Late Feb. 1, during a red-eye flight from Oakland to Los Angeles, JaVale McGee handed a blanket to each of his 14 Warriors teammates featuring an enormous picture of Draymond Green’s sleeping face.

It was McGee’s way of getting back at Green for repeatedly posting pictures of napping players to social media. The next day, after video of the blanket prank went viral, Green vowed to reporters that he would get revenge.

“It could be days, weeks or even months from now,” Green said with a sly grin. “But, trust me, no way I’m letting him get away with that.”

More than perhaps any other NBA team, Golden State bonds and thrives on humor. Inside jokes, one-liners and months-long prank wars are foundational to the team’s locker-room culture. By taking plenty of lighthearted ribbing, players have helped build a trust that translates to the court.

Because in addition to being arguably the most loaded NBA team in decades, the Warriors are a case study in selfless basketball. Their franchise-record 50 games this season with 30 or more assists were second in league history. Unlike many other clubs that avoid confrontation out of fear of bruising egos, Golden State players pride themselves on holding each other accountable.

“It’s hard to be honest with someone that doesn’t necessarily trust you, or know that you have their best interest at heart,” said Green, who isn’t shy about unleashing on teammates. “It’s important to have trust and know that everyone’s main goal is the same, and just knowing that everybody’s got your back.”

Humor has long been one of the Warriors’ primary ways to build camaraderie and, ultimately, mutual respect. In April 2013, Stephen Curry — then in his fourth NBA season — helped several teammates fill rookie forward Kent Bazemore’s car with popcorn. Two weeks later, with Bazemore cracking jokes on the bench, Golden State beat Denver in the first round for its first playoff series win in six years.

When Steve Kerr took over as head coach for noted disciplinarian Mark Jackson the following spring, he made sure his players understood that fun and world-class basketball are a natural pairing. Andre Iguodala regularly poked fun at Green’s rotund frame on social media. During Curry’s postgame TV interviews, Green often splashed him with cups of water. In March 2016, as an early April Fool’s stunt, teammates convinced center Festus Ezeli that he had been waived in a prank that achieved immortality, thanks to Internet video.

The Warriors’ penchant for gags hardly subsided when nearly half of the roster turned over in the offseason. To welcome Zaza Pachulia to the team, Curry, Green and Klay Thompson teased him for his European fashion style. In the third quarter of Golden State’s Nov. 18 win at Boston, after hitting a 17-foot jumper, Pachulia stopped, turned downcourt, shook his hips and — horribly off rhythm — slapped his butt twice to mock Kevin Durant’s signature shimmy.

Two weeks later, in the locker room after a game in which McGee tried to inbound the ball for the Suns, half a dozen teammates huddled around Durant’s iPhone to laugh at the absent-minded folly. McGee Snapchatted video of himself chuckling as he watched the crowd in front of Durant’s locker.

“We’ve got real guys, guys that are genuine,” Shaun Livingston said. “That’s what it’s about. There’s no fake love around here. Nobody is with a personal agenda.”

In 2005, shortly after becoming head coach of a young, unproven Cavaliers team, Mike Brown was bewildered when he read stories criticizing Cleveland’s players for dancing during pregame introductions. Now he’s the acting head coach of the Warriors and says that the team’s having won at least 67 games each of the past three seasons gives the players license to be their goofy selves.

“More than anything else, this team’s been around and had success for a while,” said Brown, who has led Golden State to six straight playoff wins since taking over for the ailing Kerr. “That’s why they’re able to get away with some things.”

McGee isn’t, however.

In late March, seven weeks after giving teammates those Green-adorned blankets, Green placed toilet paper with McGee’s likeness on it in the bathroom at the Warriors’ practice facility.

“I told him I’d get him back, and I did,” Green said. “You don’t want to mess with me, because I’ll come back even stronger.”

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron