Prince made a big impression on the Warriors

ByMARC J. SPEARS
April 22, 2016, 1:34 PM

— --

HOUSTON -- In late February, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was waiting patiently in the VIP area of Oakland's Paramount Theater for Prince to start what would become one of his last shows. Suddenly, one of Prince's handlers made an urgent announcement to Green and the lucky privileged few.

"One of his people said: 'Prince's feeling it now. He's ready to go on now. You should go to your seats because he can be on stage in 10 minutes,' " Green recalled to The Undefeated on Thursday before Game 3 of the Warriors' first round series against the Houston Rockets. (The Steph Curry-less Warriors would go on to lose 97-96.) "We took off to our seats. Within five minutes, he was on stage while people were still waiting to get in. It was amazing to see a performer of that level excited and anxious to perform like that."

Just four rows from the stage, the All-Star loved the intimate performance, Prince playing the piano for just 3,000-seats. He used the word "incredible" to describe the concert and said he instantly became one of Prince's biggest fans.

"Just little subtle stuff like how he looked at the crowd when he was playing the piano to get them involved," said Green. "It was incredible."

Green, 26, didn't grow up in Saginaw, Michigan, a Prince fan like his parents. But after watching The Artist perform on Feb. 28, he made a point to go see him again just days later when he performed at the Warriors' home venue, Oracle Arena. Seeing Prince not only perform in person twice, but also sit courtside at a Warriors game between shows made the news of his passing Thursday unbelievable.

"I'm thankful to see what I saw. I didn't know he would have three weeks left," said Green.