A fissure between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant was revealed earlier this week when they got into an on-court argument in an overtime loss to the Clippers on Monday. After the Warriors suspended Green for verbally attacking Durant, the dynasty's future is in doubt. However, according to The Undefeated, KD and Dray's teammates are trying to bridge whatever chasm has opened up between the two because of Durant's impending free agency this summer.
One Warriors player told The Undefeated that he was attempting to get the former friends on the same page soon. Another said of the two all-stars, "Those dudes won a chip together. They will be brothers again tomorrow."
It might not be that easy, though. One of the elder statesman in the Warriors' locker room, Andre Iguodala, had a concerning back and forth with The Athletic's Ethan Strauss, where he compared the two former buddies to another title-winning pairing that turned from rivalry to enemies.
I ask Andre if the Warriors can win with KD and Draymond at odds like this. Andre responds, “Shaq and Kobe ain’t like each other.”
That last line portends doom for Golden State moving forward. But Strauss alludes to Green's advanced age and his hope for a $200-million plus max (or supermax $235 million if he wins DPOY) deal when his current contract ends in 2020 as the real reason the Warriors docked him a $120K game check for what he said to KD. The theory is that Golden State would rather pay KD this summer than Green the following July, and that's the message they sent to KD with the public rebuke of Green. Draymond will apparently reach out to the Players' Association to appeal the fine from the suspension.
Meanwhile, both stars will be back on the court for Thursday night's nationally televised game against the Rockets, who they battled in a seven-game series in last year's Western Conference finals (really the NBA Finals, if you looked at the squad around LeBron). So get your Michael Jackson eating popcorn GIFs ready.
