Danny Green had a chance to end the NBA Finals Friday night by hitting a wide-open three-pointer in the final seconds of Game 5. He missed the shot, the Lakers lost to the Miami Heat 111-108, and that should have been the end of the story, with both teams moving on with life and preparing for Game 6. But instead, the story became how a bunch of sickos on social media threatened to end the life of Green and his fiancée. Green is a cool customer, not freaking out about death threats and realizing this is just the crazy world/NBA bubble he lives in now.
He said, “It didn’t faze me. Didn’t care. Just ignore it. Those people’s opinions don’t matter to me. The people in that locker room and on this roster are the only opinions that are relevant and that matter to me. And if they’re still confident in me and still encouraged and still believe in me and believe in us, that’s all that matters to me: that we can get this thing done.”
Green (and LeBron James) is hoping to join a very short list that includes just Robert Horry and John Salley: players who have won NBA titles with three different teams.
Pressure situations are nothing new to Green. Death threats are a new experience for him, but you don’t play in as many big games as he has in his career and get scared easily.
“I’m just not one of those guys who’s going to live my life that way, worried about what other people say, think or do. I’m usually protected. I’m usually safe. I’m usually OK, and confident and secure in my own mind in my own home,” he said.
Game 6 is Sunday night.
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