Durant: Warriors' passive response to Green argument was the real issue
Warning: Story contains coarse language
Nearly three years after his on-court blowup with then-teammate Draymond Green, Kevin Durant says it wasn't the altercation itself, but the Golden State Warriors' failure to address the nascent rift, that contributed to his departure for the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.
"How much did our argument against the Clippers drive you to ultimately leave the Warriors?" Green asked Durant on Bleacher Report's "Chips" show.
"It wasn't the argument," Durant answered. "It was the way that everybody - (coach) Steve Kerr acted like it didn't happen; (general manager) Bob Myers then tried to just discipline you and think that would put the mask over everything. I really felt like that was such a big situation for us as a group ... We had to get that shit all out.
"I remember watching 'The Last Dance' and when Scottie (Pippen) didn't go into the game, the whole team in the locker room said, 'Scottie, that was fucked up that you did that.' We needed that. We just needed to throw all that shit out on the table and say, 'Yo Dray, K, like, that was fucked up that we even had to go through that. Let's go wipe our hands with that and go finish the task.'
"I don't think we did that. We tried to dance around it. I just didn't like ... just the vibe between all that, it just made shit weird to me. I'd rather us be who we say we are. 'Family first; communication is key.' Like, all right; we didn't show that and that's what rubbed me the wrong way more than anything."
The argument occurred Nov. 13, 2018. The Warriors were coming off back-to-back title wins in Durant's first two seasons with the juggernaut, but an instance of lousy execution in the early-season tilt against the Clippers revealed that all was not well with the reigning champs.
Golden State still advanced to the 2019 Finals - the franchise's fifth straight championship series appearance dating back to 2015 - although major injuries to Durant and Klay Thompson derailed the potential for a third straight title. Durant joined the Nets through a sign-and-trade deal in the 2019 offseason.
Green said that he felt Durant was ready to leave after the 2017-18 campaign.
"In my opinion, after Year 2, you were over it," Green said. "You were done with it and you were on to the next thing. But we had the opportunity to three-peat, and in my mind, what brought you back to Golden State for Year 3 was just the opportunity to three-peat, but it didn't feel right for you no more."
Durant said that others mistook his focus on competing for unhappiness with the Warriors.
"Just my look didn't feel as energetic or open as it was before. And I liked that," Durant responded. "I liked that I was closed off and focused on my work.
"I just maybe should have communicated that with more people who were interested in knowing what I was going through."