Dubs Talk hosts Monte Poole and Kerith Burke debate if the Warriors should trade in their future to win this season.
When Warriors veteran Draymond Green found himself on the bench during Game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals, he was frustrated. But ultimately, he understood the move by his coach, Steve Kerr.
And now that the Warriors are six months removed from hoisting their fourth Larry O'Brien Trophy in eight seasons, Green revealed his true feelings about the decision on the latest episode of Uninterrupted's "Throwing Bones."
"I even got benched in Game 4," Green said while explaining some of the adversity he faced during the Finals. "I got offense/defense subbed -- by the way, I felt like that was disrespectful as f--k.
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"But, it's cool. Like, I didn't take it personal because the only thing that was important to me was to win a championship."
Kerr sat Green with just over seven minutes left in the game against the Boston Celtics, and the forward spent four minutes on the bench.
Green returned to the floor in several bursts over the game's final minutes, and the Warriors outscored the Celtics 10-3 after he returned from his brief hiatus.
Golden State, of course, went on to win the best-of-seven series in six games. And shortly after the team's championship parade in San Francisco, Kerr went on the "Point Forward" podcast and defended his decision to sit Green.
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"I've been here now eight years, so I know all these guys so well," Kerr said. "I didn't really think much about it when I took Draymond out in Game 4, because that unit was not doing well so I was really looking for a shift. And I was thinking I would just take him out for a minute or two and then get him back.
"In the NBA if you find a group that works, then you stick with it and it doesn't matter who is on the floor. You can't worry about anybody's feelings being hurt or anything like that ... Sure enough, when the run ended and we went back to him, he was great and made huge plays down the stretch and it all worked out."
It certainly did work out, though Green thinks his attitude about the situation would be very different had the Warriors lost the Finals.
"Afterwards, I had to take myself to a place of, like, don't go down that road, because for me, that road can get ugly," Green said. "So for me, I'm like, 'All right, I got benched. We won. I'm cool.'
"Had I got benched and we lost, though, I'm not sure I would have handled it well."
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Luckily for Dub Nation, that's something they don't need to imagine -- nor does the four-time NBA champion Green.