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The Warriors own the best record (36-6) in the NBA and center Andrew Bogut is a vital part of their success. During his 12-game absence while dealing with right knee inflammation, the Warriors lost three games.

Since Bogut's return, the Warriors are 9-1 with the only loss coming when Steve Kerr rested his center in Oklahoma City on Jan. 16.

Bogut joined KNBR 680-AM on Monday and discussed his role on the team, the incident involving Stephen Curry and the Rockets last Wednesday and why the Warriors are such a tight-knit group:

On what's more fun: Being a rim protector or being part of the offense:
"I take the defensive challenge because I think I'm the main guy to get our defense going. Offensively we have a lot of weapons. I still need to set screens and still be a target inside and make good passes and smart decisions. But I think where I control the game for us is defensively and to make sure, at least starting the game, if guys come in for layups, you're gonna have to shoot a floater or change their shots. I think it sets the tone for the rest of the game. Even when I'm out, you notice guys come in the paint kind of hesitant and that's mission accomplished for me, even though I'm not getting stats or blocking shots, that's kind of exactly what I want."

On getting under opponents' skin:
"I don't do it intentionally. It's just the way I play. I'm not trying to go in there to get guys to get aggitated and try to fight me. The Clippers are prime example. They're a very physical team. Every time I play them, I don't allow easy lobs, I don't let (Chris Paul) to come down and throw a lob to DeAndre (Jordan). I'll either foul him or stay on his body so he can't get those easy baskets. Obviously, guys get taken out of their game so they get frustrated and then they resort to what Houston resorted to the other night. You start getting the cheap shots. And then if they want to throw them, I'll start throwing them back. I'm not going to take a step back. I don't engage in it. Rarely do I engage in it. People thought I did...I'm going to stand up for myself and my teammates at all costs."

On incident Stephen Curry and Rockets' Patrick Beverly and Trevor Ariza:
"Houston ran the score up on us a couple years back in Houston when they were trying to get the 3-point record and Draymond Green ran through one of their guys on the 3-point line. There comes a point when you don't want to be the little brother anymore and guys are going to do that. It's a man's game, so you gotta be prepared for that. We told our guys at timeouts in the Houston game, if you have an open layup or open dunk, just be careful. Try to go off two feet, don't go off one, because they're probably going to take us out. So we expected that and you've got to expect that going forward, especially with the shooters that we have, with Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson). Guys are starting to resort to that to try and get those guys off their game."

On tough guys around the league:
"There's ever rarely a brawl in an NBA court, the lights are on and cameras are on. It's a Hollywood type thing. If you really want to fight, we can fight each other afterwards. That was the whole veteran thing. These days, it just kind of happened with social media. When the lights are on and camera is on, everybody is like, 'Hold me back, hold me back.' And I just laugh at it. I just don't even bother anymore. It's so fake."

On his sense of humor and who his favorite target on team is:
"Me and (Harrison Barnes) kind of have that dry sense of humor, so we go at each other a fair bit. We plot some jokes together sometimes. Festus (Ezeli) we go after a bit. He's gotten much better, but he used to be sensitive, so you make a little crack and he's ready to throw a punch at you. We have a fun, carefree team off the court. We hang out together. This is one of the rare teams where you're on the road, for instance let's say we're playing Portland tomorrow and we fly in tonight, teams I've been on, as soon as you get to the hotel, it's like stray bullets going all directions, see you guys at shootaround the next morning. This team, you actually see guys away from the basketball court. It's cool. It's just different. You go to dinner and there's nine, 10, 11, 12 guys. It's just unheard of in the NBA and I think that's the main reason we have chemistry that we do."