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CLEVELAND -- Draymond Green does not feel the need to validate his team's greatness to you, legend of the NBA. 

Green was asked Tuesday at Finals availability before Game 3 about Magic Johnson's comments that the Showtime Lakers would sweep this year's Warriors team. 

He laughed. Out loud. That was his response. That was it. It was like this scene in "Guardians of the Galaxy." 

Then he was asked about if he ever thinks about those matchups, to which he predictably said no, he doesn't, because the game has just changed too much to compare. 

"First off, the game is completely different than it was back then," he said. "Nowadays, if you can't shoot a 3 you're a liability on the floor. That wasn't the case back then. It doesn't make sense to me because you're talking two different games. I've never understood it, nor do I get off into it. They were great in their time, we're great in our time."

That's the best way for a player to look at it. Green's not deferring to the Lakers (or Bulls, or whoever), but he's also not tearing them down. He doesn't feel the need to. So, then the question becomes, will Green be this same way when his playing days are over? 

"I think if you have self confidence, you don't really care about what who's coming after you is doing," Green replied. "You want to see them do well. For me, it's not going to be to try that. I don't foresee myself doing that. If they're great, they're great. Respect what they're doing. It's about if you have fulfillment in what you did, instead of 'We would have done this, we would have done that.'"

It's easier to say that at this point, obviously. Those great players may have said the same thing in their hay days. But Green and the Warriors have endured this pattern for years. A retired player is asked how their team would match up. Those players, prideful in their own right, respond that they would win, or dominate, this year's Warriors team, because they can't remember that team as anything but great. 

Then the Warriors are asked about those comments, and forced to choose, essentially. Do you laugh in the face of a Hall of Famer? Trash talk him? Defer to them, which lessens your own achievements you and your teammates have worked so hard for? 

The construct is ridiculous. 

Yes, it's fun, in a vacuum, to talk about theoretical matchups, about time traveling battles. But for the players, these things are personal. It's an affront to what they've worked so hard for. And Green's attitude is the best way to approach it. Both teams can be great in their own eras, for what they did. You just hope that Green will stick to his word, that he won't find it necessary to trash talk some good team when he's retired to try and make himself feel better. The game evolves, it changes, these comparisons simply cannot be made. 

And to Green's point?

The 1987 Lakers made 16 3-pointers in the entire NBA Finals. 

The Warriors have made 30 in two games.