With his athleticism and energy around the rim, James Wiseman could be a solid fit for the Warriors’ offense.
Because of their high-octane offense, the Golden State Warriors make even average big men look like they’re one of the most effective in the NBA.
The Warriors have done this for Marquese Chriss, and they did it for Willie Cauley-Stein before he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. They’ve also helped Kevon Looney become a budding paint scorer. During the 2018-19 season, Looney shot 72.4% on shots 0-3 feet from the hoop, per Basketball Reference.
And now, as they transition from their dominance of the last decade, the Warriors will potentially be looking for their next big man to mold.
The 2020 NBA draft is loaded with talented guards, but James Wiseman is one big who stands out because of his athleticism and quality interior play.
Wiseman is energetic around the basket, which gives him potential as a valuable lob threat and good rebounder.
He didn’t play much at Memphis because he was ruled ineligible in November. Wiseman was declared ineligible because Penny Hardaway gave $11,500 to Wiseman’s family for them to move from Nashville to Memphis in 2017, per NBC Sports Bay Area’s Drew Shiller.
He was reinstated and eligible to return to play in January, according to Kyle Boone of CBS. But he opted to forgo his eligibility and declared for the draft in December, per Dan Feldman of NBC Sports.
Wiseman played three games in college, scoring 19.7 points per game, grabbing 10.7 rebounds a game and swatting 3.0 blocks a game.
On Tuesday, Draymond Green spoke on ESPN’s Jalen & Jacoby about how Wiseman could be a solid fit in the Warriors’ offense.
Wiseman is a top prospect, and if the Warriors pick in the top three, they’ll have a good chance to draft him. They have a 14.0% chance to land the No. 1 pick, according to Tankathon.
“I’ve seen some clips of his workouts and highlights, and he looks to be pretty mobile, a pretty athletic guy,” Green said Tuesday, per NBC Sports Bay Area’s Ali Thanawalla. “So with our speed and pace, the way we play, I think he would definitely be a great add if that’s case, but I don’t really know what pick we’re going to get or what pick he’s going to go. I’m a living testament to that. You never know how the draft is going to go and how the cards may fall.”
If anyone knows how well a player would fit on Golden State, it’s definitely Green. Green is arguably the smartest player on the roster, with his playmaking being an integral part of the offense.
Green is so skilled at seeing who’s open on back doors or on the weak side, and he would be a perfect player to pair with Wiseman.
With Wiseman being one of the top prospects, the Warriors have an opportunity to secure their future.
Right now, he doesn’t have much of a game outside of the lane. But with the Warriors already having stars in Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, they would simply need Wiseman to be himself: an athletic big who can sky for jams, rebound and defend the rim.
Draymond Green was excited on Instagram after top high school basketball recruit Emoni Bates committed to Michigan State.
According to multiple outlets, Emoni Bates is widely considered the top recruit in the 2022 high school hoops class. On Tuesday, the Michigan high school product announced where he would play college basketball.
In an announcement on ESPN, Bates committed to Tom Izzo’s program at Michigan State. After the consensus five-star recruit made his commitment, a familiar Spartan alum shared his excitement. In an Instagram story, Draymond Green cheered on the newest “Spartan Dawg.”
The 6-foot-9 forward played the first two seasons of his high school career at Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In back-to-back seasons, Bates was named Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year. As a junior, Bates will join Ypsi Prep Academy in Ypsilanti.
Watch highlights from Bates’ high school mixtape via YouTube:
Getting a shoutout from Green is a good start for the young recruit’s Michigan State career. Before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus, Golden State’s three-time All-Star had his No. 23 jersey retired at a ceremony in East Lansing.
Draymond Green picks the favorite to win the NBA title in the bubble.
The 2020 NBA season is currently scheduled to resume on July 30th, and after an eight-game tune-up determines the playoff seeding, the playoffs will begin with 16 teams competing in a bubble environment at Disney World in Orlando.
The Bucks and Lakers were the two clear top seeds in their respective conferences when the season was halted in March, but after such a long layoff and with some rosters changing, the 2020 playoffs could be full of surprises. The Lakers, for example, will be without Avery Bradley, who has decided to sit out the rest of the season, and have yet to confirm whether or not center Dwight Howard will participate. Swingman J.R. Smith will reportedly join the Lakers to replace Bradley, reuniting with former Cavs teammate LeBron James.
According to Warriors star Draymond Green, the coronavirus interruption will be a boost for the Lakers. During an interview with Jalen Rose and David Jacoby on ESPN, Green said that he believed the Clippers were the NBA title favorites all season long, but that the Lakers have an edge in this unique situation, thanks to James.
“I think going into the season and all season long, the Clippers were the favorite. Just when you look at their team, I think they have someone that checks every box, from a defender, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Patrick Beverly. When you’re talking great size – Kawhi, Paul George, Marcus Morris, they check all the boxes. They can match up with any team well. And they have shooting. They have Montrezl [Harrell] down low. They have everything that you need to win a championship.
However, I think going into this bubble, the Lakers got to be the favorite because they got LeBron and he can kind of adjust to anything. And I think he’s probably the most disciplined player we’ve ever seen in the NBA, and that’s going to matter going into this bubble. Having LeBron on your team going into this bubble gives you a slight advantage.”
Draymond Green said LeBron James is “arguably” the greatest of all time, citing his record on and off the court.
In mid-June, Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley tweeted that if Los Angeles Lakers wing LeBron James is playing basketball, the league will play too.
It was a show of how much power James holds in the league.
“I think LeBron yields a lot of power,” Green said. “As he should, I think arguably the greatest player of all time. If you look at his resume, it’s flawless.”
Green, wearing a Klutch Sports Group shirt, said James’ resume is not limited to basketball, but extended to off-the-court business and activism as well.
“The things that he’s been able to do on the court, obviously spectacular,” Green said. “But it’s more important, the things that he’s been able to accomplish off the court. and that’s where he gets the utmost respect from me.”
James has long been one of the spokespeople of the league and unafraid to advocate for causes he holds near.
James expanded his “More Than An Athlete” message to his “More Than A Vote” initiative, which aims to increase voter turnout and fight voter suppression.
He has been an active voice against police brutality as well, and opened the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio.
“It’s not about for me what he’s done on the basketball court as a competitor,” Green said. “I enjoy playing against him, you enjoy playing against the best, but what’s he ‘s done off the court and the initiatives that he’s been able to lead … I have the utmost respect for him and hopefully he runs for president one day.”
On First Take, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green spoke of the importance of voting locally and combating voter suppression.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has taken a role in LeBron James’ “More Than A Vote” initiative, encouraging citizens to vote, learn about voting processes and the electoral college, and put time and effort into local elections.
“Not only voting in November, but voting at your local elections. I’ve never voted at a local election, and so I’ve been trying to educate myself on the process, educating myself on why that’s important,” Green said on ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday.
The “More Than A Vote” initiative, created and funded by James and his business partner Maverick Carter, also involves basketball figures such as Udonis Haslem, Stephen Jackson, Jalen Rose, Skyler Diggins-Smith and Chiney Ogwumike.
“More important than anything, it’s just a bunch of guys and women understanding the need,” Green said. “We have a platform now. This country is not in a great position right now, and we could help create that change and we want to do our part.”
The group has been vocal this month in alleging voter suppression, specifically in Kentucky and Georgia, as voting locations have been shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic.
“When you look at these counties that are predominantly black … Jefferson County, different counties of that nature, that’s going to continue to happen because you can look at the data. And the data shows that if the African American population comes out and votes, things are going to change in this country,” Green said. “And so the best way to stop that is to suppress the votes.”
In Kentucky, which is holding primary elections Tuesday, fewer than 200 polling locations are open, about 95% less than the 3,700 open in a typical election, according to the Washington Post. There’s only one in Jefferson County, the state’s most populous county, which is home to about 45% of the state’s Black population.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear expressed confidence to the Courier Journal that absentee mail-in ballots and early voting would help alleviate the crowded facilities.
On Monday morning, the Jefferson County Clerk’s office reported 218,404 absentee ballots had been mailed and 96,000 had been returned, according to the Courier Journal. About 7,500 people had voted early in person last week.
The highest primary total in Kentucky’s history was 192,630 in 2008.
In Georgia’s June 9 election, new voting machines contributed to long lines and failure of poll workers to properly handle the machines, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Some voters who requested absentee ballots did not receive them.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tweeted about machine failures throughout the city.
This seems to be happening throughout Atlanta and perhaps throughout the county. People have been in line since before 7:00 am this morning. https://t.co/l28JvxhZxi
— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) June 9, 2020
One Black voter told Politico it took her three hours to vote, and her nephew six hours; when she drove to a predominantly white polling location, there were no lines.
With long delays forcing voting hours to be extended in some counties, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and House Speaker David Ralston called for investigations, according to the IBTimes.
The state has closed about 5% of polling locations since 2017, when the Supreme Court weakened a 2013 voting-discrimination law, according to Reuters.
More than 665,000 voters were removed from the rolls that same year. Many of those people had been inactive for three years and did not respond to a notice asking if they wanted to remain on the voting roll, according to the Journal-Constitution.
Despite all this, with Georgia mailing every registered active voter an absentee ballot application, there was a greater turnout than last election cycle, particularly for Democrats, according to NBC.
About 20% of the people who had been removed from voting rolls registered in 2008, according to the AJC.
Green himself said he hadn’t voted since 2008.
“I know there are several other people out there just like myself who haven’t voted in years, so I want to help spread my story and the reasons I didn’t — and let them know that it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Green said. “We’ve all had our reasons of why we haven’t gone out to the polls. But right now our lives are on the line, and it’s more important than ever.”
After a downhill 2019-20 campaign from the Golden State Warriors and Draymond Green, the former Defensive Player of the Year has a message for next season.
With Klay Thompson out, the Golden State Warriors started their 2019-20 campaign with an uphill battle. Once Stephen Curry suffered a significant injury early in the season, their situation only became tougher.
With both Curry and Thompson on the sidelines, the pressure shifted to Draymond Green. The former Defensive Player of the Year struggled with injuries of his own, missing 22 games. Green recorded eight points per game on 38.9% shooting from the field. — his lowest scoring total since 2014-15. The Michigan State product added 6.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per contest.
Despite his down numbers, Green is confident he can return to the caliber play that earned him three All-Star appearances. The Warriors shared a video of Green’s triple-double in Golden State’s Overtime victory against the Denver Nuggets from 2016. Green reshared the Warriors post with a message of his own.
“Yeah I’m going to go back to being that guy — since they all seem to have forgotten…”
In his second consecutive triple-double performance of Golden State’s 73-win season, Green tallied 29 points, 17 boards, 14 dimes and four steals in the Warriors’ 111-108 overtime win against Denver.
Against the New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans in 2020, the former second-round pick netted a triple-double. Green’s best night of the season came in the signature game of Golden State’s 2020 run.
On Christmas Day against the Rockets, the Golden State forward notched 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field with 11 rebounds and three assists. Green knocked down a pair of crucial 3-pointers in the Warriors 116-104 upset victory.
With Curry and Thompson on their way back to the court, the Warriors will need Green to follow through on getting back to being “that guy” from 2016. The Warriors will need Green to bounce back in 2020-21 if they plan to return to the playoffs.
Both Winston and Green won Big Ten Player of the Year awards during their careers to go with a number of all-conference and all-American accolades. Green helped lead the Spartans to the Final Four in 2010 as a sophomore and Winston made a Final Four in 2019. Green also made the national championship game, although that was in the prior decade in 2009.
Tom Izzo has already been nominated as coach of the decade, an award he should be the favorite for. MSU has won the Big Ten five times in the last decade, to go with four league tournament wins and three Final Four appearances.
Andy Katz of NCAA.com named Draymond Green as the fourth-best rebounder in college basketball since 2011.
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Since Draymond Green left Michigan State in 2012, he has become known as a triple-double threat and one of the best defenders in the NBA, in addition to being a multi-time world champion with the Golden State Warriors. Before heading to the NBA, Green was a formidable big man for the Spartans, where he was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 2012. While Green’s NBA career tends to overshadow his NCAA accomplishments, MSU fans remember his amazing play for the Spartans, and so does NCAA.com’s Andy Katz. This week, Katz named Green the fourth-best rebounder in men’s college basketball since 2011.
Only Kenneth Faried, Jordan Murphy, and Ethan Happ ranked above Green on the list, which Katz released on his podcast which you can find here.
Draymond Green earned his first NBA Finals triple-double on June 16, 2015, the day the Warriors won the title.
When the Golden State Warriors needed to close out the series, Draymond Green displayed what has been his top form the past few seasons.
Green, one of the best utility players in the NBA, showcased his versatility on the league’s biggest stage June 16, 2015. It was Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and the Warriors were on the road playing the Cleveland Cavaliers. With a win, they’d secure the title for the first time since 1975.
Green helped lead the Warriors to the championship, as Golden State defeated Cleveland, 105-97. He had a career outing in the victory, earning his first Finals triple-double. Green scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished 10 assists.
As one of the best screen setters in the league, Green is surgical with his playmaking in the short pick-and-roll. Because Steph Curry draws so much attention, Green regularly has plenty of space to slip screens and potentially set up his teammates.
The first play of the video above is a perfect example of Green’s effective play in the short roll. As the Cavs sent J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov, Curry quickly passed the ball to Green, who then lobbed an alley oop to Festus Ezeli.
According to Stat Muse, Green has 10 career playoff triple-doubles. He has 24 career triple-doubles, which ranks seventh among active players, per Stat Muse.
With Green being a skilled offensive player, he holds great value within the Warriors’ motion-oriented offense. Even though Curry missed most of this season due to a broken left hand, and Klay Thompson was out due to an ACL injury, Green still ranked first on Golden State in passes per game (58.3), per NBA.com stats.
HoopsHype breaks down 28 things that fans may not remember about the thrilling Finals Game 7 between the Warriors and Cavaliers from 2016.
Four years have passed since the classic 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, a championship series featuring huge names such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson that culminated with a thrilling Game 7 that was littered with unforgettable plays and sequences.
Well, with basketball on hiatus – for the time being, at least – we decided to go back and rewatch that exciting contest. While doing so, we noticed a lot of little but important moments, some of which were legitimate game-changers.
Below, 28 things you may not remember about that legendary Cavs-Warriors Game 7 from the 2016 Finals.
Emotions were running high going into Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals
Ayesha Curry, Stephen’s wife, said the NBA was “absolutely rigged” after her husband fouled out in Game 6. Steve Kerr ripped the officiating, too.
Then there was also the whole LeBron/Draymond Green stuff from Game 4 that got Green suspended for Game 5.
All in all, this series was quite heated, leading to a very intense Game 7 atmosphere from the opening tip.
There were questions about Andre Iguodala’s condition before Game 7
You have to wonder if LeBron blocks that infamous layup attempt if Andre Iguodala is in tip-top shape instead of having back problems.
Lest we forget, Iguodala was still merely 33 in that series, with enough athleticism left in the tank to get up quicker than he did on that play. Maybe his ailing back really did play a bigger factor in his poor performance that night than we remember.
For what it’s worth, over the first five games of the 2016 Finals, Iguodala averaged 11.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists on 48.9 percent shooting. In Games 6 and 7, however, when Iguodala’s back problems arose, the swingman’s averages fell to 4.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 4-for-11 from the floor.
Cleveland lacked Game 7 experience
Out of the Cavs starting five, only LeBron had any experience in a Game 7 before the start of the contest.
It wasn’t the first Game 7 for any Warrior starter, though.
Interestingly enough, however, as the game played out, it seemed like the Cavaliers were the more experienced team while the Warriors were the ones who looked a bit caught up in the intensity of the moment.
Festus Ezeli had his only start of the playoffs in that game
… And it turned out to likely be the last game of his professional career.
Injuries played a part in that, but Ezeli wouldn’t exactly go on to cover himself in glory that night.
In fairness, Ezeli was better-suited to be a backup, but a series-ending injury to Andrew Bogut in Game 5 forced Kerr’s hand in starting Ezeli.
Curry and Thompson had a rough start to the contest
The first couple of threes attempted by the Splash Brothers didn’t even touch the rim.
That would go on to be a theme for the evening, as both star guards struggled mightily with their shooting.
All Cavs starters scored one bucket each in the first six minutes of the game
Early on, there was very little pressure for LeBron with Irving handling most of the playmaking duties.
Cleveland’s role players stepping up would also go on to be a theme that night. Guys like Tristan Thompson and JR Smith didn’t get a ton of opportunities, but they more than took advantage of the chances they did get to contribute.
LeBron James had three turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game
However, he would only lose the ball twice the rest of the night.
Slightly shaky start for LeBron, but once he settled down, his playmaking was magnificent.
Kevin Love stepped up early
In Games 5 and 6, Love – who had just returned after missing Game 3 due to a concussion – was clearly hampered by the injury he suffered in Game 2.
As such, the All-Star big man scored just nine total points in those two contests, shooting 2-for-8 from the floor in that span.
Nevertheless, Love stepped up in the early portion of Game 7, scoring five points in the first quarter, and though the floor-spacing big man would finish the game with just nine points total, his early scoring was important to get Cleveland settled into the game.
LeBron got into a scuffle early on with an old friend
No, it wasn’t LeBron and Green this time, but rather LeBron and his old pick-and-roll partner Anderson Varejao who got into a very minor tussle towards the end of the first quarter.
Varejao hit James on the shoulder on a drive attempt, LeBron bumps into him on his way towards the foul stripe, there’s a small shove between the two parties, Harrison Barnes played peacemaker and both sides moved on quickly.
Cleveland missed their first eight three-point attempts
Their first make from deep came courtesy of Iman Shumpert, who knocked down a triple while being fouled by Shaun Livingston – the first four-point play of Shumpert’s career.
Overall, the Cavs shot the ball quite poorly on the evening in general, making just six (out of 25) three-pointers on the night. Shumpert’s was one of them, and the only one Cleveland would hit in the first half out of 14 chances. Golden State, on the other hand, made 10 threes out of 21 opportunities in the first half.
It’s sort of shocking the Cavs were only down 49-42 at halftime.
Curry capped a poor first half with his third foul
The Warriors didn’t love the whistle Curry received from the officials on either end of the floor all series long, and that trend continued in Game 7, with Curry – who had fouled out of Game 6 just nights before – being forced to sit for the final 1:09 of the first half after picking up his third foul.
It was a weird foul call, too, with the contact coming off the ball, Curry crouching in guarding position and Shumpert crashing into him. You don’t see that type of contact being called a foul on superstars all that often.
Regardless, Curry capped a quiet nine-point, 3-for-8 shooting first half by picking up his third foul just before halftime.
The intensity was all over the building that evening.
More Ezeli, more problems for Golden State
After sitting for most of the first half, Ezeli started the second half and had a pretty forgettable stretch of plays to start off the third period.
In a four-possession span, Ezeli missed a layup, got scored on after a switch by JR Smith, fouled Love on a rebound and then got scored on by Thompson, pulling Cleveland within three just like that after trailing by seven at the half.
Kerr and Co. were undoubtedly missing Andrew Bogut badly at that point.
More officiating complaints for the Warriors
At one point in the third quarter, the Cavs had a free throw disparity of 20 to nine, and that was after all the complaining Golden State had done in the media about what they felt was one-sided officiating throughout the series.
The final free throw disparity for the game was 25 to 13 in favor of Cleveland.
It somewhat makes sense, as the Cavs played a more physical game in comparison to the Warriors’ finesse, outside shooting-driven style of attack, but a home team getting outshot from the foul stripe in a Game 7 by a nearly two-to-one ratio is a bit surprising.
Andre Iguodala missed two big free throws in the fourth quarter
With 7:40 left in the fourth quarter, Iguodala was fouled by Richard Jefferson on a transition opportunity, one that might have been an easy layup for Iguodala had his back not been ailing him.
Iguodala, who shot 56.1 percent from the foul line those playoffs, missed both free throws to keep the Warriors down by one. With points at such a premium in this hard-fought, defensive slugfest of a contest, missing out on two free points from the foul stripe would come back to haunt Golden State later in the game.
A potentially big run for Golden State was stifled by a 6-0 LeBron run
With roughly five-and-a-half minutes left in the game, the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to go up 87-83. It felt like the time had arrived for one of those patented Golden State runs, the kind that had become so common during their championship days where they’d take a close game late in the fourth quarter and blow it wide open in a moment’s notice thanks to their explosive scoring prowess.
Momentum had completely shifted in the contest, the crowd was absolutely electric, and it seemed like a knockout punch was coming for the Warriors.
However, that didn’t wind up happening, and the Cavs deserve a ton of credit for their resiliency at that moment. LeBron drew a foul on a three-point attempt on Ezeli, who was somewhat inexplicably in the game at that point despite how poorly he had played before that, and made all three free throws, quieting the crowd and getting Cleveland back within one possession.
One has to wonder if Kerr regrets having Ezeli in the game at that point, with under six minutes remaining in the most important outing of the season. That probably should have been Death Lineup time for Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Iguodala and Green.
Even worse, immediately after the three LeBron free throws, with 5:16 remaining in the game, Curry throws way too nonchalant of a behind-the-back pass to Thompson, missing the mark completely and turning it over.
LeBron followed that up by drawing another switch on Ezeli and drilling a three in his face.
Crowd stunned. Lead turned into a deficit. Golden State on the ropes.
Iguodala missed a three could have changed the outcome
With three minutes remaining and the game getting tight, LeBron drove it in on Curry and got a good look at the rim, only to be blocked (some would potentially say fouled on the hand, though no call was made) by Iguodala.
Immediately afterward on the other end of the floor in semi-transition, Iguodala got a great look for a corner three – and missed it.
Had Iguodala hit that shot, one could argue that it could have been a game-changing moment for Golden State, one that would be remembered quite fondly: a block at the rim on one of the greatest players ever and a huge three to open up the basket for the Warriors, who hadn’t scored in minutes.
Who knows? If that shot goes in, maybe LeBron’s eventual chase-down block on Iguodala isn’t as impactful, or maybe it doesn’t even happen at all.
Either way, that was an enormous miss by Iguodala.
Setting the stage for the LeBron block
Prior to LeBron’s iconic block on Iguodala, both teams were had been scoreless for nearly three full minutes with the score stuck at 89-89. From 4:40 remaining until the block at around 1:50 left in the fourth quarter, neither team could buy a single point, and just when it looked like Iguodala was going to open the scoring back up, there came LeBron out of nowhere to pick up arguably the biggest block in NBA history.
Immediately preceding the block, Irving had tried to go one-on-one against Curry and forced a tough layup attempt in heavy traffic, one that missed the rim entirely and was caught by Iguodala on the rebound. After the block, LeBron tried to attack Iguodala on a post-up and missed on his own floater attempt.
The first points in nearly four minutes were from Irving’s historic shot
It took until there were 53 seconds left in the game for either team to finally score, and it was Cleveland who would do so on Irving’s unforgettable side-step three-pointer on Curry to seal the game and the championship for the Cavs.
Golden State wouldn’t score again for the rest of the game, an absolutely shocking fact considering how high-powered their offense was.
A bad foul by Barnes shortened the clock for Golden State
With roughly 18 seconds left in the game and 11 left on the shot clock, Barnes fouls LeBron for some reason despite Golden State having a foul to give and a timeout left. That meant that the clock would reset to 14 seconds left on the shot clock, giving the Warriors even less time to try and force a miss and secure a rebound.
Kerr can be seen putting his hands up as if to tell Barnes not to foul there, but Barnes wasn’t looking in his direction. No one can visibly be seen telling Barnes to foul, either, so it’s likely he took that costly decision on his own.
A surprising player took the last shot of the series
It wasn’t LeBron, or Irving, or Curry, or Thompson or Green who took the last shot of the 2016 season.
It was bench big man Marresse Speight, who had hardly seen action to that point in the contest (though maybe he should have, considering the contributions of Ezeli and Varejao).
His shot was inconsequential, as he took a corner three with Golden State down by four and the clock about to hit zero, but still a fun fact.
Barack Obama delayed his exit from Air Force One to watch the game
Another fun fact completely inconsequential to the game: President Barack Obama delayed his exit from Air Force One to watch the end of the outing.
With how good the contest was, it’s hard to blame him.
That game had the highest ratings ever for an NBA game on ABC
With an average rating of 15.8, Game 7 of the 2016 Finals was the highest-rated NBA game ever shown on ABC.
On average, Game 7 had 31.02 million viewers, though that number would peak at 10:30 pm EST at an astonishing 44.5 million viewers.
What was happening at that point?
Well, at 10:29 pm EST, the LeBron block on Iguodala occurred, so people likely read about that on social media or heard about it via word of mouth and changed channels on their TV to witness the end of the contest. Irving’s game-winning three would take place at 10:32 pm EST.
A night to forget for the Splash Bros
For the contest, Curry and Thompson would combine to go 6-for-24 from three and 12-for-36 from the field overall. If either of them had gotten even remotely hot at any point in the game, the Warriors could have stolen a win.
They didn’t, though, and the rest is history.
The fourth quarter was particularly nightmarish for Curry, who hit his first shot of the period, a three with 6:56 left in the game and would go on to miss his last five shots, four of which were threes – and most of which were pretty good looks.
Draymond Green was easily Golden State’s best player that night
Green was by far the most efficient offensive player for the Warriors. Go figure. He was the only one to shoot better than 50 percent from the field and led the team in scoring with 32 points (22 of them in the first half). Curry was second with 17.
Green went 11-for-15 on the evening and hit 6-of-8 from three after not having hit a triple since Game 2 of the series.
LeBron was voted unanimous MVP
It was the pretty obvious choice, but still, it’s noteworthy that LeBron was unanimous MVP for the 2016 Finals after leading all players in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals – an absolutely ridiculous feat to accomplish.
It’s the only time that has ever happened in NBA history, with one player finishing a series as the leader in all five of those metrics.
That third title was well-earned by James.
Richard Jefferson announced his retirement after the game
Following the final buzzer, Jefferson said he was retiring and it was a “hell of a way to go out.”
That didn’t end up being true, though, as Jefferson went on to play two more seasons, one with Cleveland and one with the Denver Nuggets.
The Warriors were immediately ready for a huge free agency
After the game, Golden State’s owner Joe Lacob was asked what was next for the Warriors. “All I can say is I will be very aggressive,” he answered
Fifteen days later, the Warriors agreed to a deal with Kevin Durant.
You can follow Frank Urbina on Twitter: @FrankUrbina_.
