Getty Kevin Durant and Draymond Green during the 2018 NBA Finals.
Lack of communication will always be a recipe for disaster and that is exactly how Kevin Durant’s last season in Golden State can be described. “You can’t just leave the elephant in the room,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said of Durant’s last season in Golden State during his appearance on Uninterrupted with Maverick Carter and Paul Rivera via NBC Sports.
Dray wanted KD to say during the final season “this is it or this isn’t it…you can’t just leave the elephant in the room.” 😳
(Via @uninterrupted)
Draymond Didn’t Like How KD Handled His Last Season
Durant was signing 1+1 deals since he arrived in Golden State in July of 2016. After winning two consecutive titles and Finals Most Valuable Player awards many began to wonder if Durant would re-sign with the Warriors the following summer, or leave to prove that he could win a title outside of The Bay. Durant never said much regarding his contract situation throughout the season which was bothersome to Green.
“Every time we spoke to the media, Klay [Thompson] and myself was asked about our contracts and it was strictly due to Kevin,” Green said. “because while that was going on, Klay was saying ‘I want to be a Warrior forever. Like, I want to be here, we started this thing. This is where I want to be.’ I’m saying I want to be here for my career, we started this, we built this, I want to finish my career here with the guys I started it with. And then you kinda had Kevin ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do next year.’ And it don’t matter, but it does because you’re not the only person that has to answer that question.” Green began to grow more frustrated as the season progressed and all of the emotions boiled over publicly during a nationally televised game.
Draymond’s Frustration With Durant Finally Boiled Over
November 12, 2018, may have been the night that the Golden State Warriors dynasty ended. What was supposed to be a regular-season primetime matchup with their division rival Los Angeles Clippers ended up being the night Kevin Durant decided he no longer wanted to play for the Warriors.
“Beginning of the year, I told (Warriors general manager) Bob (Myers) and (coach) Steve (Kerr): ‘I’m struggling with Kevin right now. I need some help. It’s frustrating and I need some help.’ Nobody did s–t. So I’m kind of stuck in this position, but aight,” Green said during an appearance on All The Smoke via NBC Sports.
Durant and Green got in a visible verbal exchange over Green’s decision to not pass Durant the ball on the final possession of the fourth quarter. Durant sternly told Green to pass him the ball the next time which led to a heated altercation that resulted in Green telling Durant the Warriors didn’t need him.
“He comes to the bench and he slaps the bench like, ‘Yo! Pass me the f–king ball.’ I’m like, ‘Get the f–k outta here. F–king run then.’ And he’s like, ‘You heard what the f–k I said’ and slaps the chair: ‘Pass me the f–king ball.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, you better calm the f–k down. I don’t know who the f–k you think you’re talking to,’ Green said via NBC Sports.
“Remember, I got the pulse of this team. I got the pulse of the organization. I already know you one foot in and one foot out. By the way, I’m the closest person here to you. When you have a problem — when s–t going on in your life — the person you talk to here is me. We got that relationship … So that’s where I’m like, ‘Yo, who the f–k you think you’re talking to? I’ve been an All-Star before you got here. I’ve been doing this. Don’t talk to me like I’m one of these little dudes that don’t know how to hoop. I’m a grown a– man.’
As a result of the altercation, the Warriors suspended Draymond Green for the next game. But the damage had already been done. “I told them ya’ll gonna make a mistake suspending me because the only person that can fix this is me,” Green said. “They still did it … so I kind of patched it up. But it never was the same after that. But to me, it wasn’t the same before that and it hadn’t been the same for at least a year. It had just gone from bad to worse.”
When Durant left the bench to return to the court the camera caught him murmuring to himself ‘that’s why I’m out’
KD Insists That He Has No Beef With Draymond
Regardless of what the cameras picked up, Durant has insisted that he forgave Green at that moment. “At that second. I was upset but I can’t hold on to something like this you know what I’m saying? I have a choice myself, like how long are you going to be upset about this?” Durant said to Chris B. Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “To the point where it will affect what you do on the floor or how you approach the game. Once it gets there I have to make a grown-man decision and tell myself like look man, no matter what you gotta come to work every day.”
.@KDTrey5 forgave Draymond Green “at that second” after incident 👀
Watch more with @ChrisBHaynes ➡️ t.co/ogS5h8cjxt
Durant did however go on ESPN’s First Take and say that the altercation with Green “impacted” his free agency decision.
Durant announced his decision to join the Brooklyn Nets just minutes after the open of 2019 free agency but he insists that his relationship with his former Warriors teammates is still all love. “Everybody congratulated me when I went to the Nets,” Durant said via Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “Everybody wished me well, and they know that I’m still a phone call away. So, I just happen to play in a different jersey now. Nothing else is going to change.”
Durant will play in The Bay for the first time since joining the Nets on Saturday.
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