On Wednesday, Kevin Durant opened up about his departure from the Golden State Warriors after his on-court altercation with Draymond Green, which led to his abrupt, questionable trade to the Brooklyn Nets. The two-time MVP insinuated that the way general manager Bob Myers and head coach Steve Kerr handled the petty quarrel between him and Green led to the 32-year-old small forward wanting out. In the aftermath, it appears this event created a domino effect, resulting in the end of the team’s dynasty.
The public on-court argument occurred while the Warriors were playing against the Los Angeles Clippers in a 2018 regular season game. At the end of the game, both Green and Durant executed poorly on important plays. Viewers could see that Durant mumbled, “That’s why I’m out” on camera. He also compared what happened to a scene in Jason Hehir’s “The Last Dance” documentary, when each of Scottie Pippen’s teammates called him out on the Chicago Bulls in the 1994 playoff series against the New York Knicks.
Due to Phil Jackson drawing up a last-second play that Pippen didn’t like, he chose to sit out for the final play of the game. Anyways, Durant and Green were hoping for fans and players to scrutinize GM Bob Myers and head coach Steve Kerr the same way people called out Pippen. “We needed that,” he continued on.
“We just needed to throw all that s**t on that table and say, ‘yo Dray, that was f****d up that we even had to go through that. Let’s just wipe our hands with that and go finish the task.’” Moreover, Green was asked by Myers and Kerr to apologize to Durant and the Golden State organization.
In the interview, Green said, “I told them right then and there, I said ‘y’all about to f**k 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**k this up.” He closed this part of the interview stating, “And, in my opinion, they f****d it up!”
After Green’s comments, Durant agreed right after. He replied, “I think so too.” When asked about whether or not he had any regrets on leaving the Warriors, the small forward said, “No, I don’t have any regrets at all. I feel like we did exactly what we were supposed to do.” Green was suspended for one game after the altercation.
While the Warriors did finish 57-25 (.695), ranking first overall in the Western Conference that season, they went on to lose the 2019 NBA Finals in Game 6 against the Toronto Raptors. On July 7, 2019, Durant and a first-round draft pick were traded to the Nets, in exchange for Treveon Graham, Shabazz Napier and D’Angelo Russell. On August 6, 2021, the 11-time All-Star signed a four-year, $198 million extension to remain with the Nets.