The Golden State Warriors want Kevin Durant to stay beyond this season, as the future of their dynasty likely depends on their ability to keep the star forward in the Bay Area.
Unfortunately for the Dubs, Draymond Green apparently doesn’t have the same opinion.
Golden State suspended Green for one game following his verbal altercation with Durant on Monday. The one-game ban appears to have more to do with the franchise trying to save face with Durant, who they hope to retain next summer, as Green’s outburst contained a barb that could help spell the end of the two-time NBA Finals MVP’s run with the Warriors.
As the two forwards traded verbal attacks Monday, both on the court and in the locker room after the loss, the profanity-laced tirade took an ugly turn when Green launched a verbal attack at Durant that the organization didn’t like, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes.
Per Haynes, Green called Durant “a b—-” several times before bringing up his upcoming free agency.
“Green blurted to Durant something along the lines of, “We don’t need you. We won without you. Leave,” Haynes wrote, citing sources in the locker room during the argument.
This certainly ruffled some feathers in the Warriors organization.
Durant took a lot of flack for leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the 73-win Warriors during the summer of 2016 and winning two titles since hasn’t lessened the blow to his legacy the way he hoped it would.
Even if the Warriors win their third straight title this season, all signs point to Durant moving on to craft another chapter of his career that might put him in a new light, with the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks reportedly being the front-runners.
As Haynes notes, Green’s comment couldn’t be further from the truth from an organizational perspective, but one has to imagine it irritated Durant and might ultimately help push him out of the Bay Area.
