Danny Green not ready to retire
Danny Green has won three NBA championships with three different teams, but the 34-year-old is still not ready to call it a career just yet. Many believed that the veteran would likely retire following the unfortunate ACL tear he suffered in game six of the Philadelphia 76ers’ second-round series against the Miami Heat. The 76ers ended up losing the contest 99-90 and the series 4-2, but many fans were concerned that the biggest loss would be Green.
“Joel got to the rim, I saw him lay it up … I didn’t know if it went in or not, but I just remember taking a tumble,” said Green after the injury, via Fadeawayworld.net. “I tried to move, but I couldn’t get out fast enough. It just happened so fast. But I saw it happening and I was trying to like, pull my leg out, but it caught beneath me and he rolled into it. I knew once it happened, I felt it. I knew I wasn’t able to return to the game, but I didn’t realize how serious it was until I tried to put weight on it, and it buckled. Then I realized it’s probably gonna take some time.”
However, the veteran confirmed on his podcast “Inside the Green Room with Danny Green” that he isn’t planning on calling it quits just yet. Green had re-signed with the 76ers prior to the start of the 2021-22 NBA campaign on a two-year deal worth $20 million and seems adamant on playing out the remainder of his contract.
“I’d like to end on my own terms and not a major injury,” Green said via Sixers Wire. “I will be back before All-Star break. You better believe it. You heard it here first. So I will work my tail off to rehab to get back healthy. My body and my bones usually heal pretty well. I don’t have any bad habits. So, yeah, I think I’ll be back in time to help the team in the playoff run and show and prove that I’m able to still play at that level to help a team get a win in the playoffs.”
It had been another disappointing end to the season for the 76ers, as they were eliminated in the second round for the fourth time in the past five years. They have failed to make it past the second round of the postseason since their trip to the NBA final in 2001. They are desperate to make a deep run in the playoffs and having a veteran like Green back in the lineup next season will certainly help.
Green is one of just four players in NBA history to have won three championships with three different franchises along with John Salley, Robert Horry, and Lebron James. He won his first championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, before winning back-to-back trophies with the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers in 2019 and 2020. He would love nothing more than to add a fourth championship ring with a fourth different team in 2023.
