If you’ve been around the NBA for a decade or more, you’re probably aware of the 2016 NBA Finals. The Golden State Warriors, after finishing the regular season with a record 416 straight wins or something, went up 3-1 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They just looked like the better team. Cleveland too had been a force all year too, in their own way. They finished at the top of the Eastern Conference. However, it just seemed they were outmatched.
That was until there was clawing back, and a suspension, and a chase down block, and Kyrie Irving’s biggest shot of his career. Despite it seeming like a foregone conclusion a few games prior, Cleveland overcame a 3-1 deficit and was victorious.
Unfortunately for Golden State, this is remembered less in Cleveland succeeding and more in Golden State choking horribly in what could have been considered the greatest season of all time. Those jokes still carry on to this day. I’m not sure the two KD championships were worth it. You’d have to ask a Warriors fan.
The Warriors can undo all those "blew a 3-1 lead" jokes right now
Well, the Warriors find themselves wearing different shoes now, or however that saying goes. They are the team down bad. They are the team that seems hopeless. It looks like there is only one potential outcome for this series, especially with Steph’s health being what it is. (He’s injured. Did you know that? Hamstring. Nasty business.)
But no. This is not over. There is a chance that the Warriors could flip the entire 3-1 narrative around and show that, “No. These two numbers do not have power over me. I refuse to allow any ghosts or evil spirits to enter my arithmetic.” They can still come back.
And do you know who needs this more than anyone else? Draymond “H*ckin’” Green. In some retellings of that 2016 Finals, he is the reason they lost. He is the sole reason. He was suspended for attacking people for fun, and missed a game. Sure, he came back with a Game 7, but it wasn’t enough.
It’s time for Draymond redemption. It’s like he’s living out a dream. Not necessarily a good dream, but this is set up perfectly for him and him alone to cast out that sin. He has no Steph right now. Klay is long gone. KD has his own problems. Andrew Wiggins does too. There is a little bit of Jimmy Butler, but come on. This is his show. The Draymond show.
This is just where we are. For the Warriors to make their way out of this series, Draymond will have to find a way to take them there. It’s a redemption story or else. It’s probably the stupidest thing that could come of this series, so it’ll probably happen.
Sorry. I meant “funny.”