Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green spoke to reporters for the first time since his Monday night altercation with teammate Kevin Durant, noting this impasse won't derail their relationship or the team's future.
“Kevin and I spoke, we're moving forward,” said Green, noting this would be the one and only time he'd address the situation. “It's no secret I am an emotional player, I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I play with those same emotions. Sometimes they get the best of me and it doesn't work to my favor. I'm gonna live with that. My resume speaks and this team's resume speaks more so than it doesn't. I'm never gonna change who I am, I'm gonna approach the game the way that I always do and like I said before we'll continue to move forward.”
Draymond Green: “We’re not gonna crumble off an argument. We move forward.” pic.twitter.com/PaMVsundsw
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) November 15, 2018
“What you must know, nobody in this organization — from a player, not myself, not Kevin, not anybody else — is going to beat us. So if you one of them other 29 teams in this league, you gotta beat us. We not going to beat us. We're going to continue to do what we do,” said an expectedly blunt Green. “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.”
Green then addressed the reported tiff that ensued, pointing at Durant's choice to keep his free-agency decision up in the air, casting a cloud of uncertainty and uneasiness in the Warriors' locker room.
“I've read a lot about of, oh, is this the end of the run? Or is it over? Or did I ruin it? Or did I force Kevin to leave? You know, at the end of the day, as I've said before, whatever Kevin decide to do, whatever Klay decides to do, whatever who decides to do, we had great years together,” said Green. “I support everybody wholeheartedly, 100 percent — because as a man, as a human being, you got the right to do what you want to do with your life. I'd never question that. “
Green was reportedly vocal in questioning Durant's decision-making and blaming him for purposely choosing to remain noncommittal about his future, an argument some of his teammates viewed as completely out of line, despite reportedly holding that same unspoken sentiment true.
The Warriors have packed a bag that might be too heavy to carry during this three-game road trip over the next four days, as they take on the Houston Rockets Thursday, then move on to a back-to-back against the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.
As usual in the NBA, winning solves matters — and a successful road trip could certainly make this issue go away much faster than predicted, leaving any remnants of their heated argument up in the air for those willing to argue against success.
Golden State bounced back from Monday's 121-116 overtime loss to the LA Clippers with a win over the Atlanta Hawks at home, getting the ship back to friendly winds as they tackle a busy five-game week.
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