Kevin Durant Could Depart The Warriors After Dust-Up With Draymond Green | The Sporting Base
[google-translator]

Kevin Durant Could Depart The Warriors After Dust-Up With Draymond Green

November 15, 2018

By Lindsay

The Warriors dynasty is looking likely to end with the rumours of Kevin Durant’s departure getting stronger.

The drama between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant seems far from over after a video surfaced in a tweet from Bleacher Report from the middle of the dust-up between the two Warriors in Monday’s loss to the Clippers, in which Durant apparently said to himself, “That’s why I’m out.”

And according to a report in The Athletic, Durant may already have made up his mind to leave after this season.

“With what was said, there is already no way Durant is coming back,” one player, granted anonymity, told the site. “The only hope is that they can say this summer, ‘See, KD. We’ve got your back. We protected you from Draymond.’”

The Warriors were obviously not impressed and decided to not just fine Green — which it did when he confronted head coach Steve Kerr during a game in Oklahoma City two years ago — but also ban him for a game.

“If we thought that was the right thing to do, we would have,” one front-office executive told The Athletic of the penalty. “We have to do what we think is right.”

Green drew the suspension for reportedly calling Durant a “bitch” repeatedly following the defeat in Los Angeles. He was punished for “conduct detrimental to the team,” according to Yahoo Sports.

[youtube-feed feed=1]

The confrontation came after Durant yelled at Green, obviously displeased that Green did not pass him the ball following a rebound by Green that set up the final possession of regulation in a tie game.

Green turned the ball over and the Warriors didn’t get a shot off before losing in OT.

Afterwards, Green reportedly defended his right to bring the ball up the court, as the fight spilt into the locker room, with The Athletic reporting that Green then brought up Durant’s impending free agency and the team’s annoyance that Durant continues to let the subject linger instead of insisting on focusing on this season.

Durant, asked following the win in Atlanta if he and Green had been able to “hash anything out,” responded, “Nah,” before adding when pressed on the matter: “I’m sure we will. Got a long season ahead.”

[adrotate banner=”41″]

But he declined to go into details about what transpired between the two.

“I’m going to keep that in-house,’’ Durant said. “That’s what we do here. Obviously, I know you guys [in the media] got a job to do, but I’m not trying to give [anybody any] headlines. What happened, happened. We’re trying to move on [and] play basketball.”

Durant also declined to say whether he was surprised Green got suspended.

“I was just focused on the game,” Durant said. “I didn’t really care either way.”

Privately, teams have been sweating on Durant’s impending free-agency in the summer of 2019, hoping that he opts for a new challenge away from the Bay Area.

The New York Knicks have been a popular rumoured destination. A union between Durant and LeBron James in Los Angeles has also been floated in NBA circles.

Since making his decision to join the Warriors, Durant has opted for maximum flexibility in his contracts, signing two-year deals with player options both years like James did during his four years with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James’ refusal to commit to the Cavaliers long-term ultimately hamstrung the organisation in their ability to keep the core around him refreshed, and how Durant’s indecision is beginning to wear thin with the Warriors.

While they continue to churn out wins and championships, Durant’s impending free-agency has turned into the elephant in the room for the league’s most powerful dynasty for the best part of 12 months.

[adrotate banner=”47″]

One of the most plugged in NBA reporters with the Warriors is Marcus Thompson of The Athletic, and in a piece following Golden State’s 2018-19 Media Day, Thompson noted Durant’s peculiar answer as to why he signed the contract he did.

“Just it was one of those things where you’re just confident in your skills, and you kind of just want to take it year by year,” Durant told reporters at Media Day.

“I think to keep my options open, it was the best thing for me. I could have easily signed a long-term deal or I could have — but I just wanted to take it a season by season and see where it takes me. And I think this whole year is going to be a fun, exciting year for us all, and I’m looking forward to just focusing on that, and we’ll see what happens after the year.”

As Thompson wrote, “when someone says they are keeping their options open, that means they are looking at other options.”

Watch the full video of the argument below.

 

Leave a Reply

[youtube-feed feed=1]

December 21, 2024

Three NFL teams to make quarterback changes heading into Week 16

There are three weeks left in the National Football League regular season, and three teams are making headlines because they are changing their starting quarterback According to Chris Rosvoglou of Read More

FREE: Pakenham Tip Sheet & Staking Plan: Saturday 21st December

Saturday Metropolitan racing in Victoria heads to Pakenham for 10 races with the first to commence at 12:15pm local time The meeting is headlined by the Supernova and Pakenham Cup The track is Read More

December 21, 2024

Zach LaVine shines in Bulls upset win over Celtics

The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 117-108 on Thursday at the Toronto Dominion Garden in Boston, Massachusetts The win was noteworthy because the Bulls came away with the win even though they Read More