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?

Todd Whitehead @CrumpledJumper
With 6 assists tonight, Draymond Green would leapfrog Larry Bird and Kobe Bryant into the Top 10 for most assists in the NBA Finals. Here’s the court locations of his first 182 (from pass to catch). Will thread some fun ways we can chop up an assist map like this to find insight. pic.twitter.com/MM6uMwpYby – 5:44 PM 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

In your opinion, who would you compare your game with, and what’s your potential long-term ceiling? AJ Griffin: I definitely look up to Jimmy Butler a lot. Potential wise, there’s not just one person who I look at. I think I take a part of everyone’s game that I like and try to put it into my game. I watch a lot of Stephen Curry or guys that shoot and can attack. I watch defenders and try to become the best version of me. -via HoopsHype / June 2, 2022 Something the Warriors have chased ever since Joe Lacob’s investment group bought the Warriors in the summer of 2010, and especially once Bob Myers took over as Golden State’s general manager. “They knew that I could score. They knew I could play-make,” Poole remembered Wednesday when asked by NBC Sports Bay Area. “They just wanted to see how I was as a competitor and if I could win. I feel that’s something that stood out. “I was able to show that in my pre-draft workout. I think I’ve been able to show that here as well.” -via NBC Sports / June 2, 2022 We’ve seen countless organizations in recent years and in the past try to piece together a team solely on stars and big names. It doesn’t always turn out so great. To Looney, it’s Myers’ ability to find the right fit, both as players and personalities, that makes all the difference. “I think his ability to not just get talent, but just to get talent that fits,” Looney said Wednesday. “Not just our playing style but our culture of the locker room. It’s tough to do that sometimes, you know. Since I’ve been here, we always had guys that fit what we do on and off the court. I never had somebody on our team that we felt like was a bad teammate or he wasn’t a great locker room guy. -via NBC Sports / June 2, 2022