Around the NBA, people wondered whether the Golden State Warriors ‒ most notably Kevin Durant and Draymond Green ‒ would disintegrate after their altercation 14 games into the season. Privately, the Warriors believed they needed to allow a few days to pass, receive a clean bill of health and allow champions to do what champions do.
Sure enough, the Warriors are becoming whole again: Stephen Curry and Shaun Livingston are back, Draymond Green returned Monday against Minnesota, and DeMarcus Cousins is nearing the end of the rehabilitation process for his torn Achilles.
Durant is fully entrenched within his sport, a sponge of all levels of basketball. He’s worked to find that sweet spot and balance between his life on and off the court. He’s a two-time NBA champion and two-time Finals MVP, but his mindset toward basketball permeates his actions. Yes, something was amiss in the days after the Durant-Green altercation that left Green suspended and Durant to answer questions about issues unrelated to the court. Warriors staffers understood after that Nov. 12 boiling point that they needed to give Durant some space to himself for a few days of recalibration, and that the noise would eventually evaporate.
“I just try to stay focused on ball and lose myself in the game,” Durant told
The Athletic. “There were times where I don’t shoot the ball well, times where the game doesn’t go my way, but I try to get lost in the game to get through a time like that. Adversity happens everywhere, happens to teams, and we rallied around it. It happens, and you lean on your love for the game.
“Over the course of the year, sometimes it’s tough to go to practice, tough stretches on long road trips. You run into obstacles and you just get through it.”
In the aftermath of that highly publicized incident, Durant received advice from mentors in his life, from his old coaches to old family and friends. One after another, people sent him messages and calls with the same message:
“Go to work,” they told Durant. “Go to work the same way.”
“People I lean on told me to stay centerfield with my thoughts and my feelings,” Durant explained. “I received so many people reaching out; my former coaches saying to stay centered, stay measured, stay pushing forward and keeping my foot on the gas. At that time, we were losing games, and people were banged up, so it’s easy to go the other way when you’re searching for answers. It was about staying positive and going to work.
“As players, we’re artists. How we express ourselves is on the basketball court. When you’ve played ball so long for so much, it’s about continuing to find ways to express myself verbally instead of always using the basketball court. Every ballplayer speaks and tells you what they’ve been through through how they play on the basketball court. That’s the beauty of the game, what I’m in love with.
“I like basketball 100 percent. The other shyt is aight.”
Even though the Warriors defeated the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 13 to improve to 12-3, the team wasn’t jelling the proper way. Green missed one game due to suspension, nursing an injured toe that eventually required an extended absence, and the incident with Durant had created issues that needed to be addressed. The Warriors lost four games in a row — including three straight in Texas to Houston, Dallas and San Antonio — reaching a new low in the Steve Kerr era.
As sources around the Warriors insisted: They’ve been through the fire this way before; this was a different circumstance, but winning will cure them.
“If you just win a game, it changes everything,” Durant told
The Athletic. “It’s like a perfume. We just couldn’t find a way to be effective when Steph went out, then Draymond went out, then Zo (Alfonzo McKinnie) went out. So we had to figure out different lineups. We happened to lose. We happened to play some tough teams during that stretch. San Antonio on the road, Houston, OKC coming into our building, we lost.
“The game that I just didn’t play well in the fourth quarter was Dallas. I should’ve won that game for us. But outside of that, we were finding our ways to be effective and play with Steph, Draymond, Zo and Shaun out. Now that Steph is back, we’re in our flow.”
The Warriors went 3-2 on their five-game road trip, improving to 19-9 after Monday’s win over Minnesota.
“I do feel the momentum building,” Kerr said after that game. “I felt it before tonight actually. We’re primed to get on a little run.”
(Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
Warriors guard Quinn Cook remembers all the times he’s entered his close friend Durant’s home in the Bay Area, walking in on Durant watching basketball highlights and videos online. For Durant, it has become an obsession and life indulgence.
“He’s so locked in,” Cook told me last season. “I’ve never seen somebody so locked in at all times. I’m at his crib all day. He’ll have his headphones in just watching videos and highlights. We’ll watch full games together, no matter the hour of the day.”
Ask Durant, and this habit hasn’t changed. He says he splits his viewing of videos online throughout the day, spending up to five hours at a time. “On a practice day, it’s usually as soon as I get home. Sometimes it can be 2 p.m. to 7 or 8 p.m.,” Durant says. He views past players, current players and professional basketball’s future prospects too.
“I’m supposed to be that way,” Durant says. “I’m a student of the game. I got to know every single thing, the ins and outs, and every advantage I can gain. Not by just standing in front of the film and breaking every single clip down, but knowing tendencies, knowing players, knowing what they like to do, their moves. I read articles after playoff series to see what guys are talking about, and try to gain an advantage of the court.”
“When I get in the mood, I just watch and watch. My appreciation for the game is on another level right now.”
Durant has spent time watching so many current NBA players, from Kyrie Irving to LeBron James, Zach LaVine to Trevor Ariza. His mental Rolodex of the game’s past and present is comprehensive. Three players stand out in Durant’s mind in his viewings.
“Kobe (Bryant), MJ (Michael Jordan) and Kyrie,” Durant says. “Just the way they move, I don’t understand why people don’t realize what they’re seeing in these three, especially Jordan and Kobe. Kyrie is younger than me, and that’s one of my best friends, so I watch his stuff. I get to play with Steph every day so I know his game inside and out. But watching Kobe and Mike, I’m like, ‘How do you not realize how good these dudes are?’ How do you not say they’re by far better than anybody who’s played the game? Just by the way they move, how fluid they are.
“Everybody that comes to my house, whether it’s friends or family, I make them watch Jordan highlights. This is equivalent to (Albert) Einstein … fukking (Ludwig van) Beethoven … or (Barack) Obama. This is the greatest talent and athletes and minds of the world. Just because they play sports, people think one way. But they’re masters, they’re geniuses. I just started realizing that a few years ago: Watching those guys can really spark my creativity.”
“When I fall in that wormhole, I start watching … fukking …. Sidney Moncrief.”
Other favorites?
Bernard King: “His pull-up J game going left is fukking stupid.”
Stephon Marbury: “His handles — Stephon Marbury was a ridiculous player, bro. I just want people to really look at him. These guys didn’t win all the championships and aren’t the most popular, but real basketball people know.”
Durant concedes it’s taken him reaching this point in his career to have this lens into his own sport, analyzing the game in the form of a fan — from the perspective of one of the league’s most accomplished stars.
“I can’t do what MJ does. I can’t palm the ball. I wish. I can’t shoot the turnaround, pump-fake spin, half-spin fadeaway like Kobe. Or crossover like Kyrie. I can’t do it. But I can try it. I can do it in my version, do it in my way. It keeps me creative and my excitement level for the game.”
Kerr acknowledged these Warriors were “beat up spiritually” following the Durant-Green incident. Nearly a month later, winning has started to cure all. Players returning to the Warriors lineup has restored stability. The Warriors believed they needed to give Durant, a free agent again this upcoming summer, a few days of space to himself following the Nov. 12 incident, and that the rest would take care of itself.
They’re back atop the Western Conference, ahead of Oklahoma City, Denver and the Clippers. Cousins is approximately one month from a return to the floor, beginning practices with G League affiliate Santa Cruz and potentially playing in a G League game or two.
Durant went off for 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocks last Christmas and walked out of Oracle Arena vowing: “I have to test my ceiling.” That internal challenge has continued, with Durant personally taking the assignment of Milwaukee’s MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo in Friday’s victory over the Bucks.
“I’ve been here three years,” Durant says. “I didn’t just become the player I am today. It’s a natural progression. I got more responsibilities, and being with Ron Adams in my third year in the league, I started to think about defense more and it evolved over time.
“Obviously, me having to score and create got in the way of that, but I want to cause problems. Guys like Giannis who are long and athletic on the wing, I usually take that matchup. I may not be able to fully shut somebody down, but I’m going to make it hard on them.”