When Kevin Durant and Draymond Green had their very public argument on the bench in a Nov. 12 loss to the Clippers, it led to a lot of questions about the future of the Warriors. Can Green and Durant co-exist, is Durant even going to stay once he hits free agency, or will this be what finally destroys the unstoppable Warriors?
Some of those questions can’t be answered until the end of the season, but rumors of the Warriors demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated. Golden State is back to looking dominant once again, and it appears that Durant and Green have found a way to co-exist with one another. The solution to this was, of course, them sitting down and discussing it in a better forum than on the bench in the midst of a heated overtime game.
They laid out what was leading to their problems with each other and how they could be resolved. Green is concerned with how Durant is approaching free agency, which is to be expected, but Durant had an interesting response for Green. He wanted him to better control his emotions.
Via The Athletic.
Durant told Green he wasn’t accepting the emotional excuse. Green’s fire is what makes him great even if it also makes him volatile. But Durant wasn’t buying that it’s uncontrollable. He’s seen Green control it. He’s seen him keep his composure in the crucible of championship stakes. He’s seen him locked in and focused, forcing his emotions to submit to his will.
So Durant challenged him to be better. Green accepted.
Durant’s request is honestly fair. Green is an emotional guy that lets that drive his play. It’s part of who he is, but he’s also an adult that knows how to control them. He can pick and choose when he wants to blow up. Durant wants his choices on when he blows up to be better selected. He doesn’t have to always be screaming, and knows what things may cross a line.
At the same time, Durant can’t expect Green to start being selective only for him. If Green feels the need to blow up on him then he has to accept that Green is doing so for a reason. There’s a give and take there and one that we have to assume for now the two sides better understand.
