WITH the future of this NBA season uncertain, Draymond Green couldn’t help but look at the recent past, thinking of what could’ve been after Golden State missed out on a championship three-peat.
Making an appearance on Showtime’s All the Smoke with former NBA wingmen Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, the Warriors do-it-all forward felt his team could’ve completed the hat-trick had Kevin Durant been healthy against Toronto.
The best even had gotten better when the Warriors acquired Durant in 2016, winning back-to-back championships and having a chance to become one of the few teams to win a three-peat.
But Durant strained his calf in the Western Conference semifinals against Houston, missing a little over a month before making a cameo in the finals when the Warriors were on the verge of elimination with a 3-1 deficit against the Raptors.
Durant dropped 11 points, two boards, and one block in 12 minutes in the first quarter before suffering a ruptured Achilles early in the second frame. The Warriors hung on to win by one point.
That small sample size was enough for Green to say that they would’ve been heavily favored against the Raptors.
"Once we got Kevin, we were f--king unstoppable," Green said. "Even losing last year, Kevin don't get hurt—you seen the game he came back in Game 5, I looked up, it was like six minutes to go, we had like 40 points in the first quarter—and so they wouldn't have stood a chance if Kevin didn't get hurt."
The Raptors, though, closed out the series in Game Six, before the Warriors saw Durant leave for Brooklyn.
Check out the full interview below.
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