Videos

Draymond Green says it’s disrespectful to compare mental challenge of facing Celtics to LeBron James

Published by
Peter Dewey

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green had some major praise for Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James when asked about facing the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.

Green, who faced James in the NBA Finals four times with the Warriors, said that it was “disrespectful” to compare facing James to facing Boston.

He also referred to James as possibly the “smartest guy to set foot on a basketball court.”

Even though the Celtics have put up a solid fight in the NBA Finals, winning two of the first five games, Green knows that facing James was a whole different level of basketball.

James went 1-3 in his four NBA Finals appearances against Green’s Warriors, but he had to face a team that had Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in two of those four trips.

The biggest accomplishment for James came in the 2016 NBA Finals when he led the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 3-1 series deficit to ultimately defeat the Warriors in Game 7 and win the series.

The Lakers got a small taste of just how dominant James can be in their run to a title in the 2019-20 season.

Los Angeles is hoping that James still has enough left in the tank to bring the franchise back to the top of the NBA next season.

Despite injuries in the 2021-22 season, James still put up amazing numbers. He averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from beyond the arc.

As for Green and the Warriors, they are looking to win their fourth NBA title in the last eight seasons when they take on the Celtics in Game 6 on Thursday night in Boston.

Peter Dewey

Peter is a graduate of Quinnipiac University where he covered the MAAC and college basketball for three years. He has worked for NBC Sports, the Connecticut Sun and the Meriden Record-Journal covering basketball and other major sports. Follow him on Twitter @peterdewey2.

Published by
Peter Dewey

Recent Posts

Antoine Walker says LeBron wasn’t actually ‘unguardable’ in pickup game with MJ: ‘That wasn’t the case’

Earlier this year, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James recounted a story about playing in…

March 15, 2025

Dorian Finney-Smith says he noticed JJ Redick was ‘a little off’: ‘All the greats are a little bit off’

Before veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and began playing…

March 14, 2025

D-Wade says LeBron ‘put some extra heat’ on Bronny by saying he was better than some NBA players

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and ESPN star Stephen A. Smith have been in…

March 14, 2025

Skip Bayless destroys Luka’s impact without LeBron: ‘Most of his points felt like empty calories’

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic had some big numbers on Thursday against the Milwaukee…

March 14, 2025

Shaq says LeBron is trying to set records that will never be broken: ‘I know what he’s doing’

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James set another NBA record recently. In the team's March 4 blowout…

March 13, 2025

Sean Hannity claims he would’ve had Stephen A.’s back during LeBron confrontation: ‘Just saying’

Not long after former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade expressed to TMZ Sports that he…

March 13, 2025