Warriors' Kevin Durant has not cleared the air with Draymond Green
OAKLAND – His words sounded short, curt and detached of emotion.
Has Warriors forward Kevin Durant hashed things out with Draymond Green after the two had a heated discussion at the end of regulation of Monday's eventual overtime loss to the Clippers?
“No,” Durant said.
Does Durant see that happening anytime soon?
“I'm sure it will,” Durant said. “We have a long season ahead.”
The Warriors have a long season ahead indeed. They finished with a 110-103 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday at Oracle Arena, a night that Warriors coach Steve Kerr said his team felt “a little fatigued and emotionally spent.” The reasons had little to do with the Warriors (12-3) struggling against the Hawks (3-11). They still relied on Durant (29 points on 9-of-23 shooting) and Klay Thompson (24 points on 8-of-19 shooting) to lead the way. Warriors guard Quinn Cook still filled in for Stephen Curry's absence with a left groin injury with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds. And Kerr touted Jonas Jerebko as the team's MVP after posting 14 points and 13 rebounds as the starting forward.
Jerebko did not help the Warriors absorb Green's absence from an injury, though. He missed Tuesday's game because the Warriors issued a one-game suspension to Green for calling Durant “a bitch,” a vulgarity one player said was the tamest language during their heated argument after Green did not pass Durant the ball on the final play before committing a turnover that resulted in overtime. According to one team source, the Warriors punished Green for his actions on the bench and did not base the punishment on the team's discussion in the locker room afterwards.
Warriors general manager Bob Myers said he and Warriors coach Steve Kerr were the primary decision makers, while stressing that Durant had no input. Not that it apparently matters since Durant expressed apathy on whether Green played.
“I was just focused on the game,” Durant said. “I didn't really care either way.”
Telling words considering the Warriors tout Green as a unique All-Star that bolsters the team with his defensive smarts, playmaking and intensity. Yet, that quality also explains why Durant spoke about Green on Wednesday with the same enthusiasm as receiving root canal. Green reportedly also chewed out Durant by bringing up his pending free agency.
Did Green cross a line?
“I'm going to keep that in house. That's what we do here,” Durant said. “Obviously, I know you guys have a job to do. But I'm not trying to give nobody no headlines. What happened, happened. We're just trying to move on and play basketball.”
How do the Warriors move on?
The Warriors downplayed the implications for various reasons. So much that Curry said with a smile before the game that “everything is great!”
For a team that worries about playoff games in April, May and June, the Warriors believe they have time to fix a spat in November. Kerr expressed understanding after once punching former teammate Michael Jordan during practice, an incident that led Kerr to boast that “I kicked MJ's ass.”
“I think we'll be fine,” Kerr said. “We're a team that goes through stuff just like everybody else. Things happen. Bumps in the road. You gotta move forward. That's all part of coaching a team, being on a team. You have to get through the adversity and there are some difficult times and you get through them.”
Durant and Green have already gotten through difficult times ever since Durant joined the Warriors as a free agent in the 2016 offseason.
That season, Green yelled at Durant after a late-game miscommunication against Memphis in a game the Warriors squandered a 24-point lead. A month later, Green yelled at Durant on the sidelined during a loss to Sacramento. When Green sent a lengthy text message to Durant about improving his play before Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against New Orleans, Durant credited Green for motivating him.
“KD and Draymond don't usually take things personally,” Looney said. “They're good at moving on.”
Some on the Warriors predicted the same thing.
After calming Durant down at the end of regulation, Warriors forward Andre Iguodala likened to spat to typical family issues and that they remain brothers. When a reporter wondered if Durant and Green are like ‘Cain' and ‘Abel' from the Old Testament, Iguodala mused, “I don't think nobody is trying to kill the other one.”
Cook, who is one of Durant's best friends on the team, predicted the issue will “make us stronger.” He also believed that Durant will forgive Green quickly.
So quickly that Thompson guessed it will happen so long as the Warriors win their three-game trip this week in Houston (Thursday), Dallas (Saturday) and San Antonio (Sunday).
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