Warriors fans, we’re going on a trip down memory lane that you may not enjoy. 2019, when the core of the dynasty was on the verge of winning their third consecutive NBA title, before two catastrophic injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson hit them. Now, Draymond Green looks back on it with anguish.
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It ended up being Durant’s last ever appearance for the Warriors, as he would go on to join Brooklyn a few months later. Green, along with Thompson and Steph Curry, won another title in 2022 — somewhat of a redemption. Still, 2019 is talked about a lot today as one of basketball’s biggest ‘what ifs’.
Green doesn’t like talking about it. He made that clear in his podcast while talking about a stat from Game 2 of the Thunder vs Pacers Finals clash. A particular stat from the game completely blindsided him, and he proceeded to go on a rant.
Five players from Oklahoma had 15+ points. The last time that happened? Back in 2019, when the Raptors played the Warriors in the Finals. Green did his best to steer away from the topic, but he couldn’t. “We won’t talk about that NBA Finals, who the f*** cares about that NBA Finals?”
“You know, I told y’all I get these rundowns, like just to help me stay on topic. So I know what topics to hit, boom, boom, boom, let’s roll…. You know, whatever, just stole my whole aura,” he added.
Clearly, it’s a rather sensitive topic for the former Defensive Player of the Year. He was on the floor when the Raptors — led by Kawhi Leonard (22 points), Pascal Siakam (26), Kyle Lowry (26), Fred VanVleet (22), and Serge Ibaka (15) — got the better of the Warriors, 114–110, in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals, ending the dream run of that era of Golden State.
This wasn’t the first time Dray reminded the NBA community of just how much that defeat hurt, either. Had Klay not torn his ACL in Game 6, the Warriors may have just taken the flight to Toronto for a decider. History would have been very different.
As far as Green is concerned, he would have much rather not been a part of the Finals altogether than pack up and go home without anything to show for it.
“You get nothing for making the NBA Finals except a couple tens of thousands of dollars more than the conference final loser, and you get another three weeks short of summer,” Green said earlier this year, when talking about the Knicks’ 2025 push for the Finals. The man spoke from experience.
