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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 16, 2015Draymond GreenShaun LivingstonCLEVELAND, OHIO: Game Six Golden State – 105 Q. For both of you guys. Andre Iguodala, who hadn't started a game all season long, wins the Most Valuable Player award in this series. Draymond first, what were the odds of this happening, and why did it happen? DRAYMOND GREEN: Well, I think the odds were high. We're a very confident group, ask we feel like we're a great basketball club. Now that's been proven. You know, we've been confident in ourselves all year, and we came too far to let it go now. Although it was tough those first three games, we stuck together. Andre, Shaun, Barbosa, D. Lee, Bogut are super vets. Andre is that guy that we all look to when everything's going bad. So somebody will say, oh, Draymond, and try to give me credit for being a leader. But we all look to Andre. And Shaun had actually‑‑ when things are going bad, the second unit, they come in and get the pace back right to the game, get the game under control, that's who we look to. I mean, whether it's him taking a back seat and letting Harrison start and not mumbling a word about Coach's decision all year, and then coming in‑‑ he was great the entire series. Not just when he started starting. He was great the entire series. But he saved this season for us. I always say Andre's a pro's pro. He's a professional guy, and it showed, and that's why he's the MVP of this series, and that's why we're champions. Q. Shaun, how did he save the season for you guys? SHAUN LIVINGSTON: He stepped up. Obviously his role this series guarding LeBron and then making shots, making plays for everybody. But to be the sixth man all year, even in the playoffs, and then come and start and turn this thing around for us I think that defines our team. Everybody being ready. Like he said, he's a pro's pro. He came in. He had the hardest job probably on the floor this series trying to contain LeBron. Man, he caused this series to turn the ship for us. Q. Draymond, when you were walking out of the court you were yelling, They told me I couldn't be in the NBA. Could you share a little bit what you felt in that moment? And, Shaun, what's it mean to you after your horrific injury, knee injury? DRAYMOND GREEN: I mean, that's what they said. I won the National Player of the Year Award in college, consensus All‑American. I made every, every single First Team All‑American that you could possibly make, and I was a second‑round pick, and a lot of people said I could never play in this league. Too slow, too small, can't shoot well enough, can't defend nobody. What does he do well? He doesn't have a skill. I've got heart, and that's what stands out. It was just one of those moments where it's like I've always been doubted my entire life. Shout out to Klay Thompson. They told me I couldn't do it. I could not play in this league. I read something after my rookie year like, okay, Draymond's pretty good on the defensive end, but if he don't shore up his offense, he'll be out of the league next year, and I'm sitting here NBA champion. I mean, they can never take that away. They can still say, oh, he's too small, he's too this, he's too that. They can never take this away from me. SHAUN LIVINGSTON: Exactly. DRAYMOND GREEN: So all the rest is history. It don't matter. SHAUN LIVINGSTON: Yeah, for me, everybody knows my journey. Similar. Similar to Draymond. People count you out, no belief, going through the D‑League, trying to make it on ten‑day contracts, being out the NBA. DRAYMOND GREEN: Cut. SHAUN LIVINGSTON: Now to be here as a world champion with my brothers, man, it's a loss for words. You can't put that in words. I'm just grateful. Grateful to God, grateful to Coach, my teammates, and I'm just thankful to be here. It's been such a long journey. I've had two careers, really. It felt like two lives that I lived. To be here now as a world champion, it's the greatest feeling in the world. It makes the journey worth it. It's sweet. Q. How much does it mean to you to play in the Western Conference that has a lot of toughness? A lot of teams are very well qualified. They can probably also make it to the Western Conference Finals and they have great records. How much does this kind of grinding help to shape the identity of you and your team? DRAYMOND GREEN: It helps a lot. Playing in that conference night‑in and night‑out, where there are no nights off, even the worst team in the Western Conference can beat you on any night, it makes a world of difference. Going into the playoffs and playing a Memphis, where that's a tough team to beat. All that stuff primed us for this moment. SHAUN LIVINGSTON: Yeah. DRAYMOND GREEN: It primed us for our non‑shooters to make shots. It primed us for somebody to think they can stop Steph Curry and then all of a sudden you see Steph Curry. It primed us for we're too small, we're a jump shooting team, it will never work. It primed us for all of that. So playing in the Western Conference on the daily, nightly basis, night to night, it gets you ready for everything. That's why I think it's the best conference in the NBA because you see all brands of basketball. So all of a sudden you run up against the Cavs and, I mean, LeBron James is great. There is no one like him. But you're prepared for everything else because we've seen everything. SHAUN LIVINGSTON: Yeah, we're a resilient group. Again, going through that struggle, now to be where we were down 2‑1, we've been in that situation. Having guys, Draymond, Andre, Steph, Klay, all these guys were battle tested. So to be when the odds are against us, we believe in ourselves. So inside that locker room, you see belief, and I think that's what turned the tides for us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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