What do Bob Cousy, Magic Johnson and UNC alumni Michael Jordan and Danny Green all have in common? They’ve all won an NCAA championship and an NBA Finals. The list of men who have accomplished such a feat is short – the list of men who have an NCAA title and multiple NBA titles is even shorter.
Danny Green has a chance to do just that.
In 2009, as a piece of the Tar Heels’ NCAA championship team, Green averaged 13.1 points per game and shot 41.8 percent from behind the arc.
Fast-forward five years, Green averaged 41.5 percent from 3-point land over the course of the regular season and captured his first and only NBA title with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. The year prior, Green was even better, knocking down 27 3-pointers, then a Finals record, in a losing effort to the Miami Heat. In 2014, his Spurs got revenge against the Heat in five games.
Fast-forward another five years, and the North Carolina product once again has a chance at capturing an NBA championship, this time with the Toronto Raptors.
During the 2019 campaign Green saw some of the best statistical performances of his career, including a 62.2 effective field goal percentage and a remarkable 45.5 percent mark from deep.
The 31-year-old veteran has earned the moniker of a three-and-D player, equally known for knocking down corner threes as he is for his premier perimeter defense.
While Green's performance stood out in the regular season, his postseason play has taken a hit. Thus far, through 18 games in the playoffs, Green is averaging just 6.8 points per game and a dismal 31.4 percent from 3-point land.
If the Raptors are going to knock off the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors, they are going to need Green to rediscover his championship form, when he shot 49.1 percent from the field and 47.5 percent from three in 2014 with the Spurs.
