Count the Warriors’ Draymond Green among the docu-buffs who has seen the first two episodes of “The Last Dance,” the 10-part ESPN documentary that chronicles the Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls’ sixth and final NBA championship.
Pardon Green if he thinks he’s seen this movie before.
It’s not a seamless comparison. The Bulls were going for a second three-peat in the 1997-98 season. The Warriors were aspiring to their first three-peat in 2018-19. Both ventures were bathed in drama. Another distinction: Those Bulls knew for certain coming into training camp that it was their swan song. GM Jerry Krause said in no uncertain terms that coach Phil Jackson would not be back with the Bulls, even if they went “82-0.”
The Warriors? They knew that Kevin Durant’s contract gave him an out after the 2018-19 season, if he so wished. It was no small matter. The uncertainty festered all season.
Green was recently on Uninterrupted’s “WRTS: After Party” with Maverick Carter and Paul Rivera” to compare his Warriors experience and his perception of the Bulls.
“Kevin took the one-year deal on his own,” Green said via ESPN. “And although (Steve Kerr)’s approach was like, ‘Hey guys, let’s approach this year because we don’t know what next year brings. You’ve got Kevin’s contract, you’ve got (Klay Thompson)’s contract, and I kind of got thrown in that contract thing,” Green said.
“So that was kind of the elephant in the room, and although Steve would kind of hit on it — “Let’s just enjoy this year for what it is because we don’t know what next year holds” — it didn’t necessarily carry the same weight because what should have happened was Kevin come out and say, ‘Hey, this is it, let’s do this, or, ‘This isn’t it.’”
Of course, right out the chute Green and Durant had a public spat early in the 2018-19 season.
It was the talking point that never shut up.
Green blames Durant.
“Klay was saying, ‘I want to be a Warrior forever.’ I’m saying I want to be here for my career, we started this, we built this, I want to finish my career here with the guys I started it with.
“And then you kind of had Kevin, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do next year, and it don’t matter.’ But it does because you’re not the only person that has to answer that question. And to be quite frank with you, you’re honestly the last person that has to answer that question because you don’t really say (anything).
“So I’m stuck answering that question all the time. And due to that, there was always an elephant in the room amongst us as opposed to (the Bulls). They didn’t have that elephant. Everybody knew it was Mike’s last year (on the Bulls). They didn’t have that elephant. Whereas I think we had a huge elephant sitting in the room, and Steve was trying to address it as best he could, but it was kind of out of his hands.”
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