Coming off a career year, David Lee was supposed to play a huge role if the Golden State Warriors were going to make waves in their second playoff appearance in 19 years. But Lee was lost for the rest of the year when he suffered a torn hip flexor in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets, and now the team will have to dig even deeper than usual.
David Lee joined Bucher and Towny on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco to discuss his hip flexor injury, the Warriors being better than the sum of their parts, their resiliency as a team and why he thinks they can still win their first-round series with Denver.
On being forced to the sideline with a torn hip flexor:
“My whole attitude has been, as disappointed as I am, at this point I can’t do anything about it. I can’t change getting hurt, but overall I accomplished a lot this season, as did the team. So now all my energy, my goal is to continue to support the guys and see how far we can take this thing. And I think we can win this series.”
On the Warriors being greater than the sum of their parts:
“We are a team that’s not a top-six team, talent-wise, in the West, but we’re a team that’s performed that way all season and gone through ups and downs, but found a way to pull through and become a playoff team, and now have a chance to win a playoff series. The reason has been because of our chemistry, because of the guys having each other’s backs.”
On this team being resilient:
“We went through it earlier in the season with Andrew Bogut going down and Brandon Rush going down. We went through it at times when Steph would roll his ankle and other guys would step up, and luckily he’d miss hardly any time this year with the season he’s had. Every team goes through that, but it’s how you handle it that can determine … how your season ends up.”
On the early assessments determining that he won’t need surgery:
“They’ve determined thus far that they don’t think it’s a surgical deal.”
On his belief that the Warriors can still overcome the Nuggets without him:
“I think that the biggest challenges are gonna be defensively, controlling the glass. … I think that we can do that by committee.”
On why he’s sticking with the team now:
“I could be the guy that goes away from the team and is bitter about it, and upset and angry, which maybe I have a right to be. But I have a lot to be thankful for right now, and one of the main things is that our team gets along so well. Because I’ve been on plenty of teams … that the first thing I’d want to do is be like, ‘Peace, I’m out.’ But these guys have had my back all season long.”
