SAN FRANCISCO – Draymond Green hasn't been shy about letting everyone know exactly how he feels, and his demeanor likely won't change either. Following the Golden State Warriors‘ stunning collapse to the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the sky isn't falling for Green, despite what many will have you believe.
Sports talk shows and social media personalities made their living on Friday, bashing Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, and the Warriors after they were outscored 40-16 in the fourth quarter. Golden State became the first team in NBA Finals history to start a fourth quarter leading by 10+ points and lose the same game by 10+ points. Boston was down 92-80 entering the fourth and won 120-108.
“It's the world we live in,” Draymond Green said with a shrug when asked about the noise after Game 1. “Clickbait headlines, who can get the most views, who can say the most outlandish thing. That's just the world we live in. That's what makes this sport what it is, though. That's what makes the revenue in this what they are. It's all a part of the territory.
“I think ultimately for us, you have to be able to block the noise out because the noise is going to be there. And it's so wishy-washy.”
"There's only noise when you're great. There's only noise when someone wants to hear that noise. Nobody's talking about some of these teams that's at home that didn't make the playoffs. There is no noise. No one cares… It's ultimately a compliment.”
– Draymond Green 👀 pic.twitter.com/ygCReQjx2d
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 5, 2022
Oddsmakers now have the Boston Celtics as the favorites to win the 2022 NBA Championship. Now with home-court advantage, it's tough not to give Boston the edge. On the other hand, the Celtics have won a road game in 26 consecutive playoff series, which is an NBA record.
The Celtics are 8-2 on the road this postseason, but only 5-4 at home.
“We come out and win tomorrow, everything's back to normal,” Green continued. “The Warriors are fine. They're going to go on the road. You know they can win a playoff game on the road. It's so wishy-washy, so you can't ride that wave. You can't get caught up in who's saying what because the reality is, if you spend your time worried about that or trying to keep up with that, it's just wasted time. Like then you're an emotional wreck because it's just a roller coaster. It switches from day to day.”
Draymond Green recorded another episode of his popular podcast, ‘The Draymond Green Show,' the morning after Game 1. He went into detail on what he thought the Warriors did well and what they could improve on. Of course, it was met with frustration from Warriors fans, who, according to Green, expect players to be in the gym or watching film 24 hours a day when not playing a game.
“It's like, oh, man, you tweeted,” Green said, mocking those angry Twitter users in his mentions. “You should be watching film for 24 hours. Or like, you know, you tweeted, you should be in the gym shooting for 24 hours because that's incredible for your body, like people just — but that's what happens. You give people a voice and a platform to speak, and they really don't know what they're talking about. So, like in their mind, it's like you should be in the gym shooting 24 hours. Then where would my legs be to shoot in 24 hours? It don't work that way.”
Green took to Twitter to mess with the trolls, predicting exactly what they've been saying over the last few days.
To call Adam Silver the best commissioner in all of sports at this point is kind of disrespectful. He’s one of the best CEOs of a major corporation in the WORLD… just finished watching his PC. Very very very impressive.
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) June 3, 2022
Let me guess…. Go to the gym Draymond you suck? I’ve been there already! How about Go watch film y’all Took an L? did that last night and today and will watch more later… SHUT UP!! 😂😂😂😂
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) June 3, 2022
Draymond explained he didn't even read his mentions, but just tweeted what he assumed people were talking about. And he was dead on.
“To be honest with you, I don't really read my Twitter, so I was just saying stuff that I know people would say. I don't really read people's tweets. If I'm going to tweet, sometimes you may go to Twitter and see a couple things, but I didn't read anything. I just know how people are. I know what trolls do, and those are the things that they would say.
“So I was just kind of poking fun at the trolls because I knew what they would say, not so much that I saw what they were saying. But they're the same response, seen them all. Just you're going to get the same stuff over and over. It's no different than — I mean, they'll say that in Game 3 of the season, let alone Game 1 of the NBA Finals. It's cool, but I don't really see it.”
Stephen Curry echoed a similar sentiment as Green, saying social media will only affect you as much as you let it.
“I think as much as you want it to,” Curry explained. “However much attention you want to put on whether you're reading it here or whatever it is, it comes with the experience of knowing narratives change really quickly and everybody is trying to guess what's going to happen in this series and overreacting or properly reacting to everything.
Anytime Steph Curry misses this many shots in a row, it feels… strange. pic.twitter.com/sayTgaeWcF
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 5, 2022
This is the Warriors sixth NBA Finals appearance in eight seasons. At this point, the veterans like Curry, Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Kevon Looney know how to stay level-headed and focused. A win on Sunday night will change everything for talking heads and sports shows on Monday morning.
With the series shifting to Boston soon, Green knows there's pressure on the Warriors to get one back after letting one slip away.
“I understand that ultimately, if I play well, we win. And if I don't, we still can, but if I do, we win. So that falls on me.
Follow Us
Subscribe