There were rumblings of Kevin Durant leaving the Golden State Warriors well before last season began, but Kendrick Perkins believes the team had a solid chance to re-sign him right up until the incident between Durant and Draymond Green.
Perkins, who played with Durant in Oklahoma City, spoke about the relationship between Durant and Green during an appearance on ESPN’s “The Jump” this week. Things came to a boil when Durant called out Green for not passing the ball near the end of an eventual overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers back in November.
“I think, in my opinion, KD never bounced back from the Draymond situation. … The Warriors tried to clean it up by suspending Draymond,” Perkins said. “They suspended Draymond and then about two months later, the owner comes back out and says he wants Draymond there for life.”
Perkins said he has gotten into heated arguments with almost all of his teammates but they “never crossed the line” the way he feels Green did. It was reported at the time that Green told Durant the Warriors don’t need him and challenged him to leave in free agency. Perkins believes that was “the last straw” for Durant.
“It’s hard to overcome that,” Perkins said. “Those were some harsh words. … I think that was the last straw.”
A number of factors are believed to have played a role in Durant’s decision, and even his relationship with Stephen Curry may have been one of them. At the very least, the feud with Green didn’t help.
