It’s hard to believe that it’s already been eight years since the then-25-year-old shooting guard from North Carolina all but stole the show during the 2013 Finals, nearly spearheading an upset series victory for the San Antonio Spurs over the Miami Heat.
Strangely, whereas breakout series stars usually find success through off-the-dribble juice and flashy moves that lead to tough buckets in tough scenarios, Green did most of his damage without dribbling the basketball.
Last week, Liberty Ballers’ own Jackson Frank had me on his weekly Locker Room live show to talk about the Sixers.
However, we then moved on to talk about how the veteran shooting guard has counteracted his inefficiency on said shots by going absolutely scorched earth on “Danny Green Cut” threes.
But let him fire off those 3s during which he slides backward into the corner behind an unwitting defense, and he becomes one of the most deadly snipers in the entire league.
He fools his man by appearing to start his slow trudge toward the opposite corner, and they are so terrified by both Green’s shooting and the Sixers’ stars operating their actions right in front of them, that they go through the motion of clearing out with Green only to realize that he’s relocated to the exact same corner.
Everything about Danny Green is weird, including how he makes such superior athletes look silly on these cuts.
Then he went 9-for-21 on 3s in the memorable overtime victory over the Heat during the Covid protocols stretch, has shot 41.3 percent overall from 3 since, and most importantly, has torched teams with the cut that made him a household name back when Vine was just a few months old itself.
According to Basketball Reference, Green ranks 14th all-time in career playoff 3s made, sitting behind 11 current and/or guaranteed future Hall-of-Famers, as well as Derek Fisher and J.R.