NBA – Draymond Green unfiltered: « Going to the Finals is one of the worst things you could do»

Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif

It’s no secret in the league that Draymond Green is one to give his opinion on anything and everything, without a hint of holding back. That said, the Warriors superstar did offer a rather interesting opinion about the NBA Finals.

Here we are, the final matchup of the 2024-25 season is about to begin. Tonight will see the NBA Finals kick off between the Pacers and the Thunder, a rather unusual matchup because it doesn’t involve any big markets. Instead, we see two teams with more modest appeal, but who have built up their strengths over time and are now reaping the rewards.

Incidentally, we’ll have a brand-new champion this year, as neither Oklahoma City nor Indiana have ever won the title in their history. So, it’s a golden opportunity for the players… but if they lose, the disappointment is likely to be particularly bitter, as the ultimate prize was so close at hand for the losers.

Draymond would rather lose in the first round than in the Finals

Having participated in six NBA Finals during his career, Draymond Green knows everything about this since, although he won four, he also lost two in 2016 and 2019. This left a particularly bitter taste in his mouth as well as a feeling of enormous waste, as the Warrior explained in his latest podcast:

I personally think making it to the NBA Finals is one of the worst seasons you could have. Going to the NBA Finals and winning the NBA championship, those things are so far apart. You can get to the NBA Finals and not get close to winning the NBA championship. The NBA Finals look like you close by every now and then, you have that 2016 Warriors/Cavs but sometimes you see a team losing in the NBA Finals 4-2 and really not been close to winning a championship.

You get nothing from making the NBA Finals except a couple 10K more dollars than the Conference Finals… Making it to the Finals is great, but if you don’t win, it’s almost worse. You might as well have lost in the first round.

An opinion that may surprise more than one, but the reasoning is understandable.

As we all know, reaching the NBA Finals is extremely complicated, given the sometimes fierce competition. Some teams don’t have many opportunities to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy and therefore can’t afford to waste them. Especially since, in the event of defeats at this stage of the competition, the resulting hangover can prove catastrophic in the long run by breaking the internal momentum.