Dub Hub, Daily Warriors Links for 1/19/23: Draymond Green ready for return to Boston

Good Morning Dub Nation,

The Golden State Warriors play a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals tonight, as they take on the Boston Celtics in TD Garden Arena. This will be Golden State’s first trip back to Boston since winning the title last June. Tensions were high during that series, especially for Warriors forward Draymond Green who experienced the worst of it from the Boston crowd as highlighted in an article by ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.

Via ESPN:

“You usually have situations where people talk crazy, but not the entire arena,” Green told ESPN. “You’ll have a situation where an entire arena will boo you, but not what the Boston fans were doing. So, it was just a different situation than I had ever seen. It took a while to adjust to it ... it was just so unexpected. It caught me off guard.”

Green said for the entire 48 minutes of the game — which truly lasts for about three hours — “f—k Draymond” chants, and names like “b---h” and the N-word rained down on him.

It took a few days for Green to wrap his head around what kind of environment he’d have to sit in to finish out the series and do it well.

“Whenever you know what to expect, you can plan for it. I’ve been around for 11 years so I thought I had seen it all. But that, I had never seen before,” Green told ESPN. “I guess with this, there was no real way to prepare for it. Except mentally know what you’re walking into. When that happens I can tune it out. But that first time I couldn’t tune it out.”

Fortunately, Warriors fans know how that one ended as Stephen Curry and company rose to the occasion and won three consecutive games to finish the series 4-2. More of the same should be expected tonight as Boston’s crowd has been waiting a long time for this rematch in their home arena. It should be fun to see how the Warriors – who usually play better the bigger the game is – respond in this one.

Here are the rest of today’s stories:

In case you missed it from Golden State of Mind:

• Preview: Warriors look to sweep Boston in NBA Finals rematch
• Jonathan Kuminga and JaMychal Green scrimmaged, Wiseman did not, as all three remain doubtful vs. Celtics
• Mailbag: Trade deadline edition!
• Podcast: Warriors visit White House, prepare for Celtics
• Warriors seeking another Payton for their backcourt

Other Warriors News:

• Warriors’ Green set to greet hostile Boston crowd as a champ (ESPN)
• Warriors trade scenarios: What I’m hearing about Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and more (The Athletic)
• Draymond Green opens up on why hecklers motivate him, Warriors’ chances and Hall of Fame case (The Athletic)
• Steph Curry’s text to Kevin Durant shows Warriors star’s unique selflessness (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Celtics trade rumors: Payton Pritchard has interest from Warriors, playoff teams (Mass Live)

NBA News:

• 2023 NBA trade deadline: Western Conference deal predictions (ESPN)
• 2023 NBA trade deadline: Eastern Conference deal predictions (ESPN)
• LaMelo Ball sprains left ankle again in Hornets’ win over Rockets (NBA)
• Nikola Jokic passes Alex English to become Nuggets’ all-time assists leader (NBA)
• The Wizards are open to trading Hachimura, according to report (SB Nation)