"I don't trust you bro": Draymond Green once accused prominent NBA Insider of espionage for LeBron James during heated Warriors-Cavs Rivalry

From 2015 to 2018, Draymond Green and LeBron James battled hard for their respective teams, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. The rivalry between the two teams was considered to be the biggest and most intense since the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics in the ‘80s.

NBA Insider Chris Haynes worked for ESPN as the Cavaliers’ beat writer starting James’ return to Cleveland in 2014. Haynes was then asked to cover the Warriors when the Dubs acquired Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016.

Here’s what Haynes had to say about his first exchange with Green, Golden State’s vocal leader after the reporter started covering the Warriors:

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“I developed all these relationships with the Cavs, with LeBron [James] and all of them for those two years. And then, I go to the Warriors and try to do the same thing. ... I didn’t wanna take it because of that. ... I’m like, ‘How am I gonna get them to trust me?’

“I go to the locker room for the first time for the Warriors. Draymond was like, ‘I don’t trust you, bro.’ I thought he was playing. ‘What do you mean you don’t trust me?’ He said, ‘You’re a Cavs spy. LeBron will sit you over here to spy on us. We ain’t messing with you and Imma make sure nobody talk with you.’ He was dead serious, bro.”

In 2015, LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to perhaps the biggest upset in sports history. He and Kyrie Irving carried the Cavs to the championship after falling behind 3-1 to the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.

James won the NBA Finals MVP while Irving drained the dagger shot of the series that has become iconic in finals lore. Draymond Green’s suspension in Game 5 is still considered by many to be the turning point of the series.

Draymond Green tried to redeem himself in the nail-biting Game 7 matchup but couldn’t fend off LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cavaliers’ charge. The following season, the Golden State Warriors added Kevin Durant.

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LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers had no chance against the Kevin Durant-reinforced Golden State Warriors

Once Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors to lay alongside Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, every competition was in big trouble. Durant’s decision to leave Russell Westbrook and the OKC Thunder for the Bay Area shifted the balance of power to the Warriors.

LeBron James gallantly tried to beat the Dubs in two straight NBA Finals appearances but couldn’t get it done. “King James” lost 4-1 in 2017 and was swept in 2018. Only an injury to KD and Thompson in 2019 prevented what could have been a three-peat when the Warriors lost to Kawhi Leonard’s Toronto Raptors.

James left Cleveland after leading the Cavs to the finals for four straight years to play for the LA Lakers. He would face the Warriors again in 2023 minus Kevin Durant. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer had some measure of revenge when the Lakers took away the Warriors’ home-court advantage and won the series.