Draymond Green: Kevin Durant made a mistake leaving the Warriors

Draymond Green: What I will say is, when decided that he was going to leave, I thought it was a mistake. And not for the reason that everyone else thinks it’s a mistake, by the way. I thought it was a mistake, because I know Kevin. And what Kevin likes to do in his life – the number one thing in Kevin’s life – and that’s not the case for most people, including NBA guys, by the way. Basketball isn’t the most important thing to me in my life. I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and act like it is. It’s not the most important thing in my life. It is extremely important. But it’s not the most important thing in my life. Basketball is 100 percent the most important thing in Kevin’s life. It is the thing that he cares about himself more than anything in the world. And when Kevin was here, the reason I thought Kevin was making a mistake, because I felt like when Kevin was here, what he was allowed to do was to simply just go play basketball, which is what Kevin loves to do.
Source: Dan Feldman @ NBC Sports

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Stephen Curry has a scoring average of 26.5 PPG in the NBA Finals. He’s one of 13 players in Finals history to average at least 25 PPG (min. 10 GP).
He owns the third-highest eFG% and TS% in that group, trailing only Kevin Durant (1st in both) and Shaquille O’Neal (2nd in both). pic.twitter.com/hPSXqgEIyn – 4:31 PM Ramona Shelburne @ramonashelburne
Relationships matter in business and in life. Here’s why one of the Warriors most important relationships was between GM Bob Myers, ⁦@Rich Kleiman⁩ and Kevin Durant espn.com/nba/insider/st… – 4:17 PM Malika Andrews @malika_andrews
“If I had to put a year on it like 2017, 2018, he really starts to understand, ‘Wow, I am that good. I am that guy.’ And in 2020, it’s like, ‘Okay, now I’m unstoppable.’”
Draymond Green on Steph Curry’s evolution, Klay Thompson’s journey back the court and more. pic.twitter.com/1s8lI9ghwH – 4:01 PM Mikal Bridges @mikal_bridges
KD is hilarious lol – 3:58 PM Steve Bulpett @SteveBHoop
Was going to tweet a quote or two from a 2020 column I did comparing @Marcus Smart and @Draymond Green, but the comments from Draymond and Steve Kerr were too thoughtful to edit. They open up about the dark side of the competitiveness, too.
See what you think.
bit.ly/3tbtzmS – 3:20 PM Bruce Brown @BruceBrown11
KD od funny 😂😂 – 3:18 PM Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Draymond Green: Kevin Durant made mistake by leaving Warriors nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/02/dra… – 3:00 PM Tommy Beer @TommyBeer
Steph, Klay and Draymond have been healthy in 6 of the past 8 years.
The Warriors have advanced to the NBA Finals in each and every one of those six seasons. – 1:30 PM Andrew Greif @AndrewGreif
Draymond told @Dan Woike what Darvin Ham brings to the Lakers:
“It’ll be a different toughness that they haven’t seen. And he’s going to command and require a different respect level that they haven’t really have had.”
latimes.com/sports/lakers/… – 1:13 PM Ian Begley @IanBegley
Kevin Durant’s Boardroom has partnered with Showtime to produce ‘NYC Point Gods’, a documentary highlighting the impact of NYC guards from the 80s & 90s. It airs on 7/29. “Everyone knows an NYC point guard when they see them,” Durant says. (*Hopefully, film includes Kareem Reid) pic.twitter.com/EAFH0IKCiT – 12:23 PM Michael Lee @MrMichaelLee
Kevin Durant & Rich Kleiman already produced a documentary on PG County, next they’ll feature legendary NYC PGs. Personally, I’m excited to see anything that puts a spotlight on @Kenny Anderson. Showtime doc also includes @Mark Jackson, @Stephon Marbury & @rod_strickland. Airs July 29 pic.twitter.com/Ti7hU1hQbJ – 11:20 AM Ramona Shelburne @ramonashelburne
There are two kinds of dynasties in the NBA. Those that have a great run. And those that extend beyond the initial rise and fall. Here’s how the Warriors are attempting to do that, & the critical role a magnanimous gesture from Kevin Durant played in it. espn.com/nba/insider/st… – 10:40 AM Steve Popper @StevePopper
Showtime is releasing a documentary July 29 from Kevin Durant’s Boardroom on NYC point guards — and the who’s who is a reminder of what the city produced… pic.twitter.com/VZALnfKrcL – 10:30 AM Jorge Sierra @hoopshype
Among All-Stars, Kevin Durant has the third-worst mark in speed drills at the draft combine.
Only two All-Star centers did worse.
So perhaps don’t read too much into draft combine measurements? pic.twitter.com/EMfRhprp5o – 10:23 AM StatMuse @statmuse
11 of the 14 top scorers this Finals were drafted by their team.
Jayson Tatum
Steph Curry
Jaylen Brown
Klay Thompson
Jordan Poole
Andrew Wiggins*
Marcus Smart
Al Horford*
Grant Williams
Draymond Green
Derrick White*
Robert Williams
Jonathan Kuminga
Kevon Looney
Homegrown Bowl. pic.twitter.com/4jkTznGgSc – 9:30 AM Stefan Bondy @SBondyNYDN
Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman have produced a documentary about NYC Point Guards. It’s called ‘Point Guards’ and spotlights Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson, Steph Marbury, Rafer Alston, Rod Strickland and Pearl Washington.
Airing on Showtime July 29. – 9:14 AM Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Draymond Green was right: Stephen Curry got double-teamed way more than Kevin Durant in NBA Finals nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/02/dra… – 12:06 AM Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Draymond Green calls All-Defensive second-team selection a slight nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/01/dra… – 9:44 PM Connor Letourneau @Con_Chron
I wrote on the Draymond Green-Marcus Smart dynamic, and why these Finals could help determine who’s the NBA’s best defender: sfchronicle.com/sports/warrior… – 9:32 PM Monte Poole @MontePooleNBCS
The LeBron-DWade Heat tapped out after 4 years, the KD-Russ-Harden Thunder ended in 3. Shaq and Kobe won 3 titles in 8 years and ended ugly. The Steph-Draymond-Klay Warriors are the exception because of No. 30
nbcsports.com/bayarea/warrio… – 8:33 PM Mark Murphy @Murf56
Draymond Green on Marcus Smart: “I think he really thinks the game. You can see it the way he plays, the way he’s teaching guys, the way he’s commanding attention in huddles and going through the X’s and O’s in the huddles. You see it all. I think he does a great job of that.” – 7:26 PM Jason Dumas @JDumasReports
“Guys had to go on BART and give tickets away. I remember that.”
Draymond Green on how far the GSW franchise has come since his was drafted. pic.twitter.com/JMxsgKKAmL – 6:37 PM Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
Marcus Smart, on if he agrees with the comparisons to Draymond Green: “I do.” – 4:58 PM StatMuse @statmuse
Fun fact: The last 4 Finals MVPs are the last 4 All-Star Game MVPs — all from Team LeBron.
LeBron (’18 ASG MVP, ’20 FMVP)
Durant (’19 ASG MVP, ’18 FMVP)
Kawhi (’20 ASG MVP, ’19 FMVP)
Giannis (’21 ASG MVP, ’21 FMVP)
Steph (’22 ASG MVP, ?) pic.twitter.com/575O3Qlt2Y – 4:15 PM Melissa Rohlin @melissarohlin
Draymond Green, who is 32, on 19-year-old Jonathan Kuminga:
“He look at me like I may look at a 55-year-old man.” – 3:58 PM CJ Holmes @CjHolmes22
Draymond Green on Marcus Smart’s evolution as a defender: pic.twitter.com/K68n0fnkgh – 3:55 PM Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
Draymond Green said he remembers as a rookie having to go into downtown Oakland to give out #Warriors tickets because the franchise was struggling. Times have changed. #Celtics #NBAFinals2022 – 3:55 PM Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Draymond Green on Marcus Smart: “He thinks the game. You can see it on the floor…And he’s a great leader. And he’s grown so much. It’s been really good to watch.” – 3:51 PM Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Draymond Green on the Celtics defense: “You respect and admire that everyone is defending. Not a guy comes on the floor that isn’t giving 110%. And you have to give a lot of credit to Ime (Udoka). They aren’t that different from the team we’ve seen in years past.” – 3:50 PM Melissa Rohlin @melissarohlin
Draymond Green on the Celtics: “You respect and admire that *everyone* is defending.” – 3:49 PM Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Steve Kerr says that Marcus Smart is the guard version of Draymond Green: “He’s a great, great defender and probably an underrated offensive player as well.” – 3:43 PM Jay King @ByJayKing
Steve Kerr has compared Marcus Smart to a guard version of Draymond Grren: “He’s a great, great defender and probably an underrated offensive player as well.” – 3:42 PM Jake Madison @NOLAJake
Locked On Pelicans is live!
🏀 Jeremy Sochan draft profile
🏀 Is he the next Draymond Green or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
🏀 Defensive potential too important for the Pelicans to ignore
🎧 https://t.co/BETlDzBFEv
Watch on YouTube!
📺 https://t.co/4DBES9YyFq pic.twitter.com/vwYN4Av9RM – 3:30 PM Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Draymond Green on Warriors: “No one has ever beaten us whole. Ever.” nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/01/dra… – 3:23 PM

More on this storyline

Draymond Green: And so it wasn’t that he was going to play with Kyrie Irving. It wasn’t that everyone’s, “Oh, Kyrie isn’t there.” It wasn’t any of that. Or it wasn’t, oh man, you’re winning championships. It was more so, from me, from a life standpoint, because again, I care about the person. I don’t give a damn about the basketball player. He’s a great basketball player. I just care about the person. And I just knew what makes him happy in his life is being able to simply go play basketball. And so that’s where the mistake was made for me. It’s not that he wasn’t going to go win, because again, it’s not proven that they’re still not going to win. It takes time to build these things up. Whether that fails or succeeds, that wasn’t the mistake to me. The mistake, for me, was simply from a life standpoint of what makes you happy. What makes you happy – I know you. You’re my brother. What makes you happy is just simply going to play basketball. And so that’s where the mistake was made to me. -via NBC Sports / June 2, 2022 First Take: .@stephenasmith says Steph Curry changed basketball for the better, while MJ changed it for the worse. “Michael Jordan is responsible, as much as anybody, for changing the game for the worse!” Kevin Durant: My theory is that guys like steve, skip and Shannon have changed the game for the worse. Playas like Stephen and Michael can only push the game forward. -via Twitter @RealQuintonMayo / June 2, 2022 A 9-year-old Jayson Tatum was in the stands with his father as his godfather Larry Hughes’ Cleveland Cavaliers played the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals. Fifteen years later, longtime best friends Hughes and Justin Tatum will be in the stands together watching “Lil J” as he tries to lead the Boston Celtics to a title over the Golden State Warriors. “When a kid sees that a dream is real, it’s easier, but not easy, to chase that dream,” Hughes told Andscape this week. “I was glad that he was able to see that making the NBA was possible. I’m hoping he earns his award.” -via Andscape / June 2, 2022