“Lifting the trophy up is cool but it’s the process.… We won 15 games 2 years ago, I felt that, I went through that” - Draymond Green says this time reaching the NBA Finals feels different, says he feels more gratitude
Draymond Green outlined how his trek to this year's NBA Finals feels different than his past appearances. He feels more grateful this time around.
This year's NBA Finals opportunity has Draymond Green filled with gratitude
Green explained his past finals experiences, stating:
“Lifting the trophy up is cool, but it’s the process. … We won 15 games two years ago. I felt that, I went through that.”
Green continued:
“I just feel more gratitude, more appreciation for this moment, you know. I think when going through it before you’re just kind of look at it like, all right we were in the finals, now and it’s time to do that, you know.
"Now, after missing the playoffs for two straight years and understand that this isn’t guaranteed and understand how hard it is truly to accomplish.”
Draymond Green has made five NBA Finals appearances in his career, winning three of them. For him to state that this year’s opportunity at a championship has him more grateful than ever is big, but sensible.
With Klay Thompson returning, it was inevitable that the Warriors were going to do everything in their power to return to the top. With Thompson out for two seasons, Golden State lost their crown. Them proving themselves to be as lethal as they have comes as no surprise.
Draymond Green’s gratitude could stem from the fact that the squad has reunited and gets to have yet another opportunity at a ring together. It's also Klay’s first season back.
The victory would arguably show the rest of the league that “The Splash Brothers” are in fact unstoppable. Regardless of whether they have Kevin Durant or not.
Winning this year's finals after two years of not playing basketball would be crazy for Klay Thompson as well. That would mean that he came off a finals win into an injury and then immediately regained the crown as soon as he was healthy again.
Such a feat would prove Steph Curry and Thompson are arguably one of, if not the, greatest duos in the league at the moment.
Now add Draymond Green into the mix and a possible fourth finals victory for all three players. They could start to bring their names up as one of the greatest trios in league history.
Golden State is set to face the winner of the Boston versus Miami series.
Both squads have proven to be effective on defense. The Warriors are no strangers to playing tough games as they proved well enough in their matchup against the Grizzlies. The Finals will surely be a vicious battle.