Draymond Green makes astonishing NBA Finals claim ahead of Pacers-Thunder showdown
Four-time champion Draymond Green has claimed that he would rather be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs than lose in the NBA Finals.
The Warriors star insists it is 'almost worse' to make it all the way to the Finals, only to fall at the final hurdle. 'One of the worst seasons you can have,' Green said.
The 35-year-old was speaking ahead of this year's tussle between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, which begins on Thursday night.
Green and the Warriors won the NBA Championship in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. But the forward was also part of the Golden State team that lost in the finals in 2016 and 2019.
'If you don't win it, it's almost worse,' the 35-year-old said. 'You might as well have lost in the first round.'
'If you want me to be quite honest with you, I personally think making it to the NBA Finals is one of the worst seasons you can have,' he continued on his YouTube show with Baron Davis.
'Going to the NBA Finals and winning an NBA championship, those two things are so far apart. You can get to the NBA Finals and not be close to winning an NBA championship.
'I know that may sound hard for people to believe... but those that have won championships will definitely understand what I'm saying.
'Those that have been there and didn't quite win will definitely understand what I'm saying. Those two things are so drastically far apart.'
The New York Knicks fell short against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, losing the series 4-2 and then firing head coach Tom Thibodeau.
But Green insisted: 'Even if the Knicks made it to the NBA Finals and didn't win it, that's not some accomplishment to me.
'You get nothing for making the NBA Finals except a couple (tens of thousands of dollars) more than the conference final loser... you walk with nothing. The (other) team goes on and celebrates and has this incredible summer.
'And you're kind of left stuck trying to figure out: "Were we really close? Do we need to run it back with this team? What's the tweak we need to make? Because we were right there. Or we weren't really right there."'
The Oklahoma City Thunder are favorites to win their second NBA Championship. They are -700 with FanDuel, while the Pacers are +500 win the seven-game series.
Oklahoma City had the best record in the NBA over the regular season and Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton admitted: 'We know the odds are stacked against us.'
But the guard, who played a pivotal role in Indiana's win over the Knicks, insisted they 'want to go through the best team' to win a first NBA championship.
'This is the best challenge... this is the best team in the NBA. It's been the best team in the NBA all year,' he told ESPN. 'They're well-coached. They just do everything so well. There's no shortcuts to beating this team.
'We know the odds are stacked against us. It is what it is. We want to be here. We want to play against the best. This is the best. We look forward to the challenge as a group.'
Haliburton added: 'They're historically great on both sides of the ball... they have the MVP (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander). There's so many different things you could name down the list of why they are so great at what they do, why they're such a great team.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Nine women accuse Jared Leto of sexual impropriety in new report
Multiple women have accused Jared Leto of impropriety, with some calling the 53-year-old actor and musician's behavior 'predatory, terrifying and unacceptable'. In a new report by Air Mail on Saturday, nine women have come forward to accuse Leto of engaging in inappropriate behavior over the years, including flirting with teenagers. Speaking to the outlet, one woman said that back in 2006, when she was 16 years old, Leto approached her outside a cafe in Los Angeles. According to the woman, Leto, who was seated with the actor Ashley Olsen, who was then 19, grabbed her arm. 'I looked down and it was Jared Leto,' the woman told Air Mail, adding: 'We had a quick conversation, and he got my number.' She went on to say that Leto called her home a few days later, recalling: 'I don't know if he was on drugs or what … It was the weirdest, grossest voice … [But] for me, it's Jared, you know?' She said that Leto said he was hosting a party at his house that evening and that he invited her. The woman declined, telling the outlet: 'I didn't even have a driver's license.' Nevertheless, she said, Leto kept calling her, 'always at one, two, three AM'. 'And the conversations turned sexual. He'd ask things like: 'Have you ever had a boyfriend? Have you ever sucked a dick?'' she told Air Mail. Another woman, the model Laura La Rue, recounted a similar experience to the outlet, saying that when she was 16 years old in 2008, she was at an event in a private residence in Beverly Hills where Leto was 'watching her so intensely'. 'He asked how old I was. I said, 'I'm 16. How old are you?'' La Rue told Air Mail. Leto, who was 36 at the time, proceeded to ask for her number. The two began an email correspondence, which eventually led to her visiting Leto's home in April 2009, the outlet reports. 'I remember him teasing me the whole time I was there,' La Rue said, adding: 'He was flirting with me. He'd lean in close, then pull away, like it was a game.' In a statement to Air Mail, a representative of Leto said: 'Their communications contain nothing sexual or inappropriate … and Ms La Rue later applied to work as Mr Leto's personal assistant, further underscoring the absence of anything inappropriate in any of their interactions.' Air Mail reports La Rue denying ever applying for a personal assistant role with Leto. During a separate visit, La Rue said, Leto walked out of a room completely naked when she was 17 years old. 'He just walked out, dick out, like it was normal … I thought maybe this was just what adult men do,' she told Air Mail. Another woman who spoke to the outlet said that she and Leto began a texting relationship while she was still underage. According to her, Leto would ask her inappropriate questions during her visits to his house, such as: 'Do any of the little boys you hang out with fuck you?' The woman added that once, when she was 18, Leto 'suddenly pulled his penis out and started masturbating'. She told the outlet: 'Then he walked over, grabbed my hand, and put it on him. He leaned in and said: 'I want you to spit on it.'' Another woman, Allie Teilz, a Los Angeles-based DJ and music producer, last month on Instagram reposted a 2012 Facebook status in which she had said: 'Youre [sic] not really in L.A. until Jared Leto tries to force himself on you backstage… In a kilt.. And a snow hat,' Air Mail reported. In her Instagram stories, which Air Mail reviewed, Teilz said: 'I was assaulted and traumatized by this creep when I was 17 … He knew my age and didn't care. What he did was predatory, terrifying and unacceptable.' A representative of Leto has 'expressly denied' the various women's accusations reported in Air Mail, including Teilz's, which the representative said were 'demonstrably false'. Leto himself has yet to comment on the allegations. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Mauricio Pochettino's United States commit double errors in 2-1 defeat to Turkey
There's a line in the song 'Only Happy When It Rains' when Garbage front-woman Shirley Manson sings 'Pour your misery down on me'. For 80 minutes, rain and misery drenched the United States' men's national team. An early goal put the USMNT ahead of visitors Turkey at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. But the sloppy weather reflected the American's play as consistent mistakes on the backline lead to two cheap goals and a loss. In the first of two warm-up matches before this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup, the USMNT attacked in fits and spurts while constantly being exposed on the backline. It's a performance reflective of the squad that head coach Mauricio Pochettino selected. Multiple USMNT starters are recovering from injuries or tied to clubs competing in the Club World Cup. Others, like Christian Pulisic, asked the USMNT to not be included in this summer's proceedings. The result is a squad made up of only seven members of the 2022 FIFA World Cup team which reached the knockout stages. While the USMNT hasn't sent its best to the Gold Cup in over a decade, the performance in Connecticut showed that the depth in this team is shallow. For Pochettino, his rocky start atop US men's soccer continued on home soil - White smoke popped up right behind the benches the moment the match began - likely Turkish fans who smuggled it in past the security guards. What wasn't smuggled in was fireworks - those were provided just two minutes in by Jack McGlynn, who curled a sublime shot with his left foot to beat Berke Özer for the opening goal of the match. Unfortunately for the US, those were the only real firecrackers they displayed for the rest of the game as the national team was frequently exposed by Turkey. The visitors' first great chance came on the wings as Juventus' Kenan Yildiz was sprung free with a long ball down the left side. He placed a perfectly weighted ball in the middle for Real Madrid's Arda Güler, whose finished betrayed the effort set up for him. A breakthrough did eventually come for the visitors. While the credit goes to Güler, it was essentially an own goal from Johnny Cardoso. The Real Betis midfielder was too careless with the ball just nine yards from his own net and the pass he tried playing to a teammate careened off the Madrid man's feet and into his own net. Not even three whole minutes later, the Turks took advantage of an American backline white-knuckling its way through the pressure. Another breakthrough down the left wing led to an initial chance across that found no one. A second ball hit by Oguz Aydin went into a disorganized USMNT backline. Miles Robinson either made a half-hearted clearance attempt or had the ball take a hard touch off his feet. Either way, it fell to Kerem Akturkoglu - whose shot took an awkward bounce, but crossed the line to make it 2-1 to the visitors. The American backline looked perfectly acceptable in their own attacking buildup - with Max Arfsten often finding space on the US' left flank. But when tasked with holding back the Turks, the USMNT was frequently out-of-position and unable to keep up with the pace of their opposition. Granted, the nation they played against sent their 'A-minus' squad. The attack was all their usual suspects, but other starters were missing elsewhere. For Saturday, the squad Pochettino fielded could be fittingly assessed a grade of 'C-minus'. The 26-man roster named for the Gold Cup is on the 'B-minus/C-plus' borderline, but starters like Tyler Adams, Matt Turner, Brenden Aaronson, and Mark McKenzie didn't play for the first 45 minutes. When Adams and McKenzie eventually did come on at the half, they showed their quality. At the 61st minute, Adams picked up the ball in the box and chipped a ball into Chris Richards - whose header went right at Özer, but was the best US chance in the early stages of the second half. Adams, the USMNT captain at that 2022 World Cup, looked incensed - frustrated with the display put on in front of 34,023 in the muggy weather. The attack often led to nothing. Patrick Agyemang, the Charlotte FC striker playing in his hometown of East Hartford, had chances rarely come his way. McGlynn attempted more strikes, but they never even threatened rattling the net. Saturday's result does need to come with the caveat that this is not the USA's best team. Using this performance as an outlook for the World Cup to come in almost one-year's time would be irresponsible. But this does come at a time where momentum surrounding this team appears to have halted since the hiring of Pochettino. The result does, however, paint a bleak picture for the continental competition beginning next Sunday. Every year, the United States comes into the CONCACAF Gold Cup with expectations of winning - regardless of the caliber of squad they send. Those expectations should not be placed on this team. And that's a problem.
Leader Live
33 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Michael O'Neill takes positives from Northern Ireland's narrow defeat to Denmark
Christian Eriksen's second-half strike completed a come-from-behind win for the Danes as Northern Ireland suffered a second straight defeat after March's 5-1 loss to Sweden. But Saturday's match was not about the result for O'Neill, who wanted to give his young squad another tough test away to top-level opposition with a trip to Germany looming after they open their qualifying campaign in Luxembourg. From that point of view there was plenty for Northern Ireland to be happy with. After taking the lead through Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's early own goal, O'Neill's men did not allow Denmark a shot on target until Gustav Isaksen's fine strike in first-half stoppage time. Thank you for your support here in Denmark and back at home 👏🏻💚🤍 #GAWA — Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) June 7, 2025 However, Northern Ireland did not do enough going the other way, and ended the match not registering a shot on target themselves. 'I thought it was a game that wasn't really played like a friendly game,' O'Neill said. 'I thought it had a little bit of an edge to it, which was good. 'We couldn't have got off to a better start. I thought we started the game very well and obviously we get ahead. I thought we thought we defended really well in the first half, we knew we'd have to defend our box well. 'It was a bit of individual brilliance from Isaksen that gives them the equaliser before half-time so half-time has a little bit of a different feel… What a start for Northern Ireland! ⚽ Shea Charles arrives at the back post to head into the net 🎯#BBCFootball — BBC SPORT NI (@BBCSPORTNI) June 7, 2025 'We lost the second goal but then I thought we really dug in.' Denmark, ranked 50 places above Northern Ireland, had a huge edge in quality and experience and that was what eventually told. But O'Neill recognises there is still more they can do to make themselves competitive. 'We were never going to be a dominant possession-based team against any of these teams,' O'Neill added. 'We're asking players who play their football at League One or Championship level to go out against players from the top five leagues in Europe. 'The way we have to try to close that gap is to be what we are, a team that's well-organised, well-structured, difficult to beat, that comes to frustrate the opposition, but obviously to carry a threat as well. The best no matter the result 👏🏻🟢⚪️ #GAWA — Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) June 7, 2025 'There's no shame in coming here and losing the game 2-1, not at all. But in terms of where we need to get to as a team, we need to be able to retain the ball a little bit better, maybe find a little bit more in terms of level of possession and that will help us carry a bigger threat.' The scoreline would have finished more strongly in Denmark's favour were it not for a number of saves made by 19-year-old goalkeeper Pierce Charles, who came on at half-time in place of Conor Hazard who was hurt in a first-half collision with Rasmus Hojlund. 'It's not an easy situation for young Pierce coming in and playing but I thought he dealt with it well,' O'Neill said. 'He's a very good young goalkeeper. You're defending your box at that point in time but the game gets a bit stretched, we're physically tired in the game. But it's important you keep the game at 2-1 because that's how you may get an opportunity.'
