The Dub nation will always think about what could have transpired if Draymond Green didn’t get that Game 5 suspension, but Dray doesn’t.
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The Warriors-Cavaliers rivalry in the latter half of the 2010s was one of the biggest rivalries in the game of basketball, if not the greatest.
And with years of back and forth comes countless ifs and buts. This had a lot of them as well, but a couple that floats at the top of the mind of both teams’ fans.
One would obviously be JR Smith’s fumble in Game 1 of the 2018 Finals, which in a way gifted the series to the Warriors instead of being a momentum-setting game for the Cavs.
Also read: LeBron James, who recently became a billionaire, lost $25,000 after a brutal loss to the Magic
The Other one would be Draymond Green’s suspension from Game 5 of the 2016 Finals, which most people, apart from Cavs fans, did change the eventuality of who lifted the championship.
Draymond Green has no regrets about his Game 5 suspension in 2016
While Smith still regrets his mistake and believes the league is blackballing him for it, the 4x champ will not change a thing about what he did that led to his suspension from a monumental game that could’ve won them a back-to-back championship.
Draymond on his Game 5 suspension in 2016 NBA Finals:
“I cost us a championship. I’m fine with that. I can take that on the chin, no problem. I own up to my mistakes. ‘Would I do it again? One thousand percent’.”
(via Checc’n In, https://t.co/0elYkrDpZb) pic.twitter.com/F7NzuelEvY
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 18, 2022
Green conceived a flagrant 1 foul for an altercation in Game 4 with LeBron James, that had both stars getting entangled. The 4x MVP then got loose of the Warriors forward and sent him to the floor, and then tried to step over his grounded opponent.
That led to Green swinging his arm and striking James in the groin. The Warriors were 3-1 up in the series by the end of that game and were all set up for taking their second championship home after an NBA record season of 73 wins and 9 losses.
Green’s suspension led to one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history, where a team came back from a 3-1 deficit and won the championship.
That won James’ 3rd and the best one of his four Championships to date, also his 3rd Finals MVP. So, Dray was probably right in doing that.
Had he not committed that bizarre foul, everyone including LeBron, Green, Stephen Curry, and even Kevin Durant would have a very different legacy than they currently have.
Warriors might not have recruited KD, and we would not have seen one of the greatest teams assembled to stop James and Kyrie Irving from doubling. It also gave us some of the most dominant and entertaining brand of basketball that was never seen before.