Magic talk disappears for Green
CLEVELAND — Draymond Green heard the hypothesis, courtesy of Magic Johnson, that the “Showtime” Lakers would sweep this Warriors team. And he laughed. He was asked for his thoughts on the matter. And he laughed really hard. “That’s my thoughts,” Green said Tuesday on the eve of the Warriors seeking a commanding 3-0 lead over the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
Green simply stressed the obvious: Any claim is purely subjective because there is no way, short of video games, to get a definitive answer.
“It can never happen. First off, the game is completely different than it was back then. Nowadays, if you can’t shoot a 3, you’re a liability on the floor,” Green said. “That wasn’t the case back then. So I never understand when people try to compare eras and say, ‘Oh, this team could have beat this team’ or ‘They couldn’t have beat that team.’
“It doesn’t make sense to me because you’re kind of talking two different games, for real. So I never really understand that, nor do I get off into it. They were great in their time, we’re great in our time and respect that.”
One guy with a definite connection to the Lakers past is Klay Thompson. His father, Mychal, who wore No. 43, was part of the legendary Lakers teams.
“Unfortunately, no one has invented a time machine yet because that would be nice to have that type of tournament. Different eras. It makes for fun trash talk,” said Thompson, who engaged his dad in such chatter. “I have to roll with my squad though because I think we’d expose No. 43 on the Lakers.”
All of it makes for nice bar talk. The Warriors won a record 73 games last year and lost in the Finals. Those 73 wins meant squat ultimately. This year, they’re chasing the honor of being the first ever 16-0 postseason team. But again, that’s secondary.
“If you have self-confidence, you don’t really care about what who is coming after you is doing,” Green said, referencing back to the Lakers. “If they’re great, they’re great. Respect what they’re doing.”