UPDATED 6:20 p.m. ET: Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that Draymond Green will not be playing in tonight's game against the Hawks.
Draymond Green will be suspended without pay tonight, sources tell ESPN.
UPDATED 2:25 p.m. ET: ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears report that the discord everyone saw between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant on the bench followed them into the locker room where teammates confronted Green about his play at the end of regulation. It's said to be the most intense scene of the Golden State era, which is remarkable when you remember that Steve Kerr and Green nearly came to blows a couple of years ago at halftime of a nationally televised game.
Sources tell ESPN no players had to be separated and no player left his side in the disagreement, but observers of the scene believe it's one of the most impassioned disagreements they've ever witnessed with this Warriors team. Durant's impending free agency added a wrinkle to the back-and-forth, which consisted of Warriors players reportedly arguing with Green over his choice to keep the ball rather than pass to Durant for an attempt at a game-winning shot. Green is said to have defended his decision, which only heightened the tension in the locker room.Â
Additionally, Shams Charania, a senior lead NBA insider, writer, and analyst for The Athletic, seemed to confirm this exchange on Durant's free agency.
Sources: In midst of verbal exchange on court late in Monday's game, Draymond Green challenged Kevin Durant about Durant's impending free agency. As teammates came at Green about his turnover, he responded. This has been a simmering issue for the Warriors today.
Here's a full video of their confrontation before it headed to the locker room:
See original story below.
On Monday night in Los Angeles, the Warriors suffered their third loss of the season, and second out of their last three, after falling to the Clippers in overtime, 121-116.
Kevin Durant was all over the place in the absence of Steph Curry, dropping a team-high 33 points, to go with 11 dimes and 10 rebounds. Klay Thompson pitched in 31 more, but neither shot the ball particularly well. Despite their so-so shooting, you'd think Draymond Green would have found one of two when he had the ball inside of five seconds with the score tied at 106.
You can see how irate Klay is in that above clip, but he looked downright genial compared to Durant when they were on the bench waiting for overtime to start. He was right in the middle when KD decided to share his thoughts on that last play with Dray, who wasn't having it.
In what might be a shock to Kings fans who saw all manner of anger in Sacramento, it was actually Golden State's mid-summer addition, DeMarcus Cousins, who tried to pacify a pissed off Draymond before overtime started.
Like Green, who suited up for the first time since Golden State's win over Memphis a week ago, Shaun Livingston also returned to the lineup after a long layoff —he last played at MSG on Oct. 26—and after the game he downplayed the spat on the bench.Â
Durant's anger was partially tied to how the refs were calling him; he fouled out in overtime. Green left the locker room before any reporters could talk to him, but said of the bench beef with KD, "It don’t matter, you all are going to report what you want to report."
This isn't the first time the two have gotten in each other's face during a game. In their first season together, Dray famously jawed at KD for playing some hero ball at the end of a game, and in another instance—this was one was more motivation than confrontation—their interplay got memed.
We hope Boogie, The Peacemaker, happens because he'd look great as a late-'90s Clooney.Â
