“The degree of difficulty is not as high with the Boston Celtics as it was with LeBron 3 times” - Skip Bayless believes Draymond Green is disrespecting Steph Curry with his comments on the Celtics and LeBron James
Draymond Green, Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors are one victory away from another championship. The team has a 3-2 lead over the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals and a chance to end the series Thursday night.
Before the series, the Warriors were considered the favorites, but Boston made their job tougher. But according to Green, playing against the Celtics is not as tough as playing against LeBron James, whom he considers the smartest basketball player ever.
This comment, however, has caused a backlash from fans and analysts. They believe Green disrespected Steph Curry by praising James.
Draymond's praise may have disrespected Steph Curry
Draymond Green's praise of LeBron James makes a lot of sense but they may have come out of pettiness towards the Boston Celtics.
Green's teammate, Steph Curry, is also one of the greatest players of all time, which is why some NBA followers believe Curry was disrespected.
Analyst Skip Bayless is one of those people. He thinks Green's comments were fine but that he also disrespected his teammate.
"The guy who is disrespecting Steph Curry happens to be named Draymond Green."
Shannon Sharpe disagreed with Bayless, saying that Draymond was specifically asked about James and the battles they've had in the past. He pointed out that the Warriors forward simply said that the 18-time All-Star is the most intelligent player to ever play the game.
Draymond: "Disrespectful" to compare Celtics series to facing LeBron
"Draymond is discounting the quality of this victory. The degree of difficulty is not as high with the Boston Celtics as it was with LeBron 3 times." — @RealSkipBayless https://t.co/fOt4pO08L7
To Sharpe, Green's remarks had nothing to do with Curry's incredible skills. Curry is a much better shooter, but that wasn't even a question.
Bayless, however, agreed with Green as he also believes that facing James in four NBA Finals (winning three) was much tougher than facing the Celtics.
"Draymond was incredibly honest there, almost to a fault, because he's discounting the quality of this victory, if in fact they close the deal tonight or if it takes Game 7. Because the degree of difficulty is not as high with the Boston Celtics as it was with LeBron three times."
The popular analyst believes that James' Cleveland Cavaliers would have swept the current Boston Celtics.
Facing James was tougher
The Celtics are a fantastic team, but they are simply too young and inexperienced right now. However, they could still surprise by forcing Game 7 and even winning it all. The series is not over yet.
On this day in 2016... LeBron James & Kyrie Irving each scored 41 PTS to help the @cavs win Game 5 and keep their season alive vs. GSW in the #NBAFinals! #NBA75 https://t.co/407YuktzJL
However, there is no doubt that playing against James was much harder. The Warriors beat James in six games in 2015, but the Cavaliers did not have Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.
In 2016, James was victorious by winning three straight games after trailing 3-1. Curry and the Warriors just couldn't stop him.
With Kevin Durant, Golden State beat Cleveland in five games in 2017 and swept the Cavaliers in 2018.