Draymond Green Says He Got Over Game 7 Loss as Soon as Warriors Signed Kevin Durant

Draymond Green says it only took him about a month to get over the Warriors' Game 7 loss to the Cavaliers.

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Complex Original

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Back in September, Steph Curry spoke with USA Today about the Warriors’ Game 7 loss to the Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals and said that he still wasn’t over it. He also suggested that he might never get over it, regardless of how many championships Golden State might win now that they’ve added Kevin Durant to their roster. "I still haven’t gotten over Game 7," he said. "That’s something that will stay with me pretty much forever."

While speaking with Adrian Wojnarowksi on the latest episode of The Vertical podcast, Draymond Green admitted that it took him a while to get over the sting that came along with the Warriors’ Game 7 loss, too. But unlike Curry, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to dwell on it forever. Green told Woj that the loss bothered him for about a month but that he got over it as soon as Golden State convinced KD to sign with them in early July. To hear Green tell it, the Warriors may have actually won by losing, which is how he copes with the crippling loss to the Cavaliers.

Here’s what Green had to say:

You’ll always think about, 'Man, we blew an opportunity.' It ate away at me for a little while, and then I think on July 4th—or was it July 3rd?—whatever day it was, the 3rd or the 4th, I was like, 'Man, this sucks.' And then I got a call from [Kevin Durant’s business partner] Charlie Bell saying, 'Hey man, let’s go win some championships.' And I said, 'Oh, alright, well, there goes those feelings!' We got Kevin Durant out this deal. I’ll be just fine.

KD has talked about how he wouldn’t have signed with the Warriors if they would have beaten the Cavaliers in the Finals, so Green brings up a valid point. If the Warriors go on to win, say, three or four titles with KD, they might look back and say that they’re thankful for the loss to the Cavaliers. But something tells us there will always be at least a little sting that comes whenever they think about blowing a 3-1 lead to Cleveland, whether guys like Green want to admit it or not.

You can check out Green's entire appearance on The Vertical podcast here. In addition to the KD stuff, he also discusses his thoughts on everything from college athletes not getting paid to the idea of him playing professional football instead of basketball.

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