Update: Draymond Green is still Draymond Green.
Asked by NBA.com’s David Aldridge if the Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team he wants to play should the Golden State Warriors make it back to the NBA Finals, Green responded thusly:
Me: Bird and Magic used to always wake up every morning and see how the other guy’s team did the night before, because they knew they were going to see each other in The Finals. If you get back, is Cleveland the only team you want to play?
DG: No. I want to win the Western Conference, try to beat everybody in the Western Conference — which is a tough task. There are so many good teams. So that’s got to be our only focus, to win the Western Conference. And then, if Cleveland comes out of the east, I want to destroy Cleveland. No ifs, ands and buts about it. But I also know that there’s steps to get to that point. And if and when we get to that point, I want to annihilate them.
Me: And if you get there?
DG: If we get there…
Me: And they get there?
DG: And they get there, I want to completely destroy them. No ifs, ands or buts about it. That won’t change. I’m not saying we’re going to look forward to that. Like I said, there’s a long road ahead. And it’ll be a tough, tough road to get there. Nonetheless, if we get there, and they get there, I want to destroy them. Really ain’t no other way to put it.
Green doesn’t really single out the Cavaliers here. He makes it very clear his main goal is to destroy every and any team the Warriors come into contact with en route to the NBA Finals. Hell, he doesn’t even guarantee the Warriors will make it back to the NBA Finals.
By Green’s standards, this is a pretty tame answer. And yet, at the same time, you sense that he would love nothing more than to meet the Cavaliers once more with the championship on the line. And who could blame him?
The Cavaliers erased the Warriors’ 3-1 lead in the Finals, ripping a second consecutive title right out from under them. Green, having been suspended for Game 5 after punching LeBron James in the groin, was an integral part of that demise. Knowing how competitive he is, of course he wants to redeem himself and his team. The entire Warriors roster probably feels the same way.
Luckily for Green, and the rest of Golden State, he should get his chance. It’s tough to predict any team in the East or West beating the Cavaliers and Warriors, respectively, four times in seven tries during the playoffs. These two powerhouses appear to be on a collision course once more.
Not that Green and the Warriors will have to wait until to June for a shot at the Cavaliers. The two squads are set to square off on Christmas Day, giving Green a chance to create some lower-stakes redemption in case this year’s Finals matchup isn’t a foregone conclusion.
