Draymond Green came out to the podium to speak after the Warriors won the 2017 NBA championship and had a really genuine conversation with the media.
He compared a prepared speech he opted not to use to a State of the Union address, in which he planned on bash Richard Jefferson, J.R. Smith, and the media. But he didn’t share it out of respect. In the two-minute speech, he also praised the referees.
“I did like this State of the Union address. I wrote down this stuff, like man, I’m gonna say this, I’m gonna say that. I was gonna bash everybody who talked junk. I felt like RJ [Richard Jefferson] was talkin’ junk the whole series, then the media, J.R. [Smith] said some things. I’m like, I’m going to bash everybody. But then ... nah, that’s a championship team, you know? They stepped up. The entire season they were great. You have to give those guys a lot of credit.”
Green showed all of his emotions, ranging from the guy TV portrays as evil to his genuine feelings once he’s calm, cool, collected (and winning). The two teams respect each other when it’s all said and done.
He also was understanding of the tough officiating from the Cavs’ blowout win.
“Right along with the calls, that’s basketball. Sometimes the calls don’t go your way. Usually when a team is an aggressor like in Game 4 everybody was like, ‘Oh that’s the worst officiating I’ve ever seen.’ But they were one of the most aggressive teams I had ever played against. Usually when you’re aggressive the calls go your way. Tonight, we were more aggressive, we got more calls. I think that’s just how the game goes. The referees are always going to give the benefit of the doubt to the more aggressive team. Because they’re earning it.”
Draymond concluded by crediting the officiating, which again is unusual coming from the guy who often argues with them.
“You look at officiating ... it’s one of the most inexact sciences that you can come up with. Stuff just happens on the fly. No disrespect for those guys, but you’re talking about mostly about 40- and 50-year-old guys trying to keep up with 18-to-30-year-olds. That’s tough to do. I think they were great. They did the best they could. I don’t really look at it and say, ‘Ah man they were out to get us,’ or ‘They were cheating us.’ The most aggressive team got the calls and that’s just the way the game is always called.”
It was a pure speech after a long season.