The Houston Rockets’ season is on the line, and Kevin Durant’s availability has hurt their chances of taking down the Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite avoiding setbacks throughout the regular season, Durant has been hit with two untimely setbacks in round one against the Lakers. The star forward missed Game 1 due to a knee contusion. He was out for Games 3 and 4 due to a sprained ankle.
A lot has been made out of Durant’s absences on game night, especially since he wasn’t on the bench for Game 3. Some have gone as far as speculating that Durant has quit on this Rockets team. The outspoken Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green recently addressed those assumptions.
Draymond Green Sounds Off On Kevin Durant Narrative
“A lot of people have made a lot of discourse about, ‘Oh, KD don’t really want to play. He’s quitting on his teammates.’ One thing you don’t question: Kevin Durant loves to play basketball. He loves to play basketball. If there’s anything that Kevin Durant loves, he loves to play basketball. To question a guy, injured, that has shown nothing but the love for the game of basketball, is bull****,” Green said on his podcast.
Before making it to the Rockets, Durant played alongside Draymond Green on the Golden State Warriors for three years. They won the NBA Finals together twice, with Durant finishing as the MVP on both occasions.
Green was around Durant when he famously tore his Achilles. At the time, many questioned whether Durant would be the same again, seeing as though he was hitting his 30s with a major setback.
Durant hasn’t found the same team success as he did with the Warriors since then, but he remains one of the most prominent players in the game. Green certainly doesn’t buy the idea that Durant played in 78 games for his 18th season just to quit.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Green added. “The respect around our game is just at an all-time low, because so many people have voices about the game that shouldn’t have voices. Like Kevin Durant not wanting to play basketball? What else is he going to do? Man loves hooping. So I just think that’s ridiculous.”
The Rockets Need Durant
Last summer’s trade for Kevin Durant was for moments like this.
Going against a shorthanded Lakers team, most expected the Rockets to win with ease. Instead, they are 1-3, facing elimination on Wednesday, April 29.
Durant’s setbacks are keeping him on the injury report and unlikely to play in the upcoming matchup. But Green is making it clear that’s not by choice.