Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) and forward Kevin Durant (35), shown April 28, 2019, said they both believed that Steve Kerr and Bob Myers failed to properly handle the players' emotional back-and-forth dispute that occurred after a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in November 2018. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI |
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Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Kevin Durant and Draymond Green both faulted Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and team president/general manager Bob Myers for mishandling the aftermath from the players' argument that ultimately led to Durant's departure following the 2018-19 season.
In an interview published Wednesday on Bleacher Report, Durant and Green said they believed that Kerr and Myers failed to properly handle the players' emotional back-and-forth on the court that carried over into the locker room after an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 12, 2018, at Staples Center.
During the first episode of Green's new series, Chips, the Warriors forward asked Durant how much that argument played a part in his decision to leave the Warriors.
"It wasn't the argument," Durant said. "It was the way that everybody -- Steve Kerr -- acted like it didn't happen. Bob Myers tried to just discipline you [Green] and think that would put the mask over everything."
Green, who was later suspended by the team for the next game due to his role in the dispute, said he talked to Warriors officials after traveling back to the Bay Area following that Clippers game, then again the following morning. Green said he had a message for Myers and the franchise after the group asked him to apologize to Durant.
"'Y'all are about to [expletive] this up,'" Green said he told Myers and the team. "I said, 'The only person that can make this right is me and K [Durant]. And there is nothing that y'all can do, and y'all are going to [expletive] this up.' And in my opinion, they [expletive] it up."
Durant, who joined the Brooklyn Nets after that 2018-19 season, responded: "I think so, too."
Since Durant's exit from Golden State, the Warriors have missed the playoffs the past two seasons.
