Draymond Green claims Raptors stood no chance of winning 2019 title sans Durant's injury

On Thursday (Friday IST), Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green made an appearance on Showtime’s All Smoke along with retired NBA players like Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. y discussed Warriors dynasty, which Green believes was ‘unstoppable’ after Durant signed with m in 2016. Though y lost last year, he believes that only happened because Durant injured himself.

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Draymond Green on 2019 NBA Champions Raptors winning due to Durant's injury

According to Draymond Green, Toronto Raptors ‘wouldn’t have stood a chance’ if Kevin Durant was healthy during 2019 NBA Finals. Green talks about Game 5 where Warriors had 40 points with six minutes to go in first period. If Durant did t get hurt that game, Green kws y would have defeated Raptors. Durant had suffered from a calf strain during Western Conference semi-finals against Houston Rockets and returned to game in finals against Toronto Raptors.

Also read | Draymond Green talks about uncertainty around Kevin Durant's free ncy move in 2019

2019 NBA Champions Raptors Game 5 loss vs Warriors

two-time NBA Finals MVP scored 11 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block in 12 minutes. In second quarter, Kevin Durant ruptured his Achilles heel and was sidelined from game. Though Warriors won Game 5 with a 106-105 score, Raptors bagged next game and won ir first-ever NBA title. Durant, who signed with Brooklyn Nets in off season, continues to recover from his injury and is yet to make a debut with m.

While Draymond Green seems sure Raptors stood chance with Kevin Durant on court, Warriors star recently called Durant out for being indecisive about his decision to leave Warriors. While appearing on Uninterrupted's WRTS: After Party show Monday (Tuesday IST), Green stated that he hoped that Durant would have been upfront about his decision, telling m if 'this is it or 'this isn't it'. He added that Durant just left elephant out of room, because of which y received question every day. Green was unimpressed with number of questions rest of team had to answer and compared situation to 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, where players stated that y would t be returning.

Also read | NBA: Draymond Green regrets fight with ex-GSW teammate Kevin Durant

While his time with Warriors gave Durant two NBA championships, he has been reported to be unhappy with team. While one has confirmed rumours, Durant was supposedly frustrated over preferential treatment Warriors star Steph Curry received. During 2018-19 season, Green apparently doubted Durant’s loyalty to franchise, which led to a confrontation on court. Last year, Durant admitted that Green’s words were part of reason why he left team. Draymond Green later revealed that he regretted fight and had apologized to Kevin Durant.

Also read | Kevin Durant admits Draymond Green incident influenced Warriors exit