Warriors star Draymond Green wants to be a billionaire by age 40—here's his 3-step plan

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green thinks big. That's what it takes to be great, he said this week in a pregame interview: "As a competitor, if you're trying to do something meaningful, if you don't have the mindset that you're the best ever, you've failed already."

But the basketball star, who's looking to collect his fourth NBA Championship this year, also has big goals beyond the court — and he's not afraid to lay them on the table.

"I want to be a billionaire. I want to be a multi-billionaire," he told Maverick Carter on an episode of "Kneading Dough." And the 29-year-old wants to notch his first billion by age 40.

Green, who will play in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, June 2, signed a five-year, $82 million contract with the Warriors in 2015. He'll earn a base salary of about $17.5 million this season, plus an estimated $4 million in endorsements.

While joining the three-comma club will be a "tough task for sure," he said, "I think I can reach it."

His mentality puts him on the right track: Research shows that the wealthiest people aren't afraid to think big and tend to set unreasonably high expectations.

Here's Green's 3-pronged plan that will help him turn his millions into billions.

The most important decision Green says he has made to date, and one that will continue to determine his financial success, "is surrounding myself with the team that I have," he told Carter.

The one piece of advice he would give to professional athletes, he said in a 2017 interview with CNBC, "is to always be curious and always continue learning. All young athletes should take the time to educate themselves and find the right mentors."

After all, who you hang out with matters. As author and self-made millionaire Steve Siebold writes in his book "How Rich People Think": "Successful people generally agree that consciousness is contagious, and that exposure to people who are more successful has the potential to expand your thinking and catapult your income. We become like the people we associate with, and that's why winners are attracted to winners."

Whether you're trying to get to $100,000, $1 million or $1 billion, the key to building wealth is putting your money to work.

That's what Green is doing with a portion of his income. In fact, since the Warriors are in the heart of Silicon Valley in Oakland, locker room talk is often about investing.

"We all talk about the investments that we have and how they're doing and some of the start-ups we're trying to get into," he told Carter. "It's known that KD [Kevin Durant] is in Postmates, so he kind of flexes his muscles on Postmates right now. It's some good, fun competition, and I think it's great to keep pushing guys in the right direction."

As for Green's own investments, he and his business partner announced a partnership with Blink Fitness in 2018 to open 20 fitness centers across the U.S. He's invested in other fitness-related companies and is a partner in LeBron James' media platform Uninterrupted.

Green's the first to admit that he has made stupid purchases in the past. The most regrettable one? "A $21,000 night in the club," he told Carter. "That's $21,000 that I can never get back. People say: 'That isn't nothing to you.' $20,000 is still $20,000. I don't care how much money you have, it's still $20,000."

Now, when it comes to spending money, he always considers his long-term goal, he said: "Every day, every decision I make is, 'How is this helping me become a billionaire?'"

Don't miss: Draymond Green: To succeed at anything, you need 'the mindset that you're the best ever'

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