Draymond Green Opens Up About Ugly Kevin Durant Fight That Threatened To Sink Warriors
Back in November, the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green and Kevin Durant got into an on-court spat that threatened to sink the team’s season. Durant blamed Green for not getting him the ball to take the game, and Green didn’t take it kindly — he cursed out Durant, called him out for potentially leaving as a free agent in the summer, and told him that the Warriors didn’t need him.
Although many fans wanted Green to apologize to Durant — and move forward as soon as possible — Green didn’t feel that was right. Business Insider reports that in a recent ESPN interview, one provided via YouTube, the Warriors’ power forward revealed why he decided to hold off on apologizing right away.
“Because, A. It’s not the time for that… That’s ridiculous. First off, you need to let time do its job. And when the time is right, I’ll feel that and it’ll be genuine. But what I wasn’t going to do is I wasn’t going to go to Kevin and say I’m sorry because everybody wanted me to. No, it’s going to genuinely happen and when it genuinely happened, everything will correct itself. But if we force it, it won’t correct itself.”
UPROXX reports that when the two finally talked, Draymond apologized, and admitted that his emotions get the best of him in some situations. But Durant allegedly said that everyone gives Draymond a pass for being emotional, and reportedly told Draymond that he isn’t going to do the same. Durant seemingly told Draymond that he’s “not allowing” him to use it as an excuse anymore.
Draymond Green sits down for a VERY honest conversation on what he had to give up in order to get what he wanted, what he learned from that fight he had with Kevin Durant earlier in the season, what he thinks KD will do in free agency & just how confident he is against Toronto. pic.twitter.com/D6mgEUPvPl
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 30, 2019
Draymond said that Durant’s response played a “big” role in his personal growth, and remarked that he was forced to look at the situation from a different perspective because he valued Durant’s opinion. Draymond also admitted that Durant’s potential departure wasn’t necessarily the thing that caused him to explode — it was that he felt Durant wasn’t committing to being a Warrior.
“It was are you with us or not that bothered me.”
Since the Warriors rarely have to deal with players potentially departing in free agency, Green likely doesn’t have experience in handling such a situation. And given the NBA rumors that are constantly swirling, it’s understandable that his paranoia got the better of him.
“I have to be more of a scoring threat when Kevin’s not out there.” https://t.co/XFU6oHQs2t
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 30, 2019
The Warriors recently lost Game 1 of the NBA finals against the Toronto Raptors, by a score of 109-118. Durant is currently benched for a strained calf, and although reports of his return are conflicting, Sports Illustrated claims that he is definitely still out for Sunday’s Game 2.
