Despite taking a back seat, David Lee still enjoyed his team's trip to the finals

Despite taking a back seat, David Lee still enjoys the team's Grand Finals tour by ggl44 in the Tiger Basketball Warriors Section http://bbs.hupu.com/warriors

<b>Despite taking a back seat, David Lee still enjoyed his team's trip to the finals</b>

Translation: The original text was published on June 9, US time, before the finals G3 began.

BY CHRIS MANNIX Posted: Tue Jun. 9, 2015

He's the Warriors' highest-paid player, and he's paid $15 million this year and $15.5 million next year. Two years ago, he was an All-Star. Last season, he got more double-doubles than Duncan, Curry and Durant.

And this season: David Lee sat at the very end of the bench.

It's a strange story. In October, Lee put all his body and mind into that bland preseason. He started, he scored and he looked ready for another steady season. Since 2010, Lee has never averaged less than 16 points per game, and has never averaged fewer rebounds than nine per game. With the end of the bootcamp, there's no reason to think Lee won't replicate such a performance again.

However, in the warriors' final game of preseason against Denver, Lee strained his hamstring during the game. He made a comeback a week later, but he strained his hamstring again. He took a break for more than a month. By the time he was ready to return, the Warriors had a good record of 22 wins and 3 losses, with Draymond Green firmly in the starting position and Maris Speights on the bench gaining the trust of Steve Kerr. Suddenly, Lee became a high-value insurance policy. In March, he was awaited by one DNP after another, and at the end of the regular season, Lee became a dispensable player on the team.

In the playoffs, Lee averaged 7.6 minutes per game, most of which was during his three-game winning streak against the Grizzlies. In the finals, Lee didn't play a minute.

"I don't want to lie, and it frustrates me not to be on the court," Lee told Sports Illustrated. "When the end of the game whistles and we win the game, it doesn't matter. If I tell you anything different, it means I'm not a competitor. Nor will I be honest with you. Not being able to play is really frustrating, and who knows if I'll be in this series? But that's the way it is. ”

Cole and Lee are not at odds. In fact, Cole liked Lee a lot. When Lee was injured at the start of the season, Kerr even brought Lee to a coaching conference. But Cole's current rotation is brilliant. Green — second defensive player of the year — became the catalyst for the Warriors' defense to leap from fourth last season to number one this season. Like Lee, Speights is an offensive big forward, and he can play both as a big forward and a center.

So there's no point in shoving Lee into the current successful lineup — and Lee knows that.

"It's kind of like, 'If it's not broken, don't fix it,'" Lee said. "When the team has almost 70 wins, it's hard not to endorse such a squad. I would love to play. I felt like anyone in the arena knew I was capable. But it's not my business now, it's about the whole team. Nash showed up in the arena last week, playing 19 seasons, but he never played in the Finals. I'm just making myself enjoy every minute and every second of it right now. Winning the championship is the most important thing. ”

Lee knew he had to be ready at all times. In the Western Conference semifinals series against the Grizzlies, Speights strained his own right leg. The Warriors were trailing 2-1, and Kerr turned on Lee on the bench. Lee didn't get any fancy stats — his best game was to play 6 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes in Game 5 of the series — but against Randolph and Gasol Jr., he played a defense the team could trust. What's more: the team won three consecutive games to advance to the divisional finals.

"I've been preparing," Lee said. "I told [Cole], 'Whatever you need, whether you need me to play a round of offense or I need to grab a rebound, I'm going to make sure I get it done.'" I have to be ready to play at all times. There were a few times when I didn't play a minute in the first half, but in the third quarter he would throw me on the field. ”

"Psychologically, my mentality is that I have to be prepared all the time, if I don't play 10 games in a row, and in the 11th game, if I get 2 minutes of playing time, I'm going to play aggressively, I'm going to play harder than anybody else, and I'm going to keep doing it. I know it's easier said than done. But I'll do it. ”

For the Warriors, Lee's attitude is precious. Players like Lee can easily take a completely different approach. He's an All-Star, one of the league's highest-paid players; it's normal for him to complain about playing time to reporters — or he can do all the other inappropriate behavior. But he would have disrupted the chemistry of the entire team by doing so, and Lee didn't want to take the risk.

"I think about myself and think about what kind of person I am," Lee said. "I'm a good teammate, I have a good personality, I'm still a good team player. These have all been verified. I'm not sure I can let myself disrupt the team, but it's obviously easier for me to be a monk hitting the clock one day. But I don't want to, and it's very important for me to be ready and do my job well. I wanted them to know that when my number was called by the coach [in the game against the Grizzlies], I was ready to play.

This may be Lee's last days in the Golden State. This summer, the Warriors are coming up with a new contract for Green, Klay Thompson's high-salary contract extension is also entering the first year, and they have to start thinking about offering Curry a top-salary contract in the future. This summer, Lee may be the part that the golden state can't or won't take on.

These Lees know. But for him, that's not something to consider now.

"I've been to a couple of challenging teams," Lee said, "and being part of that kind of team always makes people happy to win." I want the championship. I'm thinking about that now. When you win the championship, the champion can make everyone smile and the champion can calm all the setbacks. ”