Draymond Green has won four NBA championships with the Warriors, but one title stands out above the rest for the All-NBA forward.
During an appearance on the “Club 520 Podcast,” Green explained why Golden State’s 2022 championship run is his favorite of the bunch.
“2022 wasn’t really a championship team [compared to] the championship teams i’ve been on,” Green said. “It wasn’t really a championship team.
“After every series, me and Steph [Curry] would be walking to do an interview after we won a series and we’d walk and laugh like, ‘Yo, how are we winning these series right now.’ And we literally would laugh like, ‘This is funny.’”
The Warriors dispatched the Denver Nuggets in six games in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs before a pivotal matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
Once again, Golden State pulled out a series win in six games leading to a Western Conference Finals matchup with the Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors beat the Mavericks in five games, setting up an epic NBA Finals battle with the Boston Celtics.
Boston was viewed as the favorite by many and was in position to take a commanding 3-1 series lead before an all-time heroic performance from Steph Curry in Game 4 where the superstar point guard scored 43 points in a hostile environment at TD Garden.
Green explained how Curry’s transcendent performance in that series — which earned him his first NBA Finals MVP award — solidified his place among the greatest players to ever step on an NBA court.
“That’s also when Steph took that next step like, ‘I’m really one of them GOATs,’ Green explained. “And he carried us. That was the toughest one.
“We weren’t favored. Everybody was calling us too small, Boston, they’re too athletic, they’re too big, we didn’t stand a chance. And we went and made it happen.”
Green also added that personal motivation fueled the 2022 title pursuit, sparked by an exchange with former Warriors teammate Kevin Durant.
“So that one was my favorite one, and then also, I told [Kevin Durant], ‘I’m going to win one when you leave here,’ Green revealed. “I did that. So that one was the most fulfilling for me.”
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