Kevin Durant and Draymond Green openly had issues with one another before Durant left the Golden State Warriors in 2019, but they have since smoothed things over. Now, they are both essentially blaming the team for how the situation was handled.
In an interview for Bleacher Report’s “Chips” series that was released on Wednesday, Durant and Green discussed the infamous argument they had during the 2018-19 season that led to Green being suspended. The spat happened near the end of an eventual overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, when Durant ripped Green for not passing the ball. Durant said the argument itself was less of an issue than the way the Warriors’ brass handled it.
“It wasn’t the argument. It was the way that everybody … (head coach) Steve Kerr acted like it didn’t happen, (general manager) Bob Meyers tried to just discipline you and think that would put the mask over everything,” Durant said.
Durant said he watched “The Last Dance” and took note of how the entire Chicago Bulls team called out Scottie Pippen for infamously refusing to go in at the end of a playoff game. He wishes the Warriors did the same.
“We needed that. We needed to throw all that s— out on the table and say, ‘Yo, Dray, K, that was f—ed up that we even had to go through that. Let’s just wipe our hands of that and go finish the task,'” Durant said. “I don’t think we did that. We tried to dance around it.”
Green then explained how Warriors management told him he needed to apologize, but he wanted to work things out with Durant on his own terms.
“I told them, ‘I’ll talk to (Durant), but y’all aren’t gonna tell me what I need to say.’ … Ultimately, they realized we’re not getting through to him and are gonna try again in the morning,” Green recalled. “We met the next morning and they said, ‘Alright, you slept on it. You ready to apologize?’ I told them right then and there, ‘Y’all are about to f— this up. The only person that can make this right is me and (Durant). There is nothing that y’all can do and y’all are going to f— this up.’ And in my opinion, they f—ed it up.”
Durant agreed, though we can’t help but feel like this is revisionist history. Durant has admitted that he was bothered by Green telling him the Warriors don’t need him. Green has said he took issue with Durant letting his free agency decision drag out. Perhaps the two could have worked through those issues, but blaming Kerr and Golden State’s front office seems convenient now that Durant and Green are back to being buddies.
You can see the relevant portion of the interview below, but beware that it contains inappropriate language:
