Getty Kevin Durant (L) and Draymond Green attend a 2023 FIBA World Cup exhibition game between Puerto Rico and the United States at T-Mobile Arena on August 07, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was initially pissed at his former teammate, Kevin Durant about his “need help” comment after the incident which led to his indefinite suspension.
“Yeah, that was insane to see,” Durant said about Green after he struck Jusuf Nurkić in the face on December 12 against the Phoenix Suns. “Glad Nurk is all right. Never seen that before on the basketball court in an NBA game.
“I hope Draymond gets the help that he needs. There’s been incident after incident. I know Draymond, and … he hasn’t been that way when I was around him and coming into the league. So, hopefully, he gets the help he needs, and gets back on the court and puts all this stuff behind him.”
A Proud Moment for Draymond Green
A month later, Green had a better perspective of Durant’s comments. Green said the introspection he had made him realize that he was no longer the same person that Durant played with from 2016 to 2019.
“So then I went back to Kevin Durant’s statement and he said ‘he was not like that.’ So as I sat with myself, I said, ‘I think it’s time the world gets to know me. Who I am,'” Green said on his podcast “The Draymond Green Show.” “And if I can look at Kevin’s statement the right way with the right mindset through the right lens, he’s acknowledging essentially what I want the world to know about me.
“Then he spoke about help. And I’m like, ‘How is he going to say I need help?’ And when I went back through it with another lens I was like, ‘Maybe you shouldn’t hear help so negatively.’ Maybe you’re listening to the word ‘help’ with the same mindset that the word help meant when you were 15 years old. So maybe you shouldn’t hear that so negatively and maybe he’s not saying it as negatively as you’re taking it. And even if he was, I made a decision at that moment that I wasn’t going to take it that way.
“And it was a very proud moment for me. Because I said you’re ready for growth. That’s a step in the right direction.”
Green and Durant, who had a shouting match in 2018 that contributed to Durant leaving the Warriors in the summer of 2019, have remained friends. Last summer, they hung out in Las Vegas watching Team USA’s scrimmage games for last year’s FIBA World Cup.
Draymond Green Joins Warriors Practice
After the NBA officially lifted Green’s suspension on January 6, he finally joined the Warriors practice as a full participant on Tuesday, January 9.
According to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, “Green was cleared for every level of practice, including scrimmages, and will partake in every practice this week.”
Draymond Green was a full participant in practice today. I’m told he’s cleared for every level of practice, including scrimmages, and will partake in every practice this week.
There is no exact date yet for his first game since the suspension that lasted 12 games. But he is now ramping up to make his comeback sometime this week or next week.