Green knows the 2025-26 season has been one of the toughest for the Golden State Warriors in recent memory.
As April arrives and the regular season winds down, the Warriors are locked into the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference, with no realistic path to climbing out of the play-in tournament. Injuries have decimated the roster: Stephen Curry has missed the last 25 games with a persistent knee issue, Jimmy Butler is done for the year after a season-ending knee injury in January, and Moses Moody is also sidelined long-term.
With the team relying on a makeshift young lineup around Green and Kristaps Porzingis, the veteran leader is focused on building good habits rather than hoping for a miracle return from Curry.
“We definitely hope to have Steph back,” Green said in a one-on-one interview. “There’s no guarantee that he’s going to be back, but you know that would be the hope. But I think ultimately, just whoever you have on the floor, you have to continue to try to build great habits.”
Green warned against falling into a “snake-bit mentality” — the dangerous mindset where constant bad luck leads to negative thinking and poor performance.
“If you have to think negatively about things, that’s the end, it doesn’t work past that,” he continued. “I think for us, it’s just about staying the course, understanding that listen, throughout the course of the NBA season, lots of sunny days, there’s a lot of rainy days, and you got to process the rainy days.”
The Warriors have used a staggering 37 different starting lineups this season. Without Curry, they entered their recent stretch at 13-22. Green emphasized that the team cannot simply flip a switch once healthy players return — bad habits formed during tough times are hard to break.
“When you are in a better position from a health standpoint, we’re able to play that brand of basketball and not just think, ‘Oh, man, you can go out, you can put a crappy product out there on the floor,’” Green said. “You can go into these games with terrible focus. And then you get everybody back, and all of a sudden you think, ‘Oh, now we could just flip the switch.’ It doesn’t work like that because you build bad habits. It’s just as quick as you can build a bad habit. It takes double, triple the time to break it.”
Despite the adversity, the Warriors have won three straight games recently and are fighting to secure their fourth playoff appearance in the last five seasons.
Green on NBA Threads and Engaging with Fans
Away from the court, Green has become one of the NBA’s most vocal and active figures on social media — particularly on NBA Threads. The 36-year-old veteran said he’s been using the platform for at least a year and praised it as a space for genuine basketball conversation.
“I think NBA Threads is just a conversation around the NBA,” Green explained. “It’s kind of the community of all threads and it’s everything NBA, all discourse around the game.”
One of his favorite features is “Dear Algo,” the AI-powered tool that curates content based on user interests.
“Dear Algo has been very interesting for me,” he said. “It consolidates the conversation even more to directly what you want to see about basketball. I really enjoyed just all my time at Threads as a whole.”
Green primarily uses the platform to interact with fans and stay informed. He noted that several NBA players and analysts are active there, including ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins, who “creates a lot of discourse.”
He also appreciates how NBA Threads allows users to tune out negativity more effectively than platforms like X.
“You think about our lives on social media, and it’s a lot of crap that you run into,” Green said. “With Dear Algo, you see the things that you want to see. You see the things that are concentrated and you know what you want your focus level to be on when you’re on the app. I think that makes all the difference in the world.”
Final Word
As the Warriors navigate a difficult stretch filled with injuries and uncertainty around Curry’s return, Green’s leadership and steady mindset have been crucial. He continues to preach staying the course, building positive habits, and avoiding negative spirals — lessons that apply both on and off the court.
At 36, Green remains a cornerstone of the franchise, driven by legacy and a desire to add more All-Defensive honors to his résumé. His recent play (8.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.2 APG, 1.5 SPG over the last six games) shows he’s still capable of impacting winning.
Whether Curry returns in time for the play-in or not, Green’s message is clear: the Warriors must earn their success through consistent habits, not by hoping for a switch to flip.
Warriors fans, what’s your take? How important is Draymond Green’s leadership during this injury-riddled season? Do you think the team should rest Curry or try to get him a few games before the play-in? And how do you feel about Green’s presence on NBA Threads — does it help or hurt player-fan connections? Let us know in the comments.
The final two weeks of the regular season will be telling for Golden State. Staying the course, as Green preaches, may be the difference between a quick play-in exit and a surprising run.