Draymond Green Makes a Bold Claim About Facing LeBron James’ Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals: “I Would’ve Been the Finals MVP”

LeBron James is arguably the greatest player of all time. But among his many incredible achievements, he is most probably remembered for bringing a championship to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, ending the City’s long drought for a trophy.

And the way he achieved that made it even more memorable. They were down 3-1 against the best team in terms of regular-season wins. The Golden State Warriors were the defending champions and, with being up 3-1, everyone expected them to close it out. But LeBron and the Cavs had other ideas. LeBron and Kyrie had 41 each in the all-important game 5, which took the series back to Cleveland.

Bron followed it up with another monster 41 points and it paved the way for the deciding game 7. This was one of the most-watched games in league history and it was a very close game until the end. LeBron had a triple-double and arguably the biggest clutch moment of his entire career. The Cavs won against all odds and LeBron was deservedly named the Finals MVP.

But the series could have gone an entirely different way if not for a suspension. Draymond Green was suspended for Game 5 of that series for lashing out against LeBron after he stepped over Green. He was given a flagrant one foul and with being his fourth that playoffs, he was suspended for game 5. The rest is history as the Cavs won the next 2 games and won their first championship ever.

Green says he would have been Finals MVP instead of LeBron James

Draymond Green was recently on JJ Redick’s podcast. He was asked by Redick how he processed what happened in game 4 and does he regret his actions. Green replied, ” I think the only thing that may have changed is that I’m not sure I would react the same way in the moment… I don’t regret the way I reacted in the moment.”

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“I don’t regret it because shit happens .. And I learned so much from that. If we do win that series, I don’t think we get Kevin Durant… I think the one thing when I look back and it bothers me is I would have been Finals MVP… And that totally changes the narrative.”

Green was probably the most important part of that Warriors team. He was the cog that kept the Warriors Juggernaut going. Green was the main ball handler and whenever they decided to go small, he was at the center of it. He was the leader in defense and without him, the Warriors didn’t have an answer to the Cavs in Game 5.

He did come back in game 6 but they had already lost Andrew Bogut to injury. Green had an incredible performance in game 7, hitting 5 threes in the first half. However, it wasn’t enough as LeBron and the Cavs prevailed in the end.

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