This morning Bleacher Report uploaded the much-anticipated interview between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green. The highlight of this interview was when Draymond Green and Kevin Durant discuss their argument in 2018 during a game against the Clippers and how management handled that situation. (Green was suspended one game.) People believe that that moment was what convinced Durant to not return to the team in the offseason.
Here is the clip from the interview that addressed the incident:
The two ended up agreeing that the argument could have been resolved between them both. But it was with the intervention of head coach Steve Kerr and GM Bob Myers in the situation that really bothered both players.
“It wasn’t the argument,” Durant explained on why he left the team. “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.”
Durant believes that if management, specifically Kerr and Myers, didn’t try to intervene with the argument to save public face, his perception of the team would have been different and he might have stayed.
“Y’all are about to f— this up,” Green recalled responding to Kerr and Myers. “I said, ‘The only person that can make this right is me and K [Durant]. And there is nothing that y’all can do, and y’all are going to f— this up.’ And in my opinion, they f—– it up.”
Durant agreed with Green’s feelings of the situation.
From this short clip, we got enough information to see that had management not intervened and instead let Green and Durant resolve the situation on their own, then Durant splitting might not have happened. This is an easy way to not blame themselves (Green and Durant) for their role in it.
Yet we cannot forget that one of the main reasons why this whole argument happened was because Durant wasn’t committed to the team beyond the season. During that season his status remained up in the air and there was speculation that Durant had already made the decision to not return. His secrecy of this left the team in wonderment of their future beyond that season. Had Durant been open to his team about it, this argument may not have happened. But it was with that uncertainty that likely pushed Green to argue with Durant.
The argument in itself wasn’t as bad as it was perceived. But it was because of Durant’s silence on whether or not he was going to return that was the genesis of everything. That ripple effect changed the entire organization. If Durant had made his decision clear to the team, it wouldn’t have mattered if this argument took place or not. But management wanted to coddle Durant and maybe believe that suspending Green would help convince Durant to stay. They wanted to cater to Durant’s feelings and in doing so, alienated both players. They did more harm than good.
It’s very clear that management handled it poorly then and now nearly three years later, Green and Durant have shared the same feelings on the matter.
Yet, had Durant not been so secretive on his commitment to the team after the season, the results could have been different. It all started with Durant and the ripple effects led to this. He is the first to be blamed on this.
The entire interview can be seen here:
But at the end of the day... 