It's been nearly five years since Klay Thompson tore his ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors, but Danny Green still thinks about the pain he caused him, the Warriors and their fans.
Of course, Green accidentally tore his ACL while fouling a Golden State guard on an emotional night that saw the Raptors leave Oracle Arena as their first-ever NBA champions.
Speaking with Draymond Green on “The Draymond Green Show” on Friday, Danny reflected on the play and its aftermath that have since clouded his NBA career.
“Thank you,” Danny said to Draymond. “I'm glad you embraced me. I'm glad there's love across the coast, no, in the Bay Area. I was asked on the radio today, 'Does any group hate you?' [it] When they tweeted that I was on your show, I thought, 'Damn it.' There's only one organization whose fans say, 'No.' They're not going to screw it up.
“But I understand. Five years ago I was hoping some of them would forget about it or leave it alone. I'm not a dirty player.”
The former Raptors guard is well aware of how Dub Nation perceives him, and he, too, has gone on record as wishing the play had never happened.
Fortunately for Thompson, despite suffering a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture in 2020, he returned to the NBA and helped the Warriors defeat the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals. It must take some pressure off the three-time NBA champion that his career is not over, but rather on track.
Now that the dust has settled a bit, Danny hopes Warriors fans will view him in a better light. Golden State players like Draymond and Andre Iguodala never gave him any suspicious looks during the 2019 Finals.
Either way, Danny made it clear that he still has love for Dub Nation and has great respect for how Draymond persevered. Genuine Every night there's negative feedback from basically every NBA fan.
“I can’t imagine playing the bad guy in every arena every night,” Danny told Draymond, “so I’m sending you lots of flowers and lots of praise, brother. [fan base] “Golden State fans don't like me at all, but still, lots of love to the fans around the world. No love lost.”
Members of the Greens agree there are no hard feelings about what happened in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Hopefully, Dub Nation can come together and achieve peace and harmony.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk podcast
