The Cleveland Cavaliers may have defeated the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals, but Richard Jefferson admits there was one key factor that might have led to their victory.
The former Cavs swingman took to Twitter on Thursday to drop some serious tea and give a shoutout to Draymond Green, who infamously missed Game 5 of the intense Finals matchup after a controversial suspension.
In Jefferson’s eyes, the Cavaliers might not have pulled away with the title had Green not been suspended. The observation was humorous to Green, who responded to Jefferson with three laughing emojis.
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Jefferson, who is now an ESPN analyst, originally made the statement during the network’s broadcast of the Warriors game against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
“I don’t mind it because it’s true, and I thank Draymond all the time when I see him,” Jefferson said of fans making the same assumption. “... I’m not going to lie and say it didn’t help. It helped a ton, but, you know, I tell him that. He knows it.”
The Warriors were poised to win back-to-back championships after taking a 3-1 lead over Cleveland in 2016 -- and then Green was suspended for the pivotal Game 5 after a flagrant foul the game prior.
Green and LeBron James were involved in a Game 4 altercation which saw both players receive a technical foul. It was Green’s seventh, however, so he was slapped with the one-game suspension.
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Golden State went on to struggle without its defensive leader, losing 112-97. They fumbled the series after losing the next two games, and Green’s suspension has remained a point of contention for Warriors fans years later.
The 2015-16 Warriors were one of the best teams in NBA history after breaking the record for most wins in a season with 73, which was previously held by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. After surmounting a comeback down 3-1 in the conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State’s championship collapse against Cleveland was all the more painful.
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It’s hard to guess how Game 5 would have turned out had Green not been suspended, but across the six Finals games he did play, the power forward averaged 16.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
Jefferson’s assessment could be correct, but like he said: “We’ll never know.”