The Oklahoma City Thunder are off to quite a historic start to the season, boasting a 21-1 record. Should they continue on this trajectory, they could finish with the best record in NBA history. Right now, that honor belongs to the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who finished with a 73-9 record. Draymond Green, who was among the key players on that team knows better than most the importance of sacrifice for such an accomplishment.
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It has been quite some time since a team has rivalled the likes of that 2016 Warriors team. But the Thunder actually have all the tools to eclipse the record that group set a decade ago.
After the Warriors’ recent loss to the Thunder, Green put his bias aside and spoke on the narratives surrounding OKC’s odds of breaking the record.
“It’s hard, man,” Green said to the media. “But I do think they’re capable. You just need so many things to go right, though.”
Luckily during their 2016 run, the Warriors team didn’t suffer any major injury to anyone who was a part of their core. Their health allowed them to put their best foot forward every single night.
However, the pressure of setting the record began to creep into the hearts of each player. Green recalls one moment in particular where he put his health on the line for the sake of the record.
“I was going for a loose ball, and Joe Ingles cracked me. I was 1000% concussed, and I didn’t tell anybody. In my mind, I was like, if I tell somebody I’m concussed, I’m going to miss at least a week. And that may interfere with us getting 73 wins,” Green revealed on The Draymond Green Show.
The game Green is referring to was the 75th game of the season. The Warriors were able to pull out a 103-96 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz. However, Green played through an undiagnosed concussion.
The four-time champion would continue to play for the rest of the season despite the hindrance. It would pay off as the Warriors would go on to achieve history. The only problem is, they would fail to finish the job by winning the championship.
In hindsight, Green would’ve put the record to the side if that meant being in a better position to win the title. The pressure which got to Green could certainly get to someone on the Thunder.
Regardless, the 4 time NBA champion thinks OKC still has the resources to make history, however unlikely it may be.
“I think they are capable of doing it. Do they actually do it? I’m going to say no,” Green proclaimed.
Green believes the Thunder’s focus is on winning another championship. If they so happen to set a record for most wins in a season, it’ll be just another accolade en route to their main goal.
