Getty Toronto Raptors stars Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam celebrate during the 2019 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Nearly three years have passed since it all went down and the Golden State Warriors are clearly in a great place now, but the pain of the 2019 NBA Finals is still alive and well for Dub Nation.
Hats off to the Raptors, of course, for persevering after a years-long grind and making the best of the Warriors’ misfortune. Their title win was an incredible moment for the franchise, the city of Toronto and the league as a whole.
If Klay Thompson hadn’t gotten hurt, though — never mind the Kevin Durant injury — Golden State may have another banner hanging in the rafters at Chase Center. At least, that’s how Draymond Green feels about it.
Raptors star Fred VanVleet has a contrasting viewpoint, however, and one that he had no problem sharing with the Warriors big man.
“I don’t agree with that, but at the same time, I can see that argument,” VanVleet said while guesting on the February 16 episode of Green’s podcast. “[Klay] in those Game 6s, he’s got a super catalog of those crazy games where it’s hard to beat him.”
VanVleet didn’t stop there, though.
VanVleet: ‘We Were Better’
Although that iteration of the Warriors was undeniably one of the most talented teams in the history of the game, VanVleet believes that Durant going down effectively killed Golden State’s chances. As he sees it, Thompson’s injury didn’t affect the outcome of the series.
“I felt like we were a much better team than y’all without Kevin [Durant],” VanVleet confessed. “We had the depth and there were certain matchups that we can pick on and some of the guys you guys were playing in those moments we weren’t used to seeing from the Warriors dynasty… We had certain things that we were hunting for in specific situations.”
“But who knows, nobody will ever know. Y’all could argue that for the rest of your life.”
Green was obviously tickled by the hot take. The four-time All-Star quote-tweeted the clip from his interview with VanVleet and commented, “That was Bold lol.”
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Props for KD
Green noted during the exchange that Durant had already been banged up entering the championship series, missing the first four games as a result. For his part, VanVleet recalled the hubbub surrounding KD’s Game 5 comeback and talked about his own astonishment at what the future HOFer was able to do in his brief return.
“I just remember being in the locker room before Game 5 and there was a little buzz like, ‘When is he coming back?’ There were whispers that he was going to play,” VanVleet said. “I felt like he was going to play, if he was close enough to play we knew he was going to try it out. I just remember the conversation like ‘Alright, he’s coming back, we’re going to go at him, we’re going to see what he’s got.’
“He came out and hit the first four shots and I remember I was like ‘Damn! This dude is special.'”
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