Tensions between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant were one of the subplots of Durant’s final season with the Warriors, and Bleacher Report’s “Chips” is giving viewers a chance to hear them discuss that situation, writes Kendra Andrews of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Green and Durant had a public confrontation early in that season as Golden State was aiming for its third consecutive title. Green had accused Durant of looking ahead to his next destination in free agency, which he brings up in their “Chips” exchange.
“In my mind, after Year 2, you were over it,” Green tells Durant. “You were onto the next thing, but we had the opportunity to three-peat. And in my mind, what brought you back in year three was just the opportunity to three-peat, but it didn’t feel right for you no more.”
Durant admits there was a perception in his final year that he didn’t enjoy being part of the Warriors. He explains that he was “happy-go-lucky” during his time with the Thunder, but his approach changed when he came to Golden State and saw a clear path to winning titles.
“I knew exactly what my role was and I locked on it with so much focus and determination to not f–k around every day,” Durant said. “And you’ve seen it. From workouts to practices, shootaround, film, and it made people outside look at me like, ‘Hold on, is he enjoying this?’ When I dive into something like that, with that level of focus, I don’t want to be anywhere else in life. That’s the most enjoyable experience I ever had after that first one.
“I played every game, I went hard every day, I cared about every matchup no matter who was on the floor, just my look didn’t feel as open or energetic as before. But I like that. I like that I was closed off and focused on my work.”
Durant and Green have patched up their differences to the point where they can discuss the past without getting heated. They also reunited as teammates to win a gold medal during this year’s Olympics.
Durant said his main regret is not being open enough about his situation as the free agency rumors intensified. Outsiders may believe his time with the Warriors ended bitterly, but he says he enjoyed being part of an organization that was able to compete for a title every year.
“I maybe should have communicated that better to the people who were interested in knowing what I was going through,” Durant said. “But I had the most fun locking in and completing the task because I knew we were going to lock in every night, and it’s rare to get to that point as an NBA player. I just tried to focus in and stay in the moment more than anything.”
I wish History is gone
Fire bob myers, fire bob myers… I hope chase center uses it
Warriors are not going to win anything next 5 years unless they trade away Wiggins, Wiseman and Moody
Then tell us oh wise one.. who wins the next 5 championships?
Warriors have as good a chance to win a championship as anyone with Klay back and a solid bench
Klay is still a long ways from being back, he tore his achilles about 10 months ago and that injury takes over a year to fully heal from.
There is no way the Warriors can depend on him to be anything close to 100% next season, maybe by the playoffs if they’re lucky.
And that’s assuming they even make the playoffs, although the play-in tournament is a possibility. Plus their bench is far from solid.
Normal recovery is 6-12 months. That puts him around November-December. And I highly suggest you look at their bench options again if you think they’re not solid. Im not saying they’ll be the old Warriors but they’re still a good team
Actually make that 9 months ago for Thompson’s injury, not 10.
And they replaced Oubre, Paschall, and Bazemore (averaged 32 PPG last season between them) with Porter, Bjelica, and Iggy (averaged just 20.6 PPG between them last season). Lots a lot of scoring to replace, how much more than 32 PPG will they get from Steph?
Sure dont even mention Moody or Kuminga coming in or Klays impact when he returns. You also cant compare scoring across different seasons… the rosters and roles are different
I always wonder if people that rely strictly on the most basic stats such as PPG actually watch basketball.
I always wonder if people that rely strictly on advanced stats realize that the ONLY way they determine the winner and loser of a game is by points. Everything else is in reality nothing but white noise. Sure other things can help you get points and keep points off the opponents scoreboard, but it still ALWAYS comes down to points.
You left out how they both blamed Kerr and Myers for not handling their argument better
2 mentally weak but extremely talented ball players. There is nobody to blame but themselves and the decisions that they made in the situation. Durant could have stayed and Green could have gotten over his jealousy. Trying to blame it on Kerr and Myers is pathetic or as the kids say “That’s Cap!”
Nothing to see here, move along.
Yep I agree 100%. Blaming Kerr and Myers just shows how spineless these 2 soft players really are.
Nobody blamed Kerr & Myers in the article. Is that in a link from the link, or something recalled? I doubt it… the Casor post is what can be ignored. 13Morgs doesn’t know. Mute Marty.
What Durant is blaming now— a “happy go lucky” reputation— is a new wrinkle, to me an attempt by Durant to clear both him and Dray. It was all an introvert and an extrovert clearing the air awkwardly, with perception and reputation to blame.
It’s a version of Don’t hate the player, hate the game!
The existing story is Dray who built the dynasty reacting to Durant who strolled in later and got too much credit from the public. Dray was also feeling the pinch as one of the original big 3, losing standing.
Durant says now, but I was working so hard, locked in, and my past reputation caused the clash.
Whatever; I find Durant inscutable and Dray too emotional. It wasn’t going to be perfect outside of the NBA2K world.
Lol. Watching the interview>>>>>reading the article.
You’re whole post is rather worthless.
Draymond Green is one of the most intelligent and outspoken players in the NBA. And do I need to explain how calling KD “mentally weak” shows your severe lack of awareness over the past decade? What an absolutely stupid comment
My own take on the disagreement is that Durant owes Green an apology, not the other way around. A teammate missed a shot. Kevin Durant thought that he should have had the shot. Big deal. What a minor thing to blow up over.
It was Green who over-reacted to KD. Can you imagine if another teammate talk to Lebron or Jordan like that??
You can’t compare any of Lebrons or MJs teammates to Draymond Green though. Barely anyone in NBA history has been a player like Draymond Green. He’s a HOFer and a legend and has every right to criticize anyone as long as he backs it up with facts.
The only thing these make apparent is how badly Kerr failed as a coach—but we’re never ever allowed to talk about those, for “reasons”.
Kerr has never coached a team that didnt have Curry on the roster, yet he supposedly “knows best” for him? Also he has resentment towards him for being better than MJ while having basically Kerr’s body. Kerr is the only problem in any of these issues. Luke Walton coached the same team to like a 40-3 record.
I love Draymond but he was really out of line calling out KD making a big deal out of nothing and making KD look bad to everybody.
As for Kerr, everyone knows KD had issues with him, and both Kerr and Myers deserve blame for not able to keep KD for whatever reasons…. Kerr was the right coach taking over for Jackson and did an amazing job for awhile, but the magic is running out. I agree he deserves some criticisms for W’s failures.
Draymond is not a legend nor a HOF. Stop it.
Prediction: Durant requests a trade back to the Warriors before the trade deadline this year with Klay, Wig and both rookies going to Brooklyn
So why did he even leave if he enjoyed it so much