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HOUSTON – Before anyone even asked a question, Warriors forward Draymond Green discussed the elephant in the room with the conviction and passion that matches his play.
In his first public comments since Green and Kevin Durant had a verbal altercation at the end of regulation of Monday’s eventual loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Green shared that he “spoke” with Durant and that “we’re moving forward.”
Green did not directly address calling Durant “a bitch,” criticizing him for his pending free agency or his one-game suspension in Tuesday’s win over Atlanta. Green also did not address an ESPN report that said he plans to appeal the Warriors-imposed $120,000 fine for his one-game suspension. But with Green active for the Warriors’ game on Thursday against the Houston Rockets, Green generally defended his on-court demeanor with Durant. The tensions began after Durant yelled at Green for not passing him the ball after grabbing a rebound during a tie game with six seconds left. Instead, Green committed a turnover as the buzzer sounded in regulation.
“There is no secret I am an emotional player,” Green said. “I play with emotions on my sleeve. I play with that same emotion. Sometimes it gets the best of me. If it doesn’t work in my favor, I’m going to live with it because it works in my favor to the good. That’s my resume. My résumé and the team résumé speaks to us more than it doesn’t So I’m never going to change who I am and I’m going to approach the game the same way it always do. We’ll continue to move forward.”
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The Warriors held a team dinner on Wednesday night, which is a typical practice on trips. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he spoke to Green privately and to the team before Thursday’s morning shootaround. Though Kerr declined to share any details, he described the mood during shootaround as “pretty quiet.”
When the Warriors opened up the end of morning shootaround to the media, Green and Durant appeared cordial and completed their shooting workouts at the same basket. Durant did not speak to reporters after morning shootaround and maintained a sullen expression as he sat on a bench and thumbed through his phone after his workout. But Kerr maintained he “feels extremely confident in this team’s ability to get through any adversity.”
“I know the character of the group. I know the history of this group,” said Kerr, whose team has won three NBA titles in the past four years. “It’s way too strong and way too powerful to be upended by the type of adversity that can hit any team in this league. We’re going to get through this.”
After all, the Warriors defeated the Rockets here in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals before winning their second NBA championship in consecutive seasons. Green and Durant also had on-court arguments during his inaugural season two years ago.
“I’ve read a lot about how ‘Is this the end of the run? Is it over. Did I ruin it? Did I force Kevin to leave?’” Green said, rhetorically. “At the end of the day, as I have said before, whatever Kevin decides to do, whatever Klay [Thompson] decides to do, we’ve had great years together. I support everybody whole heartedly 100 percent. As a man and human being, you have the right to do with whatever you want in your life. I’d never question that.”
Green did question one thing, though. He dismissed any concerns on whether his verbal altercation with Durant would disrupt the team’s chances in winning its fourth NBA title in four years or convince Durant to leave next offseason when he plans to decline of his $31 million player option to become a free agent. One Warriors staffer walked out during morning shootaround and jokingly said within ear shot of reporters, “break it up; it’s all over.”
“Nobody in this organization, from a player, not myself, not Kevin, not anybody else, is going to beat us. So if you are one of them 29 teams in this league, you gotta beat us,” Green said. “We are not going to beat us. We’re going to continue to do what we do. I’m sorry if that ruins everybody’s stories. I know everybody got a job to do. I apologize for ruining y’all stories, if it did. But if this only makes Kevin, myself, the rest of my teammates stronger, that’s what it’s going to do. You think you saw something before, good luck with us now. We’re not going to crumble off an argument. We’re going to move forward.”
One way Green wants to move forward: not answer any more questions about anything involving his disagreement with Durant. Green delivered an opening statement for about two minutes on this situation, but declined to answer a follow-up question regarding the front office’s stance. The Warriors suspended him for one-game without pay because of Green’s language toward Durant. The Warriors then had a team discussion in the locker room, though the team said the substance of those conversations did not influence their decision to suspend Green.
“Anybody want to talk about basketball?” Green said. “I spoke on what I spoke about, if anyone want to talk about basketball. I’ll take some basketball questions. But that’s all I’ve got to say about that.”
Green spoke indirectly, though, on his basketball philosophy that determines when to be a playmaker, find an open teammate or pass to one of the Warriors’ top scorers in Durant, Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson. After Green grabbed a rebound in Monday’s game against the Clippers with six seconds left, he sprinted toward the other court and did not pass a trailing Durant after calling for the ball. Green also did not see an open Thompson before fumbling the ball as time expired.
“Ball movement is always important, whether we got a matchup we like , whether a guy got it going, ball movement is always going to be important,” Green said in general terms. “Obviously there are going to be times you have to scrap that. A lot of times down the stretch, we scrap that. [Durant] is going to have the ball. Steph is going to have the ball. Klay is going to be finding his shot. A lot of times down the stretch, we scrap it. But throughout the course of the game, you want to have that ball movement and flow to keep everyone else in a rhythm and not allow the defense to key on those guys. Down the stretch, you have to go to your guys and they have to get you a bucket. That’s just a fact of the matter.”
As for the ensuing argument between Green and Durant?
Kerr maintained “it’s private” on how the Warriors determine when it is appropriate for Green to exert his fiery demeanor and when he crosses the line. But Kerr has long maintained Green’s on-court intensity and honestly provides more long-term and short-term benefits than consequences.
“Draymond has a huge heart. He’s a champion. He’s a winner,” Kerr said. “He’s so passionate that at times he can go over the edge. He always comes back. I know he’s going to come back and he’ll be his usual competitive and passionate self. We’re going to move on.”
Kerr appeared ready to move on by keeping his sense of humor. He joked he might filibuster his interview so no one asks any questions about Durant and Green. Kerr also joked that Rockets fans “might cheer” for Green during lineup introductions because of his spat with Durant. He dismissed whether this episode could strengthen the team, though, highlighting any other unpredictable events that could include injuries or personality conflicts.
“I’m not going to sit here and pretend everything is rosy tonight and everything is going to be fine,” Kerr said. “This will unfold and we’re going to be fine and are going to be at full strength and we’re going to be ready to roll. But we’re human like everybody else. We have to deal with stuff. So we’ll deal with it.”
And so far, Kerr said he likes how the Warriors have dealt with it.
“The foundation is the key to everything,” Kerr said. “We have a strong foundation and that’s why we’re going to be fine.”
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