The Draymond Green Show - NBA Finals Preview

fan duel sports book makes it easy. What's up, everybody, Welcome back to The Draymond Green Show. This is a very very important episode, and I know why Jackson think this is a very important episode. What you have here today is an obvious warrior fan slash player, and then you have an angry Boston Celtics fan, not not angry that's making this whole thing come together. Not angry, not angry, real,

a real happy boss and Celtics fan. Let me tell you, all you have to do is go back three weeks and you can see a real angry Boston Celtics fan that was calling his team out. He may have went everything is stuff from saying Jayson Tatum sucks just about three weeks ago. So what you have here today is a Warriors player and a semi angry Boston Celtics fan, and he's happy today because obviously they're in the finals

and it hasn't started. But all it takes is for us to go up one oh, and you have this angry Boston Celtics fan back, so we'll go semi agree today. That is the landscape and the setup for today. However, that's not why this is a very important podcast. This is a very important podcast because this is the thirty five episode, and as we know, the thirty five of anything especial to me. Who's the thirty fifth pick? So

that's why this episode is important. It has absolutely nothing to do with to go to State Warriors, and it definitely has absolutely nothing to do with the Boston Celtics, although I'm sure Jackson thought that's why this was important and that's why I was leading out like that. No, this is simply the thirty five episode, but it does happen to be our very first NBA finalst preview. So you decide which one is more important Number O thirty five.

This thirty five is a very important number in this landscape. Without the thirty five pick, we're not sitting here without the thirty pick. You really don't give a damn who I so very important episode. Let's get into it. Starting off, the Celtics, like I said, beat the Heat took one more games, and I thought, but the Celtics beat the Heat in Game seven in Miami to take it on the road. You know, we always called it the road show. You're taking the show on the road and you're going

to get it done. I thought that was very impressive. Now there's been this whole notion of that. I said what I said to motivate the Miami Heat for a Game seven, and I've seen it, you know. I actually it just came across my phone again. UM, I understand your notion, and I'm not going to confirm or deny. I'm not doing either. That's up to you and that's up to your imagination. However, I did think the Boston

Celtics were gonna win. I also thought the Boston Sex was gonna win in six though, So I can't sit here and act like, oh my god, I got it right, like I thought they was done in six. Nonetheless, they did get it done. And actually we'll say that for later, but Jayson Tatum finished with ten and six Jimmy Butler

finished with thirty five and nine rebounds. So let's talk about the Jimmy Butler shot that's been all over social media and mainstream media for the last couple of days and Jimmy's response and saying I'll take that shot again and blah blah blah song and so forth. When I was sitting there watching that game, and and the people that I was watching the game with, they said that that's a bad shot. I said, I personally think that

shot shouldn't have been taken. And the reason I thought that it was a bad shot was because that shot right there, like that was it. That was like the shot simply said we're either winning this or we're going home. And once the shot was missed, it just felt like somebody took a little staple or or a little safety pin and just poked right at the balloon and the air just left out of the building once that shot

was missed. As opposed to Jimmy Butler, who we know is absolutely amazing at getting to the rim and even even better at getting to the rim and getting filed. And so you have a back backpedalting our Horford with a ton of space, with your shooters running and filling in, and you're sitting at thirty five points, you're at home, crowds into it. If Jimmy Butler drives that basketball and scores, or if Jimmy even drives, the likelihood of you getting a foul call and you're on your home court and

Jimmy's great at getting filed, it's significantly higher. And so if Jimmy drives that basketball and he scores or he gets filed, and the game is tied, all of the pressure then turns to the Boston Celtics, who then has to either A get a bucket or B. They're going in over will not be but if not, they're going into overtime. And if they're go into overtime and they're on the road, all the pressures on on the Celtics. They had a big League you ride that momentum, All

thessure pressure is on the Celtics. Now, these are all takes that you've probably heard. The one that I have not heard is it was fourteen seconds left on the shot clock. So even if you hit the three, you still gotta go down and get a stop or two. So that's where I thought it was a bad shot. It's like it wasn't if if I hit this, we walk off in this game, or if I miss it, you know, um, we can still play the file game. Because the momentum in and the morale and everything was

just gone at that point. That's why I didn't understand the shot. Now Here is where you have to understand personnel and the guys that you're dealing with. I I knew there was zero percent chance Jimmy Butler was passing that ball. Now, this is even going a step further than what shot he decided to take. I knew Jimmy Butler wasn't passing that ball, because that's not what Jimmy

Butler does. Whenever Jimmy Butler is in that situation, just about every time I can remember, Jimmy Butler takes that shot, good battering different. He's taking the shot, and I respect that, and you gotta live with that, especially if you're the Miami Heat. But I can just respect the fact that, all right, that's a constant. That's not something that's changing,

that's not something that you have to guess about. You don't have to guess, you know, you can say, oh, Jimmy brother from the from the three point line, he shouldn't take that shot. The shot he normally takes his driving right with like the fade to lean to the right three and just about every situation he's in like that, he's getting to that right side of the floor. Now you say, he's coming up already on the right side of the floor, which is his comfort zone. And he

took the shot. And so even a bigger deal than the shot selection, I think was the fact that there were fourteen seconds left and it just wasn't no gear guarantee that you're you're walking off even if you do hit that shot. So that was more so the reason I didn't understand the shot. Now and saying that Jimmy Butler had forty nine than Jimmy Butler had thirty five. I don't care what anyone says. Jimmy Butler takes the shot. You take the shot, We live with it. We either

go on or we go home. And that's just the way it's gonna be. So respected. Jimmy leaving it all out there on the floor got played all but two minutes in the final two games, which was very lebron esque, very Lebron asked, I remember, going back what years it was. It was the year that Kyrie, if I'm not mistaken, it was the year that Kyrie was with Boston but he was out and they played the Calves in the

Eastern Conference finals. And I think I've spoke about this before on here and my high school coach, coach Bruce Um. Coach Bruce, it was like Boston winning. I'm telling you day, Boston winning, it's over for the for Lebron, da dada. And I said, coach Bruce, I'm just tell you now, Brian is not losing these two games. He would walk the ball up the court every play unless he got a transition opportunity where he knows they can get it. For Shure bucket, He's gonna walk the ball up the

court every play. He's gonna play every minute of the game. He's gonna control the entire pace of the game. And they're gonna win game six, and they're gonna win game seven. And he called me at halftime a Game six, he said, how did you know this? Like, well, I've only played the guy four times in a row, I mean three times in the row in the NBA Finals that that ends up making four. But I understand what he does.

I understand how he how he does it. Now, just in understanding how he does it don't mean you can go replicate it or duplicate It's still very, very, very tough thing to do, and there's only a very select few people who's even capable of doing it. But like I told him, I knew that was gonna happen. Like you look at Jimmy Butler and the type of guy that he is and the type of competitor that he is,

it's not shocking, especially with all the injuries. It's not shocking that Jimmy Butler played forty six minutes and then forty eight minutes. It's not shocking at all. I think Lebron was actually along the literally maybe forty six or forty four minutes in the Game six and forty eight in Game seven. Um, that's impressive. That that's competing, leaving it all out there, no matter what, competing at the absolute highest level for the absolute highest price that you

can gain, which is an NBA championship. Being one one series away from that, I get it one game aware, I get it, and so kudos to Jimmy Butler. I take my hat off to Jimmy guy, who I have a ton of respect for. A guy who's a late first round pick, got it out the mud has grinded to become the all I can relate to that, like grinded to become an All Star, is never supposed to be the guy who he's become. I get it. So I take my hat off to him in a way carry his team, and I expect this isn't the last

we see of the Miami Heat. Bam, how to buy you coming back? Uh, They're going to continue to get healthy and obviously they have some things to address this offseason. You have the Tyler Hero possible extension or not. P J. Tucker is a possible free agent. They got some things to address, but nonetheless, the Miami he always does. They're never bad and so you just expect to see more

of them. Jayson Tatum, when is his first Eastern Conference m v P the Larry Bird Trophy, which is very fitting that small forward for the Boston Celtics, then takes home the Larry Bird Trophy, the very first one inaugural Larry Bird Trophy. Uh. J T has been incredible man. And and to see him um go out and get

that trophy. He's absolutely amazing the way he's carried his guys um at the very young age of twenty three years old, if I'm not mistaken, just you know, just to see Jason continue to grow and continue to take those NEPs next steps. We've all seen the tools um that he that he has in his bad and his two kids since coming into this league. They've been playing the Eastern Comference Finals since he stepped into the league. And to see him continue to take that next step, uh,

becoming a much better playmaker. He has six assists. I'm pretty sure Irish five or six assists in that series. Such a huge step, a very k D like step, if you will. If you remember back to Kevin his first couple of years in the league, trying to pass the ball, he was a disaster. Kevin himself will tell you that and that he felt like and if you watch that, the next step in his game was becoming

a better playmaker, which he absolutely did. You know Kevin would now go out and get you a triple double on a given night, uh, due to his his playmaking and he's always going to score the basketball. And we've seen Jayson Tatum, especially through these playoffs, take steps like that and and becoming a better playmaker. And so I gotta give credit to him. Miami threw double teams out of him, left and right. Uh, they threw, they threw hits, they blitzed picking rolls, they trapped him as soon as

he crossed half court. They did everything. And for him to still come out and have the impact on the Boston Celtics one ninety six win over the Heat to go to the NBA Finals, it really says a lot about him and his in his process and progression into in his career and just really becoming that force that everyone has thought he could become. I mean even that duke you kind of knew, like this dude, like he's special and and he's really growing into that. And you

have to give him a lot of credit. God works to tell all. You have to give a lot of credit to Emay and the coaching staff for requiring something different that wasn't necessarily required of him before. And that is the mark of a great coach. So a lot of a lot of credit to Emay A lot of credit to j T. But enough of that ship less turn our focus two the n b A Finals with as you know, like I've said before, the Celtics and

to go to State Warriors. I think for us personally, I think this matchup could be good and it could be bad. The reason it could be good and it could be bad, I think it's solely based on us, which is why I expected to be good. What I mean by that, the Celtics have strengths, as every team does, as every great team does, they can hide their weaknesses with their strengths. A bad team and you can see plenty of them around this league, they can't hide their strengths,

their their weaknesses with their strengths. Great teams can. And so for us, we have to be certain that, especially on the offensive end, for us, that we're not just playing into the hands of the defense that and into what Boston wants to get into, into what the shots that they may want you to settle for. We have to make sure that we're getting the shots that we want to get. Now, how does that happen there? It's it's no secret, like we're going to stick to who

we are. We know and everyone knows the Warriors brand of basketball because you've seen it on display for years. We know what that entails. You don't get to the NBA Finals and just totally switch who you are. You got to the NBA Finals because you stay true to who you are. And so I think for us, it's all about ball movement. It's all about getting into the paint,

trying to collapse the defense. Obviously, you have to shoot the ball well, especially against a team like that that has so much length, shooting the ball was extremely important. But the way you can control shooting the ball well is to be certain that you're getting good shots. Now, that doesn't guarantee that you're going to shoot the ball well, because ultimately you're making miss shots and sometimes they just

don't go in. But if you're getting great looks, that raises that percentage in the likelihood that those shots are going to go in dramatically. And so I think for us it's about it's about ball movement. It's about getting into the paint, um attacking the defense. You know, uh, you you you don't go away from force. You meet for use with force. Boston Celtics defense is very much

so a real force. They've shown that, especially over the second part of the year, So I think it's it's very important for us to you know, obviously, when you get to this point, we're gonna know them, They're gonna know us. You gotta get the fifty balls. That's important for us. But it's still important that you stay true to who you are. Now. Obviously in the game plan, you make tweaks and you know you maybe not go

to these sets, go to those sets. And I'll find out more of that today as we're now starting to prepare for the Boston Celtics. Yesterday it's kind of just all about us and getting back into a flow in the rhythm and getting moving, getting up and down the court a little bit after, you know, after a couple of days off this weekend and then having some shooting

and stuff. So that was yesterday for us. Today will install the game plans, start to hand our away at that have a ton of film to watch tonight on my own. Separately from what we'll do with the coaching staff, which I think is very important because they're making these game plans and one thing Coach Kurse stays true to its your You're we have to feel comfortable with the

game plan. The coaching staff just feels comfortable. It's all for nothing because ultimately they don't go out there and playing. So it's very important that we feel comfortable with the game plan, which is why I like to just watch some film myself kind of see what I what I can see that maybe differently what the coaching staff is thinking and have some input on that or or understand that. All right, I think we should do this a little

differently going into the game. Obviously we're going to start the way the coach staff want to start, but I think this can work, and if that's not working, I can immediately go to them with an adjustment of what I think could help us as a team. And so that's very important going into the series. So I'm looking forward to really diving into further into the Boston Celtics this evening and watching more a film after practice. But we got to get the game plan and stalled first.

I'm looking forward to that and just really getting this thing kicking out. As you can see, I don't have a haircut, which again it's something we always have to address in the NBA Finals. It's it's this is a very interesting thing because the Finals really becomes more than just going out and play basketball. Practice for the NBA Finals is different, and all of these things make a difference in your routine. Now for us, it will be a little different this time, you know every other time.

This is our first time being at the NBA in the NBA Finals at Chase Center. And what that means for us is when we were in Oakland at Oracle, our practice facility was downtown Oakland Oracle and the practice facility was not connected. During the NBA Finals, you have to practice at the arena. Why because it's an NBA mandate for media purposes that the home team practices first, and then the last thirty minutes of that practice, the media comes in. And it is a total ship show.

Not that the media is like a ship show, but it's it's literally you're practicing, it's full of media members around the court. It's loud, it's pictures, it's all of these all of this stuff going on, and it's not totally like practice. It just becomes less X and oh and just more getting moving in difference, and so it's a very weird thing. It totally takes you out of

your routine. Then you finished practicing, you have to get right off the court, go into your media session, and then you do the media session you finished the the visiting team comes on the court and for the first thirty minutes of their for the first thirty minutes of their practice, the media is in there, and so you didn't deal with all of that obviously, hotels and tickets

and blah blah blah. There're so many things that you have to deal with just leading up to the game, and as leaders, as guys who's been there before, those are the things that you try to or not even necessarily remind because it's not reminded they don't know. But those are the things that you try to help the young guys understand, to help them get ahead of it, because it's a whirlwind. It's a ton of things going on.

And then you realize when doing all those things, like they ain't now it's time for me to focus on basketball. And that's the feeling. You don't want. You want to get all of that stuff out the way right now, get locked in on the task at hand, and make everything just about basketball as fast as you can. So for us, that's kind of the space they're we're in now. And and just getting everything handled, locking in on the game plan. So I'm really looking forward to that. I'm

really looking forward to getting our coaching staff thoughts. One of the things that I enjoyed most about the playoffs is the initial meeting and facing a team. And we had a small meeting yesterday and talked about a couple of things, but today will be a big meeting leading up to practice and really just like breaking a team down, like thoroughly breaking them down X like defensively, offensively, tendensee,

thoroughly breaking it down. And so I really enjoyed that meeting because it's the X and THOST part of it, is the nerdy part of it, if you will. I know everybody don't really enjoy that side of things, but I absolutely love it. So I'm looking forward to this meeting today. Before we get out of here, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about my guy, the O G my un Darvin ham get in the Los Angeles Lakers job sag nasty stand up. That one right there made me so proud and happy. Ironically, Darvin was

interviewed if I'm not mistaken for the Boston job last year. Obviously, didn't get it. But to see Darwin Ham, guy from Saginaw, Michigan went to Sagonhaw High School, the same place yours truly went after darv obviously, to see him as the head coach of the Lakers. Man, that's so much bigger than then it may seem to the average basketball fan. The average basketball fan wants to pick apart, Oh this guy wasn't a head coach, or he's tough and like he can he can stand up to Rust and Lebron

and like all this nonsense. For me, that means so much more as a kid from Sagonaw who attended to Darvingham camp as a kid and hopes that I could one day beat Darwin him that I could and day playing the NBA the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, a kid from sagging On. That's groundbreaking. Man, that's big time. I think about the kid and sagging all today. That's going to see that and be like, oh wait a minute, So I can coach too, Like I Actually I don't.

I don't have to be a great player. I can focus and possibly become a great coach. Well, why can't I do that? How I know I can do that because Darvin Hamm is doing it. And guess what, he sat in those same seats that you sat in. He sat in the same seat. If I'm that kid, he sat in that same seat that I sat in. So if he can become a head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, I can for sure become a head coach in this league. Why again, because Darvin Hamm is doing it.

And when you come from and I can only speak for myself and the type of setting I come from, when you come from small places like that, you really grab onto that because because ultimately what you're looking for is hope. That's the thing that gets lost when you come from a place like Sagonaw and you don't see much outside of that world and you only see what Saginghall has to offer. What you lose first as you

lose hope. And what what a signing like Darwin Ham, hiring like Darwin Ham does is it gives It gives that young kid hope. I was once that young kid. When Lamar Willie made it to the NFL, it gave me hope. When Jason Richardson made it to the NBA, gave me hope. When Darwn Ham won an NBA Championship with the Detroit Pistons. It gave me hope that I could do that too, because those guys come from the same place I come from. And so for me, this

is so much bigger. This is so much bigger than some excess and ohs or oh man the Lakers, higher than another coach. For me, this is everything because again it gives that little kid in my city a different perspective. That little kid can now say, oh, there's a different path for me that yeah, I want to be in the NBA, but there's a different path I can take. And look Darvin doing it, so I know there's a

different path for me. So for me, it's everything, and I want to say congratulations to dar it's incredible coaching the most historic franchise. Jackson would argue, you're coaching the most historic franchise in the NBA. Kid from Sagging Off, Michigan, it's coaching the Lost Angeles Lakers. It don't get any bigger than that. So for that kid and Sagging all dream away. Hold onto that whole. Continue to chase that dream because as you can see, it is possible for

us too. And I know there are times where it don't feel like it's possible. I know there's times where I feel like and Sagging All, that's just all you got, that's all that's gonna be there for you. Dream Away kid, it's right there for you. And as a kid from Sagging Off, that's done it. I can tell you, dream Away kid, go take it. We cut differently. Nobody gives us anything where we're from, but we go take it. That's how we cut. You have to be in order

to survive Sagging All. So again, I say to that kid out there that saw that Darwin Haam got the head coaching job at a Los Angeles Laker, that kid from Sagging All, dream away, because whatever it is that you want, just like Darvin Haam, just like Jason Richson, like myself, it's right out there for you to go take it. And you got everything in you that you need to go take it. You know why because you're from Sagging All, Michigan and that's just how we cut.

So dar congratulations, I'm happy it's hell for you. I thank you for continuing to pay the way, continue to be an example for a young guy from Sagging All. I wish Darth well, I know everybody's talking about oh man, like, what's he gonna do with the roster and you know Russell Westbrook and blah blah blah. What I know he's going to do is whatever he thinks is absolute best

for that team. What I know he's going to do is build a relationship with Russell Westbrook and be able to understand Russell Westbrook and be able to relate to the Russell Westbrook. That's what I know he's gonna do. Why because he from sagon All And that's what we do. We figure it out what needs to be done. That's what we're gonna do. Bring your hard hat, that's what we do. So, yes, he's gonna figure it out. And

I'm looking forward to him figuring it out. You know why because he from Sagonall and that's how we rock Jackson. We got the mail bag questions, Let's talk to our people before we get out, before I go and prep for these NBA Finals. What you got for Jackson? So instead of the mail bag this episode, we're gonna do something a little bit different. I am gonna ask you

some questions. We're gonna do a fill in the blank about the NBA Finals in honor of our big Finals preg blot episode all Right, first one, going into Game one, the thing that keeps Dre up at night and most about this series is blank. The thing that keeps me up at night most about this series is honestly our health.

I think for us as healthy as we can get leading into this game Thursday, Uh, if we if we can get Auto back, if we can get Gary Payton back, if we can get Andre back, those are three key pieces to our our lineups, to our rotation. And so if we can get one of those guys back, incredible, If we can get two of those guys back, amazing, And if we can get three of those guys back,

I mean, what more can you ask for? So the thing that keeps me up at night going into Game one is wondering if those guys will be back or not and and help us go out through this championship against a very good Boston Celtics team. Okay, the Warriors will win the NBA Finals this year. If blank, the Warriors will and will win the NBA Finals this year. If we control our turnovers, it's a very good defense. We have to be Chris with our passing. Understand that

they have great length. They played passing lanes. Um, they're very aggressive, they're switching defense. So it's very important the Warriors win the finals. If we control our turnovers on the flip side, the Celtics will win the finals. If blank, the Celtics will win the finals. If the Celtics will win the finals if their defense are able two mm hmm, one stop, Steph curt I think that's where where where

everything starts at. But if they if if they ultimately are able to disrupt our offense, Now what does disrupt me? I think that's taking you, ultimately, taking you out of the things that you want to do. So if they're able to disrupt our offense, then the Celtics wins the NBA Finals. Last one. If the Warriors win the NBA Finals, this Steph clay Dre Steve kerr era Warriors dynasty ranks blank and all time dynasties. And now you're not much of a rancor. But if the Warriors win the finals,

the Warriors dynasty ranks blank of all. All right, so

let me ask you a question. What part of the Lakers are considered a dynasty or just the Lakers the whole a dynasty as a whole, because to me, in my opinion, it sounds like when we're speaking of the Warriors dynasty, we're only speaking of this kind of period of where the Clay and myself and Andre has been kind of rocking and Looney uh and Coach Kerr has been kind of rocket And so I asked that because obviously the Lakers has done it this pocket in that pocket.

So as the Lakers as a whole a dynasty, are there different dynasties within the different pockets? I would say it's different areas. You've got the Magic Air Lakers, you got Shock and Kobe, and then you got Shock and Power. I don't know if I would consider Shock and Power dynasty, but I would say, sorry, Kobe Impact, excuse me. I would say, you're You're going by eras of of the team. It's not just the franchise as a whole, Okay, So be be that there are errors and we are up

against areas. So Shock co Magic, you got Jordan's Bulls, you got Bird Celtics. There's obviously a lot of great dynasties in the history of the NBA. You got Spurs, Spurs, Spurs. People are comparing a lot to the Warriors because it's sort got this to two different acts, the early Duncan part and then the later part with Kauai sort of like the later part of your Guys Just Things. So that's an interesting one to compare it to. I think

that's that's definitely an interesting one. And as you know, I have the utmost respectful coach popping the Spurs and Timmy d and all of those guys um to say I want to rank us as a dynasty, I I just it's hard for me to fix my mind to say, you know what, that dynasty is better than them because of X. Like, I just think that's totally disrespectful to basketball. I think it's totally disrespectful two guys and and and and it's a way of lessening the impact that guys

have had on the game. So I refuse to rank. But what I will say is whether we win or lose the NBA Finals, it does like the dynasty is intact. Baby, the dynasty is there and they've been there and making it to the finals or not making it, winning it or not. Obviously winning is going to help it, right like winning always boots. But making my point is making it to this NBA Finals doesn't stamp this dynasty. Dynasty

ben stamped. And so if there's anything that I want to say, it's that it's not necessarily that I rank our dynasty number one, like nah, Like I respect Magic's dynasty, I respect Birds dynasty, I respect m jays dynasty, I respect the Bad Boys Pistons, I respect the Spurs. I appreciate everybody that came before me and their greatness and what they did, and so to get into ranking them, I'm not going to do that out of my respect and love and appreciation for this game and for the

hard work they're going to it. But what I will say, as dynasty been cemented, appreciate everybody for tuning in to our first NBA Finals. Well it's really gonna be our only NBA Finals preview until next year. We obviously to the next year, but we're gonna we gotta go win this one. Frost Laser, I focused Jackson ce and there it is. There the angry fan is already talking about like who's winning next year? See how it goes? And I layers are focused down then trying to figure out

how we can win this year. There it goes. There you have it. That's a rap from the thirty five episode special episode of the Draymond Green show How Light You All? After Game one? Appreciate all of love and supporters always until next time. That's a rap piece.