Draymond Green says his big game means nothing
OAKLAND – The question was barely into the champagne-soaked ether before Draymond Green fired back with his reply.
Will the pain of his Golden State Warriors falling short of a back-to-back championship be numbed, however so slightly, because he played like a champ when it mattered most?
“No – (expletive) no,” he told Paste BN Sports as he walked out of Oracle Arena after the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 93-89 win in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday. “We lost. I’d rather have zero (points), and have everybody say, ‘Draymond didn’t show up and he sucked. But they won a championship.’ That’s all I care about. That’s all I’ve ever been about. That’s what I’ll always be about.”
When Warriors coach Steve Kerr told the world in Jan. 2015 that Green was “the heart and soul” of this team, there wasn’t anyone inside the organization who didn’t already know that to be true. His fire had driven them the season before, when an injury to David Lee paved the way for Green’s ascent. He was the yin to Stephen Curry’s yang, the loudest one in any room whose two-way play helped take the Warriors such an elite level.
But none of that mattered in this moment, when Green and his associates headed for the exits while the Cavs turned their building into their private VIP club. LeBron James roamed the halls with a cigar in his mouth and a bottle of spirits in his hand, his 27-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist outing so emphatically capped by that block of Andre Iguodala’s layup with 1:50 left and everything in the balance. Kyrie Irving soaked up his special time in the spotlight, the Cavs point guard having ended this Warriors’ reign with that three-pointer with 53 seconds left over Curry’s outstretched hand that will haunt them forever. And as Green saw it, that incredible stat line – 32 points on 11 of 15 shooting, 15 rebounds, nine assists and two steals – was as hollow as the 73-9 regular season record that they’d fought so hard to earn for those six months.
“I don’t think it ever got away,” Green said of the game that had 20 lead changes. “At the end of the day, they made a shot. When both teams struggled offensively at the end to make a shot, Kyrie made a tough shot. It happens. That’s why he’s the player he is. He made a tough shot.”
Had the Warriors pulled this off, then Green would have pulled off a redemption song for the ages. Even after the Game 5 suspension that put them in this place, when the NBA’s enforcers decided that his crotch shot on James in Game 4 was worthy of a Flagrant 1 foul that led to his absence, Green was this close to making up for it all.
As the Cavs celebrated on the floor afterward, the stunned Warriors fans in attendance made their voices heard by mercilessly booing NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as he presented the Finals MVP trophy to James. Green didn’t hear it, but his response upon hearing of the hostile scene was admirable nonetheless: he’s still owning up to his mistake, all the way until the end.
“Man, stuff happens,” Green said of his reflections on the league’s decision. “But I’ve learned from the entire situation. It didn’t end the way I wanted it to end. The storybook ending never happened, but I’ve learned from this entire situation and in life that’s all you can ask for.
“It’s about what you do with those lessons, and you take those lessons and you live with them. You use them to better yourself. That’s what I’ll do.”
Green, who had taken such great exception to James’ step-over move that sparked it all in Game 4, even opted for the high road when discussing the Cavs star with whom he had that pivotal clash. Just six months before, they were – as part of the Bleacher Report “Uninterrupted” platform – bantering back and forth via lighthearted video clips about the Big 10 football championship game, Ohio State-Michigan St. But in this series, James went for the throat – no matter whose it was. Green, as much as anyone, can relate to that no-holds-barred approach.
“In the same place we were before,” Green told Paste BN Sports of his relationship with James. “Mad respect. That’s family. It ain’t no hard feelings. I’ve got nothing but love and respect for LeBron. He’s a competitor. I’m a competitor. We had our moment during the (series). Who gives a (expletive)?
“If you don’t have it, then – it’s basketball. Hey, we’re trying to win a championship. They were trying to win a championship. Stuff happens. But ain’t no love lost. It is what it is. The love is still there. The respect will always be there.”
With the way Green finished, even in defeat, it’s safe to say the feeling is mutual.