LeBron James didn’t just throw a Halloween party for his Cavaliers teammates and crew, he used it as an opportunity to take a few lighthearted shots at the rival Warriors. Positioned among some spooky cookies were a pair of miniature tombstones with the names of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson on them, and a skeleton was arranged at a drum kit bearing the phrase, “3-1 Lead.”
The “3-1” reference refers, of course, to the lead the Warriors blew, in unprecedented fashion, to the Cavs in this year’s NBA Finals. Naturally, some media members covering Golden State were interested in hearing what those players thought of it, and let’s just say that Thompson was not amused.
“Man, I don’t care about that,” Thompson said Tuesday to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, who reported that the all-star guard was “visibly irritated by the subject.” It’s possible that Thompson is still irritated by his performance in Game 7, when he scored 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting, including 2 for 10 on three-pointers, while posting a game-low plus/minus figure of minus-11.
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Per Haynes, Curry seemed to react more in the spirit of things, shaking his head and giggling after saying, “I’m just going to keep it quiet.” Draymond Green offered a big smile when asked about the skeleton’s drum kit, and he said, “More power to them. I’ve already got enough fuel. I don’t need more. Enjoy.”
Green would certainly seem to have fuel in abundance, to judge from the comments he made before the season but which were published Monday. “If Cleveland comes out of the East, I want to destroy Cleveland,” the versatile forward told TNT’s David Aldridge. “No ifs, ands and buts about it. But I also know that there’s steps to get to that point. And if and when we get to that point, I want to annihilate them.”
So each side has provided the other with bulletin-board material. In fact, Warriors guard Shaun Livingston guessed that the Cavs’ Halloween gloating may have stemmed from comments Curry made in January, when his team played in Cleveland for the first time since winning the 2015 NBA title on the Quicken Loans Arena floor. Of the visitors’ locker room there, the Golden State superstar said, “Hopefully, it still smells a little bit like champagne.”
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“I don’t think they like that Steph said that,” Shaun Livingston told ESPN. “… Guys see it and everybody feels their own way about it, but it just fuels everybody for the next time we play them.”
Kevin Durant wasn’t yet with the Warriors when they blew that 3-1 lead, but he knows all too well how it feels to cough up that advantage, having done so with the Thunder this spring when they lost to Golden State in the Western Conference finals. Thus he was in position to put the back-and-forth into perspective.
“Me personally, it’s just jokes because you still have to play,” Durant said. “Just like I’m sure there were so many jokes that went on about Cleveland and LeBron over the years, and you still have to play on the court. So none of that s— matters until you duke it out on the court.
“I understand why anybody would [be mad] and I understand what LeBron is coming from. If you won a championship for your city and you did it in historic fashion, it’s something that you’ll never forget. So, no hard feelings. I understand where both sides are coming from, I guess.”
Both sides will square off again Dec. 25, headlining the NBA’s annual blockbuster of a Christmas Day slate.
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