Draymond Green Isn’t Worried About Kevin Durant’s Free Agency He Just Wants To Three-Peat


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Kevin Durant and Draymond Green have not had the smoothest of seasons together with the Golden State Warriors. The two-time defending NBA champions are still in line to defend their title once more, but the getting there hasn’t been easy for a Warriors team that’s endured chatter about the team’s workings on a level they haven’t had at any other point in the dynasty’s run.

Durant’s pending free agency was a big topic of discussion earlier in the season, especially after an on-court incident between Green and Durant that both players say they are well past. But Durant’s free agency will continue to be a topic of discussion, even as the postseason gets underway in a few weeks. Just don’t expect Green to say much about it if asked.

The All-Star forward spoke to The Athletic’s Sam Amick about the playoff push, saying the only thing that matters is winning this spring.

“He’s part of it right now,” Green said about Durant. “Whatever happens this summer happens. Whatever the hell he do, he does. If he go, he go. If he stay, he stay. But while he’s here, we’re going to win another championship. It’s just that simple. Nothing else matters.”

Green spoke at length not about the situation between Durant and himself, which he says he doesn’t dwell on, but the hoopla from everywhere else that cropped up because of their row. And he knows why it got so much attention: every other team in the NBA wants to see the Warriors vulnerable, or their dynasty showing signs of weakness.

“Like said in the beginning of the season, when the shit happened with me and Kevin, everybody hopes that something like that would tear us apart,” Green continued. “But the fact of the matter is it’s not. And until somebody can come and beat us, it don’t matter. If I was on the other team, I’d hope some shit like that would tear us apart too.

“At the end of the day, we’ve had, what, five great years? Like long seasons doing great things. Eventually, most of the time, that shit takes a toll on its own. I don’t knock anyone for hoping that (it breaks them), because it’s been proven that no one can really stop it, so you’ve got to hope that it self-implodes.

“Nonetheless, the most important thing about it all is that everybody in this locker room has one common goal, and don’t shit else matter. And that’s the problem that the other 29 teams got. Things happen. Shit does happen, but we’ve still got one common goal. Through all the bullshit, that goal will remain the same.”

Green’s view is practical here, and it makes sense: any sign of weakness is going to be examined, and Durant’s very public consideration of options outside of Golden State is a huge sign of weakness. Add on top of that the fact that the Dubs have looked less than invincible at times this year, and the buzz from other NBA cities is only going to grow.

But as Green often does, he made it clear that nothing has changed for the Warriors. And the attention and hopes of everyone else that the team will fall apart doesn’t matter. Until the Warriors lose four of seven in the postseason, everything that happens in the months before that doesn’t matter.

“People want to make themselves believe that we’re beatable, and I don’t blame anyone for that,” Green told me while sitting at his locker after the Warriors’ beatdown of the Thunder on Saturday. “You should believe that we’re beatable and that you can beat us. But at the end of the day, in a seven-game series, you’ve got to go out four times and prove that. And until someone proves that, they can think what they want.”

He’s certainly not wrong.

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