Getty
It’s official — we do not get to see the highly anticipated drama between Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green and Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant on the court tonight due to a foot injury which has Green ruled out for the Warriors’ season opener in Brooklyn.
Warriors’ star forward Green, who has just recovered from testing positive for COVID-19 during the team’s training camp early December, endured a muscle strain in his right foot that will have him out for the team’s season opener in Barclays Center.
Getty
Green is Out, Wiseman is In
This news of the injury is from Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr, per the Warriors’ SoundCloud, who told reporters in a press conference on Monday that Green will be on the bench for the first game of the season. This is the result of an injury obtained in a scrimmage game just a few days ago. Luckily, Kerr made it clear that this injury is nothing major and will hopefully only have the forward out for the first couple of games for the season.
Kerr also told reporters, per Drew Shiller on Twitter, that the team’s No. 2 overall draft pick James Wiseman will be playing in the season opener but did not specify if the rookie will be starting. Kerr did express some reassurance in Wiseman telling reporters via the Warriors’ SoundCloud that he was the team’s “long-term starting center” and that there is a possibility that he could start against the Nets.
The team will already not be whole due to Klay Thompson being out for the entirety of the season due to an Achilles injury suffered right before the 2020 NBA Draft. Now with Draymond Green joining him on the bench, this leaves Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Wiggins as the backup options in addition to Damion Lee.
Getty
No Drama For the Season Opener
The other downside of Green’s injury, however, is that his absence will result in the absence of on-court beef with former teammate Durant, who will make his official debut with the Nets after leaving Golden State two years ago and missing all last season due to an Achilles injury suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals.
The two notably had drama at the end of KD’s run with the Warriors where they had an argument on-court during one of the last games of their season together in Golden State.
“Playing against old teammates never really ratcheted me up,” he said to reporters this month via USA Today. “I always felt like I was on that level no matter who is on the floor. I feel like each game is important to me.”
The two will not see each other on the court again until February 13th, when the two teams are scheduled to play against each other again.
READ NEXT: Warriors’ Steph Curry Had a Strong Message For Klay Thompson After His Injury