Draymond Green did not mince words explaining the turning point when Kevin Durant went from a joyful new member of the Golden State Warriors to a malcontent superstar vying for his recognition.
During a chat with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson as a guest of the All The Smoke podcast, the Warriors big man explained the exact moment in which Durant took a turn for the worst:
“We win a championship, Kevin wins a Finals MVP, he — in my opinion — got the best LeBron that series, I mean, Kevin was f***ing rocking,” said Green. “After that, it was kind of that moment where Kevin should be the best player in the NBA right now because of what he just did to LeBron. You turn on the TV the next day and the f***ing headline is: LeBron James is still the best player in the world?
“You got Stephen A., you got all these people debating it and everybody still said LeBron James is the best player in the world. That's when I kind of felt like it took a turn and then we came back for the 2017-2018 season and Kevin just wasn't as happy.”
The Warriors defensive ace even provided details as to how:
“He wasn't like, ‘Steph, you do what you do. Klay, do what you do,'” Green recalled. “All of a sudden it was like, ‘F*** why is Steph shooting this shot or f*** he ain't passed the ball or f*** why is Klay shooting this shot or f*** why didn't he pass the ball?'
“And I'm just sitting there like, ‘Yo, that's the same Klay and Steph I've always played with' … And I know those two guys and they're definitely not looking you off. They may not see you because they got tunnel vision at times, which all scorers do … but they ain't ever gonna look you off. I've been playing with them since I came to the league. That's just not who they are.”
Durant's quest turned from winning an NBA championship and experiencing a different basketball ecosystem with the Warriors to wanting his own seat as the best player in the NBA — all in the course of one year.
While this theory has been knocked around a few times since Durant's departure from the Warriors last year, Green speaking on it at length brings some much-needed confirmation as to what sparked the breakup of this dynasty.
Green also recently went at Durant for how he handled the 2018-19 Warriors season, and it looks like the forward isn't going to stop talking about this situation for some time.
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