Kevin Durant, Draymond Green Blame Steve Kerr for Warriors Breakup
By Dan Cancian On 8/19/21 at 3:34 AM EDT
Sports Kevin Durant Steve Kerr Golden State Warriors NBA
Kevin Durant and Draymond Green laid the blame for the former's decision to leave the Golden State Warriors firmly at the feet of head coach Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers, whom they believe mishandled a heated locker room argument among players.
Durant won two NBA titles in three seasons with the Warriors, before leaving as a free agent in the summer of 2019 to sign for the Brooklyn Nets.
During the first episode of his new series "Chips", which airs on Bleacher Report, both Green and Durant suggested the decision stemmed from the fallout of an incident involving the pair after an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in November 2018.
'Untold' on Netflix: Episode Release Schedule and What to Expect
Athlete Sells Olympic Silver Medal to Pay for Heart Surgery for Baby Boy
NBA Reveals 2021–22 Season Opening Night and Christmas Day Schedules
"It wasn't the argument," Durant told Green. "It was the way that everybody—Steve Kerr—acted like it didn't happen.
"Bob Myers tried to just discipline you and think that would put the mask over everything."
Golden State suspended Green for the following game following the incident and asked him to apologize Durant. The request went down like a lead balloon with Green, who warned the Warriors they risked damaging the team's delicate chemistry.
"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***ed it up."
With the score tied and four seconds left in the fourth quarter of the game against the Clippers, Green beat Durant to a defensive rebound to secure possession and ignored his request to receive the ball.
Green dribbled up court ignoring Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson, who were wide open either side of him, before losing both balance and possession as the chance went begging.
As the teams returned to the bench ahead of overtime, Durant and his teammate exchanged words. As the discussion grew more intense, Thompson, who was sat between the two, acted as peacemaker.
The argument continued into the locker room, where Green reportedly dared Durant to win a title with a team other than the Warriors.
The duo, however, looked to get over the incident relatively quickly, but the altercation hovered over the Warriors like a dark cloud for the remainder of the season with players and coaching staff repeatedly asked about its lingering impact.
Durant tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, as he returned after a month-long layoff with the Warriors trailing 3-1 in the series. His fleeting appearance on the court ultimately proved to be his last game in a Golden State uniform, as he signed with the Nets just months later and missed the entire 2019-20 season to recover from injury.
Speaking to Green, Durant admitted the fallout from his final season with the Warriors had parallels with the Chicago Bulls' breakup, which was explored by ESPN's 10-part documentary The Last Dance last year.
"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 f***ed up that you did that'," he said.
"We needed that. We just needed to throw all of that s*** on the table and say, 'Yo Dray, K, that was f***ed up that we even had to go through that.'
"Let's just wipe our hands with that and go finish the task. [...] I didn't think we did that. We just tried to dance around it. I just didn't like, just the vibe between all of that."
USA's Kevin Durant (R) and Draymond Green celebrate with their gold medals during the medal ceremony for the men's basketball tournament of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama on August 7. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images