Why Draymond wore same outfit before last two Finals games

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Fashion has become a big thing for NBA and WNBA players, with their arrivals to arenas filmed and photographed before being transmitted to social media for all the world to see.

Players have become fashion icons and often put a lot of thought into what they are going to wear to the arena.

That rule didn't apply to Draymond Green before Game 5 and Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.

In fact, as Green admitted on the latest episode of "The Draymond Green Show" podcast, his goal for the final two games of the series was to put as little thought as possible into his gameday attire.

Some astute observers noticed that Green happened to wear the same all-black sweat suit to Chase Center for Game 5 and TD Garden for Game 6.

Green provided a lengthy explanation why he did that over the weekend.

"The significance behind that was, I felt like leaving Boston, that I was in a war," Green said. "With the people yelling and screaming the way they were, the disrespect, I felt like I was in a war. And no disrespect to our soldiers and to our Armed Forces as a whole and actually going to war. We appreciate everything our Armed Services do for our country, for us as American citizens. So I'm not making the comparison as if I was going to real war. I was going to war in my world. And my world is basketball. And I felt like I was going into a war. And so my mindset was all black everything, like I'm going to take something and that's kind of where I was mentally."

During all three games in Boston, Green heard it from Celtics fans in attendance and at one point in the series, it impacted his play on the court. So much so that Warriors coach Steve Kerr had to keep the former Defensive Player of the Year on the bench at key moments in the fourth quarter of Game 4.

But Green bounced back in the final two games of the series. His focus was locked in on the task at hand, which was to deliver the Warriors a fourth NBA championship in eight seasons.

Green even turned down requests from his wife, Hazel, to help him get his outfits ready for Game 5.

"I also didn't want to spend any energy on what I was going to wear that day," Green said. "And so for me going into Game 5, Hazel's asking me, she's like 'Do I need to iron for you? Like, do you want to set your clothes out before you take a nap?' I'm like 'Yeah, I think I'm just going to wear an all-black jogging suit.' She's like 'OK, but if you change your mind let me know.' And then when I woke up from my nap, she's like "Hey, you got something for me to iron?' I said 'No, I'm 100 percent wearing an all-black jogging suit.'

"And then, go to Game 5, we win Game 5 and I told her, 'I'm going to take this jogging suit off, I'm going to pack it up, no I'm not washing it.' Didn't have time to send it to the cleaners or anything anyway because we left the next morning after Game 5. This is going straight in the bag and I'm going to Game 6 and I'm going to wear this same outfit. That's exactly what I did and the result was the exact same."

RELATED: Why Draymond is glad he forgot rings for championship parade

After going a combined 1-of-11 from the field in Game 3 and Game 4 in Boston, Green returned to form in the final two games, shooting 8-of-16 and finishing with a total of 20 points, 19 rebounds and 14 assists in the two wins.

Green won't make the all-black sweat suit a staple of his wardrobe on gamedays in future seasons, but in this instance, it worked.

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