Well before free agency ever started — for the past year or so, in fact — there was rampant speculation that all was not well in Golden State and that their dynasty was barreling toward its inevitable end. The volume on that only amplified after an early-season sideline dust-up between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant, during which Green questioned Durant’s loyalty and reportedly got a little too personal.
So it wasn’t much of a surprise when Durant was one of the first free agent shoes to drop when the moratorium period opened on June 30, with him confirming long-standing rumors that he would team up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. His frayed relationship with Green, among other things, was assumed to be at least the partial culprit.
But in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols this week, Green pushed back at the notion that his relationship with Durant had soured to the point that it destroyed the Warriors’ dynasty. He went on to explain why he was perfectly fine with Durant not notifying him prior to making that decision public, using a somewhat curious analogy to drive the point home.
Draymond tells me he’s totally fine KD didn’t talk to him about going to the Nets; “I'm not about to go to Kevin Durant & say, ‘Hey, Kevin, can I get my fiancé pregnant?’”
“It’s my life. Am I supposed to come to you and, A, let you know, Or B, ask you for permission? No.” pic.twitter.com/QIyf36EQ2z— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) August 14, 2019
Fair enough. With Durant gone and Klay Thompson likely out for the season with a torn ACL, there was some speculation about whether the Warriors might take the opportunity to move on from Green. Instead, he ended up signing a four-year max extension worth $100 million.
In the interview, he also doubled down on his previous comments that the Warriors will still very much be in contention next season. There’s plenty of debate about what that might actually entail, but regardless, it will be fascinating to see how they respond to all the upheaval as they fight their way to a fully-reloaded Western Conference that threatens to push them to the margins.
