In a new podcast in collaboration with the show The Old Man and The Three by JJ Redick and Tommy Alter, Draymond Green looked back on the glory days of the Warriors in 2015. The opportunity for the strong winger to underline the importance of the arrival of Kevin Durant at the Warriors after the disappointment of 2016 against the Cavs.
For a change, Draymond is not going to use his media time to light up a competing team or another League player this time around. Asked by JJ Redick about the lack of credit given to Kevin Durant in the Warriors’ 2017 and 2018 titles, Draymond Green took the opportunity to pay tribute to his former teammate. A beautiful statement that says a lot about the place that KD occupied in this team, despite the tremors that disrupted his passage in California. We give you just below the full answer of Dray to the question of the former shooter.
“I think within the organization we did everything we could to make Kevin comfortable. We did everything we could to let him know, “Just as this is our home, it’s also your home, brother. »
But the external environment did not. “He joins a team that won 73 games, he joins the team that won the championship” and blah blah blah. But really, I don’t think this team wins another championship if Kevin doesn’t come. We wouldn’t have beaten the Cavs again without Kevin. – Draymond Green, for The Old Man and The Three
These lyrics are interesting, because they highlight the merit of Durant in the two titles won in 2017 and 2018, not always recognized. To fully understand this, just take a look in the retro to remember the context of the time: beaten in the conference finals by the Warriors with the Thunder in 2016, KD had chosen to join his executioners to strengthen the superteam Californian. A highly criticized choice that triggered a great media storm. In addition, Keke landed at that time in a team which had to recover after suffering a reassembled history in the 2016 NBA Finals against the LeBron Cavs. And his cute dumpling linked to his fake Twitter accounts – after a first championship title and a 2017 Finals MVP trophy – did not help the player improve his image. In short, the passage of the 2014 MVP to Golden State did not always take place under ideal conditions, as Green reminds us. And despite that, Durant had two very good seasons to support Steph Curry and all his clique, with two titles at stake. It then went a little worse in his last season in the Bay, with tensions within the group (especially with Dray), Finals lost with this serious injury. A few years after the separation between KD and the Warriors, however, we do not forget the key role played by the current Nets player in reviving this team and permanently establishing the Golden State dynasty. He wasn’t his best mate at the end of their joint adventure, but Draymond Green isn’t holding a grudge.
« We would not have beat the Cavs coming back around without Kevin »@Money23Green talks about how important @KDTrey5 was to the Warriors’ success. @OldManAndThree pic.twitter.com/jdyjIOE64H
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) June 28, 2022
After dominating the League individually with the Sonics then the Thunder, Kevin Durant joined the Warriors to top his first collective distinctions. With two champion rings to which we can add two Finals MVP trophies in 2017 and 2018, the mission has been more than accomplished. And guess what? Reviews don’t erase titles.
Source : NBC SportsTwitter @TheVolumeSports