Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder just a few days ago and already
stories are pouring out about his time there. While most of those tales
should be taken with a grain of salt, one popped up makes a ton of sense.
Apparently Durant’s teammates in Oklahoma City were irked by his friendship
with Draymond Green.
Durant and his new Golden State Warriors teammate were close, and Green was
actively recruiting him for months.
On Adrian Wojnarowski’s “The Vertical Pod,” Woj discussed Durant’s exit
with Jeff Van Gundy. In an expansive conversation, Wojnarowski dropped this
bomb:
“I know Russell (Westbrook) was bothered by — and some other teammates were
too — of, like, there was some knowledge there that Draymond (Green) was in
contact with Kevin (Durant) all season long and they’re in a playoff series
and I know there was some conversation around the Thunder team of ‘Hey man,
this guy kicked Steven Adams in the nuts twice in this series and what are
you doing hanging out with this guy? What’s the relationship? We’re trying
to beat these guys.’”
It’s understandable why that would tick fellow Thunder players off. At least
for a playoff series, Durant should have put his friendship aside and focused
on his team. The fact that he didn’t do that is fine, but it also shows the
difference between someone like Durant competing for a championship and
someone like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant doing the same.
Does that make Durant a bad guy? Of course not. Does it make him a bad
teammate? Eh, I’d still say that’s not enough to condemn him, but you can
understand his teammates’ position. Green was the villain in this postseason
and he’s the guy Durant chose to pal around with. It’s not a good look if
you truly care about your teammates and are fully dedicated to winning a
title.