NBA Rumors: Kevin Durant Would Have Stayed Longer In Golden State If Spat With Draymond Green Didn’t Happen
After three consecutive trips to the NBA Finals and winning two NBA championship titles, All-Star forward Kevin Durant parted ways with the Golden State Warriors this offseason. Despite strong efforts from the Warriors to convince him to stay, Durant still chose to leave Golden State in the 2019 NBA free agency to team up with Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets.
Since Kevin Durant made a free-agency decision, several rumors are circulating regarding the real reason why he decided to start a new journey with another team instead of chasing more championship rings with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in Golden State. In an appearance on KNBR’s Murph & Mac, Durant’s former teammate Kendrick Perkins revealed that the Warriors had the “upper hand” in signing KD in the 2019 NBA free agency before the controversial incident with Green happened.
“I think win lose or draw, in my opinion, KD already had one foot out the door. I’ve said it a lot, coming into the season I think Golden State had the upper hand but as the season went on and the incident happened with him and Draymond, I don’t think Kevin really bounced back from it,” Perkins said. “Once again you have to applaud KD because he never came out in the media and bashed Draymond about the situation, he never even really responded to Draymond on the court.”
Kendrick Perkins was talking about the altercation between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green earlier in the 2018-19 NBA season. During one of their games against the Los Angeles Clippers, both superstars had a heated exchange of words that continued in the locker room. Their argument got so intense that Green ended up calling Durant a “b*tch” and reminded him that they won an NBA championship title without him on their roster.
? @Drake dropped a @KDTrey5 achilles bar on #GoldRoses.
LISTEN: https://t.co/9zN2Pp7MvE pic.twitter.com/S9WMzM8i69
— Complex (@Complex) July 26, 2019
Kevin Durant and Draymond Green reportedly managed to resolve the issue. However, the incident could still be one of the major reasons why Durant decided to leave the Warriors this summer.
The Warriors didn’t lose Kevin Durant in the 2019 NBA free agency without getting anything in return. They managed to acquire All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade deal with the Nets. However, while Russell could fill the hole Durant left on the offensive end of the floor, there are still questions regarding his fit on the Warriors’ roster, especially with the emergence of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in their backcourt.
