I Hate That Grant Williams Played The "We Were The Better Team" Card When Reflecting On The NBA Finals

Ezra Shaw. Getty Images.

There isn't really shit going on in the basketball world right now. Summer League is over, free agency is about 99% of the way over, and we're all just waiting for some sort of KD or Donovan Mitchell trade that most likely won't happen for months if at all. I've spent the last few days trying to figure out how I can alter some sort of space/time continuum (???) and get us to early October already so we could at least have some preseason basketball in our lives. So far I've been unsuccessful but I'm not giving up because I have nothing but time on my hands. 

In this downtime of the NBA calendar, it's not all that uncommon to see players go on podcasts. For my money, this is one of the best parts of media in 2022. I don't even mean the new media hardos like Draymond. I just find them really insightful whenever we get players talking to players (or former players). The reason I'm even blogging this is because we saw Grant go on Duncan Robinson's podcast and he covered pretty much everything you would hope to hear. Some I loved, other parts not so much. Let's have ourselves a look.

I want to start off with Grant talking about the Finals because honestly, it's probably going to get the most publicity.

I have a confession. I hate when the losing team says shit like "we were the better team". It makes my blood boil. I hate that Grant said it, I hate when Ainge said it after losing to the Heat in the bubble in the ECF, I don't know why but it bothers the shit out of me. Maybe it's the idea that if you were the better team you would have, ya know….won. By doing things not as well or being outdone in certain aspects of a series sort of goes against the idea that you were the better team. It also sort of makes the result even more embarrassing because if you were this supposed better team, then not winning is pretty brutal. If I could remove this shit forever, I would.

But once you get past that, what Grant said about the Finals was really insightful. Playing the Warriors in a series is so goddamn annoying for all the reasons Grant pointed out. It's not just their talent level or that Steph is some sort of living basketball God, it's their mindset. It's their inability to ever get rattled no matter what the hell is going on. Remember, this is a team that lost by 48 to the Grizzlies at one point this postseason. In Game 4 of the Finals, they were trailing heading into the final 4 minutes. In Game 6 they got down like 14-2 or some shit to start the game and never panicked. It's incredible and why they are proven and worthy champions. Their discipline is legit insane. That comes from previous Finals experience for sure, but I think it goes beyond just being in the Finals before. That core has a level of continuity and trust that you can't really find anywhere else in the league right now. They've been through everything together. They know that getting down 10 points is mostly whatever because in 2.2 seconds Steph/Klay can shoot them back in a game. A huge part of basketball is mental, and there may not be a more mentally tough team in the league right now than GS. They don't overreact, they just stick to their system and their style which they know will work.

That line about "the discipline to make the right play over and over again" triggered the shit out of me. While that was going on the Celts couldn't stop making the wrong play over and over and over again and no I'm not even remotely close to being over it.

Now, this I loved. Mostly because we ALL said the same shit as it was happening in real time in that Game 7

I mean, the tape doesn't lie

So the fact that Grant said he actually watched that Game 7 Kelly performance only to then go out and replicate it absolutely rules. That was one of the greatest performances of that era of Celtics basketball when Kelly came out of nowhere in that Game 7. Let's not forget that Isaiah had 29 in that game too. Man was he such a fucking force. 

Is Grant telling the truth here? I don't really care. I love the story and that's good enough for me. 

I have another confession. I haven't watched a single highlight of that Game 4 since the game ended. I can't do it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it. That was the Finals right then and there. I know Steph put up one of the most legendary Finals performances we've ever seen, but I can't watch it even as someone who loves NBA history. There's a reason the Warriors apparently celebrated the way they did, because they knew. They knew what they had done. All I can think about is being up 4 with like 4:30 left. Then being down 3 with like 3 minutes left and doing nothing but shooting threes and missing every single one. That's not me being hyperbolic, the Celtics really shot nothing but threes to end that game. Guess how that worked out?

This has me conflicted. Is Grant better than Draymond? At some things sure. But these Finals showed just how valuable Draymond is. He was dogshit in the first three games and the Warriors were down 1-2. The rest of the way? Draymond was really, really good. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for Grant to show up in the Finals. One could argue the disappearing act of the entire second unit played a huge role on how that series shook out. 

So when you look at it that way, I don't exactly love Grant saying he's better than Draymond only to immediately get outplayed by Draymond the rest of the way. That's a tough look.

The thing I love about Ime is you get the sense that he legit wants to fight Grant at times. At the same time, he's also found a way to get the best version out of Grant which had a huge impact on the season. Let's not pretend like Grant didn't have KD and Giannis in jail during the playoff run. That's not exactly easy to do while also shooting at a high clip. Grant's Year 3 leap was legit insane given how unplayable and lost he looked in Year 2.

It then made me wonder about what a Grant extension even looks like. I could see his agent trying to use the new 4/75M Keldon Johnson extension as a baseline, but that's a little too pricey I would imagine. Does he settle for a Rob-type extension of like 4/48? Does he bet on himself and not sign an early extension and hope he has another great year? With the way the league is trending, these sort of small ball stretch 4/5s like Grant who are versatile as shit and can consistently knock down threes are usually pretty expensive to keep. If the team feels like he is the future Al replacement, Brad is most likely going to have to pay a hefty price.

Advertisement

My guess is there will be people who clown on Grant for what he said about the Finals, about being a leader and all that shit. That comes with the territory whenever these sort of player podcasts happen. But as a fan, I love the look behind the curtain. Whether it was Tatum or Smart on JJ Redick's podcast, that time Tatum went on Knuckleheads with QRich and Darius Miles, or this one with Grant, if a Celtic is going to get in front of the mic, I'm interested. 

Now if we could please just skip the next 3 months and get to training camp that'd be great. Some of us are dying over here.

P.S.

If you want to kill some time and watch the whole interview, just hit play