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Schröder is confident that forming a partnership with Draymond will be something truly remarkable

SAN FRANCISCO – Count the slides and keep swiping.

On the same night the Warriors were eliminated from the second round of the 2023 NBA playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers two seasons ago, Dennis Schröder, then a member of the Lakers, put out a celebratory Instagram post that contained seven pictures. The first six were of Schröder celebrating mid-game in front of Draymond Green.

Those six pictures held a world’s worth of irony. In reality, they were of an incident in which Green shoved the ball in Schröder's face halfway through the third quarter of Game 6, the final game of the series, resulting in both Green and Schröder receiving technical fouls. It also was Schröder's second of the game, resulting in an ejection.

Draymond and Schröder received a double tech for this exchange pic.twitter.com/UDdwDeG694

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 13, 2023

Bad blood was easy to assume. Green’s response in the comment section of Schröder's post said otherwise.

Green wrote, "Much love and respect for you bro! Changed the series! Go finish the job!" He also added three praying hands emojis at the end.

Schröder echoed that same respect Tuesday at Chase Center during his introductory press conference, two days after the Warriors acquired him in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

“I feel really, really excited playing with Draymond,” Schröder said. “Like you guys seen, we were going at it. I knew him before. People were saying, ‘How’s it going to work?’ But we got a good relationship, even before that.”

Schröder's lone start for the Lakers in the 2022 Western Conference semifinals was that Game 6 win. Though he scored only three points on 1-of-6 shooting, Schröder's energy sucked the life out of Golden State and he was a plus-16 in 25 minutes. Over the final four games of the series in which the Lakers went 3-1, Schröder was a plus-57 overall.

“Really looking forward to playing with another Hall of Famer on the court who was always hell when he was on the other side of it,"Schröder said. "Who was talking smack, trash talking, just being competitive and try to go out there and win.

“To combine that now, I think it’s pretty unique and special.”

Questions immediately came to the forefront on Schröder's fit with the Warriors once the news was announced. How would his style of play work in coach Steve Kerr’s system? Will he be an issue in the Warriors’ locker room?

The Warriors are Schröder's eighth team he has played for in the midst of his 12th NBA season. Here’s a better way to say it: Since the start of the 2020-21 season, Schröder has played for the Lakers, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Lakers again, Toronto Raptors, Nets and now the Warriors.

Since November 2020, Schröder has been traded four times. That isn’t a problem to Kerr, who suited up for six franchises in his 15-year playing career, or Green, who has worn Golden State colors for all 13 years of his career.

“I love the demeanor that he carries himself with,” Green said Sunday after the Warriors’ loss to the Dallas Mavericks. “He carries himself like he belongs in every room, at all times. I respect people like that. Looking forward to being teammates, getting to know him better. But I know who he is and what he is, and that’s what’s important.”

Schröder on Tuesday revealed former Warrior Ty Jerome introduced him to Green, and the two actually played cards together ahead of that Warriors-Lakers playoff series.

As it is more often than not, Schröder knows the man Green is off the court is different from the fierce persona he displays on it. He should know himself as someone who channels his inner basketball demon inside the lines but is friendly ahead of stepping on the floor.

It’s the beauty of sports and competition, and Schröder is fully embracing doing so alongside Green.

“Everything you see when you don’t know him on the court is not really Draymond,” Schröder says. “Really, really cool off the court. Tries to help his young guys, whoever plays on his team. He’s a great leader, vocal and we had fun.

“When it gets to those lines and you don’t play on the same team, then you just compete on the highest level. But after that, it’s always friendship or you’re always cool after that. That’s what I liked about Draymond. I can’t wait on Thursday to get after it with these guys, and I think it’s going to be pretty special.”

Adding fire to flames can burn a locker room down, ruining a season and any good vibes that were created early on.

A team that won eight of its first 10 games and now has dropped eight of its last 10 games also could use a match lit under each and every one of its players' seats, and Green and Schröder aren’t going to shy away from providing the necessary fuel needed on any given day.

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