Draymond Green offers to pay for 'good luck charm' reporter's plane ticket to NBA Finals

Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green and owner Joe Lacob after 119-117 overtime win over Portland Trail Blazers' in NBA Western Conference Finals' Game 4 at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on Monday, May 20, 2019. less Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green and owner Joe Lacob after 119-117 overtime win over Portland Trail Blazers' in NBA Western Conference Finals' Game 4 at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on Monday, May 20, ... more Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Draymond Green offers to pay for 'good luck charm' reporter's plane ticket to NBA Finals 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

Minutes before the start of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors huddled around Geoffrey Arnold, a sports reporter from The Oregonian, since the team needed to find a replacement for Kevin Durant at the center of their pregame huddle.

After the Warriors won, Green promised to pay for Arnold's plane ticket to the NBA Finals.

"You was good luck today," Green told Arnold at the postgame press conference.

ALSO: Canon Curry stole the show after the Warriors' overtime Western Conference Finals win

"You guys gonna fly me down for the Finals?" Arnold asked.

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

"Absolutely," the Warriors star responded. "I'll pay for the ticket myself. Hey Raymond, I got to buy his flight to the Finals. I ain't paying for your hotel though."

SFGATE reached out to Raymond Ridder, the team official Green referenced, to see if Green followed through on his promise, but did not hear back at the time of publication.

Before the game, Stephen Curry put his arm around an unsuspecting Arnold while he was standing near the locker room entrance and had him walk into the middle of the team huddle.

The Warriors usually circle around KD for the pregame huddle. With him out, they improvise. Curry has used a mop, a ball, and now a random stadium employee. pic.twitter.com/U0Z4QHAkSH — Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) May 21, 2019

The team briefly — and somewhat-awkwardly — gathered around Arnold before letting him leave.

RELATED: Stephen Curry reveals emotional message he had for brother Seth after Game 4

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Bay Area News Group's Dieter Kurtenbach pointed out that the Warriors normally start their pregame huddle around Kevin Durant, but since the two-time Finals MVP has been out for five-straight games with a calf strain, the Warriors have been forced to huddle around other people and objects.

"Curry has used a mop, a ball, and now a random stadium employee," Kurtenbach tweeted, prior to the "random stadium employee" actually being identified as Arnold.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE staff writer. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting

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