Source: Gregory Shamus / Getty
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and then-teammate Kevin Durant had a very memorable falling out in a 2018 game against the Los Angeles Clippers. They jawed at each other quite heavily and ended up losing that game; Durant even mouthed to Green, “That’s why I’m out.” And although the Warriors ended up winning the chip that year, the damage was done, and Durant left the team the following year.
However, KD now says his dustup with Green isn’t actually why he left. Instead, the real reason for his exit is an unlikely culprit: head coach Steve Kerr.
“It wasn’t the argument,” Durant revealed during an exclusive face-to-face with Green for Bleacher Report. Apparently, KD didn’t like how the team wanted to save face to the public and sweep problems under the rug. “It was the way that everybody—Steve Kerr—acted like it didn’t happen. Bob Myers just tried to just discipline you [Green] and think that would put the mask over everything.”
“I really felt like that was such a big situation for us as a group the first time we went through something like that,” KD continued. “We had to get that s*** all out.”
Green was part of a Warriors collective that sought Durant’s services in the 2016-2017 postseason. The troupe of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Green pitched KD, and the quintet became known as “The Hamptons Five.” However, given Durant’s visible frustration at the end of that Clippers game and a pending departure, Warriors management came down on Green and told him to apologize to the 2014 MVP.
“I told them right then and there, I said ‘y’all about to f*** this up!’ I said, ‘the only person that can make this right is me and K and there’s nothing that y’all can do. Y’all are going to f*** this up,’” Green relayed to KD. “And, in my opinion, they f***ed it up!”
Durant agreed with Green, however. “I think so too,” he said. Green refused to apologize under orders from management, whom he was careful not to name, and was suspended for one game by the team.
And Draymond Green gave them the most “Draymond Green” reaction he could. “Either I’m going to laugh in your face or cuss you out,” he says he told the higher-ups when they handed down their penalty. “I’m going to choose to laugh.”
Durant left anyway and joined the Brooklyn Nets along with his buddy Kyrie Irving. Watch the video above to see the pair discuss the incident along with burner accounts, playing with Russell Westbrook versus his new teammates in Brooklyn, life after basketball, and more.
Check out how Twitter is reacting to the real reason behind the beef below:
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