Championship experience is one of the sports clichés that gets tossed around every playoff season. Nonetheless, having players who have been through the rigors of a title run is helpful.
Former Warriors and current Los Angeles Lakers forward Juan Toscano-Anderson was on the squad that won the 2022 NBA Finals and got a first-hand look at how Golden State leaned on its championship experience.
The 29-year-old revealed in a recent episode of the “Buckets” podcast that one of his lasting memories from winning the title is how veteran players like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry reacted in the face of adversity.
“I think we lost Game 1, and Draymond came into the locker room and it’s just him and Steph,” Toscano-Anderson said. “They’re just talking and they talking to us. And like, me, I’m always like a person who understands dynamics.
“Like, we could be here sitting, talking, and I’ll have an out-of-body experience ... You know what I’m saying? Like, I’m looking at the room and I’m looking at everybody else seeing, like, their body language. And it’s like, we went from this to like this, everybody, because Draymond and Steph ain’t sweating. They [are] not tripping.”
Golden State lost Game 1 120-108 to the Boston Celtics at Chase Center. But instead of lowering their heads to an early loss, the Warriors' leaders helped keep everyone's heads up as they pushed forward -- and won.
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“They [are] like, ‘Man, we had that game won,’” Toscano-Anderson said. “‘Don’t even worry about it. We’re going to kick [their] a--. We ain’t tripping. This is nothing. We know we got this.’ And for me, that was just like, again, you don’t get to be around greats.
“You don’t get to be around guys who like, that confident in the finals after losing Game 1, after playing against Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. Those guys, those young kids are really good. And they were just, like, not bothered.”
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Toscano-Anderson’s story of how Curry and Green reacted to losing Game 1 might explain how the Warriors were able to bounce back while trailing in the series on two occasions to eventually defeat the Celtics 4-2 and win the franchise’s sixth NBA championship.