Draymond Green said he would pay to fly a "good luck" reporter to the NBA Finals after the Warriors advanced to the championship series for the fifth successive year.
Golden State's quest for a three-peat continued after sweeping the Trail Blazers 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals on Monday.
Before the game the Warriors had fun with the reporter, Geoffrey C. Arnold of The Oregonian, who was standing near the team.
The Warriors usually rally around Kevin Durant before heading out on the court, but Durant wasn’t with the team in Portland because of his injured calf. So Stephen Curry grabbed the veteran reporter, who was standing near the team, and put him in the middle of the team circle (though he initially was misidentified in one tweet as a "random stadium employee").
That’s the legend @geoffreyCarnold of the Oregonian https://t.co/hFASRCtRW9
— Marcus Thompson (@ThompsonScribe) May 21, 2019
Green, who played a leading role in Monday victory with a triple-double (18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists), joked with Arnold after the 119-117 overtime victory.
"You were good luck today," Green said before the reporter could finish a question in the postgame news conference.
Draymond Green is buying that reporter from the huddle a plane ticket to the Finals 😂 pic.twitter.com/005TkDlKkk
— Chris Montano (@gswchris) May 21, 2019
Arnold replied by asking if the Warriors would fly him out for the NBA Finals.
"Absolutely," Green responded. "… I'll pay for the ticket myself."
Laughter broke out in the news conference as Green insisted he drew the line there and wouldn't pay for the reporter's hotel.
The Warriors will face the Bucks or Raptors in the NBA Finals.