In an article for The Players Tribune, Warriors guard Gary Payton II says there’s no lingering dispute with the Grizzlies‘ Dillon Brooks over a hard foul that left Payton with a fractured left elbow. Payton reveals that Brooks apologized outside Golden State’s locker room following the conclusion of their second-round series.
“I give Dillon a lot of credit for that — no text, no social media, nothing indirect,” Payton writes. “He came in person, and we talked like grown men. He told me he didn’t mean to hurt me. I believe him.”
Payton adds that he’s staying positive despite a three- to five-week prognosis that means he may not return before the Warriors’ playoff run is over. He says his attitude is a product of all the work it took for him to make the league and to earn a roster spot with Golden State.
“From Day One, back when I first got with this team, all I wanted more than anything was to just stick around — that was my motto,” Payton writes. “Because I knew that if I could just do that, eventually I was going to play my way into the rotation. I was going to make an impact, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind. Early on, they’d bring guys in to have a look at them or whatever, and I’d D them up like my actual life depended on it. It was like, Nope. No sir. You are not taking my spot. Not today.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Andrew Wiggins is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s Game 3, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Wiggins, who has a sore left ankle, is averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the first two games of the series, MacMahon notes, and he’s been the team’s primary defender against Luka Doncic. Wiggins twisted the ankle late in the first half Friday night (video link from Anthony Slater of The Athletic). Coach Steve Kerr expects him to play, Slater adds (Twitter link).
- After two years away from the playoffs, Stephen Curry is providing a reminder of how dangerous he can be in closing out games, writes Marcus Thompson of The Athletic. Curry leads all postseason scorers this year with 104 fourth-quarter points, and he’s done it in just 79 minutes. “I thought Steph kind of smelled blood in the water those last five minutes (Friday),” Kerr said, “and he got to his spots. We had good spacing, and he got in in the middle of (the) paint, and he finished. … So Steph did what Steph does, something like that.”
- Kerr trusted Moses Moody to be part of his lineup that opened the fourth quarter, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 19-year-old rookie played nearly 10 minutes in the final quarter and registered a plus-8. “Moses is extremely mature, and what makes him special is he’s ready for any moment,” Jordan Poole said. “For him to come in and step up and play big minutes in the Western Conference finals and help us pull out a win is huge.”
Without Payton, Celtics are a better team than Warriors
Injury date May 4?
5 weeks is Game 2 nba Finals
June 8
Finals starts at June 2
June 7 is Game 3?
I don’t know ? I don’t think you know ?
Celtics and warriors might not make the finals. How many people wrote off Dallas and Celtics last series? One injury can put ot a team just ask the Bucks about that.
Bro, your high as a kite!
I’m convinced he’s a tribal chief. Has to be the only explanation… or you could just be right. But as often as he comments, he must be all the time lol
Id like to see Boston and GSW at full strength square up
No ejections, no Covid, no injs just 2 great {different style} teams goin at it
I commend both sides for the injury incident. Takes a lot for a person to go up face to face and apologize for what you did. Right outside their locker room where you know they’re not happy with you.
Also takes a real person to forgive a guy that injured you and is trying to make it right. Hope we put the issue to bed and move on.
“No sir. You are not taking my spot”
GPII sounded like a GPI-with-less-talent might. “Chip off the ol’ block”
100% of Dub Nation been screaming at Kerr+Mike Brown to play Moody over Lee, but noooope, we gotta go down 19 before Kerr finally sees Lee is not a playoff-caliber player. Anyone with eyes can see he’s a 1-tool player (shooter) and he’s mid at that. Zero reason to play him over like 8 other way better players. Kerr is clueless.
I’ve never seen as much hate for 5 mins of court time in my life. Unfortunately my stream comes with a small chatboard at the bottom of the screen
Whew, you guys really dislike that fella. Quite entertaining
That’s Marty lol ……
Too bad for Payton. He was playing his way into a nice contract. Warriors are deep at guard. Payton is their best D guard. Especially one on one. They will miss him in Finals.