The wine selection at Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas didn’t offer either of their favorite selections. So Kevin Durant and Draymond Green settled on a Spanish red then made their way to another room. It was time.
Durant has vast experience in forgiving away hurts, of pushing past discomfort, of searching for peace in the middle of chaos. Green is reflective and accountable — even if it takes him some time, he usually makes amends, takes responsibility as if it were a 7-footer in the paint.
Just them being who they are, perhaps overcoming was inevitable. However, it certainly didn’t feel that way. It wasn’t that way. The work had to be done. Nobody knew that more than Green.
It’s been 10 weeks since the incident that threatened to derail the Warriors’ dynasty. To recap, Green did not give Durant the ball in the final seconds of regulation against the Clippers on Nov. 12. Instead, Green pushed the tempo and turned it over, squandering the Warriors’ chance to win it and sending the game into overtime. During the ensuing huddle before the start of overtime, Durant yelled at Green for not giving him the ball and Green answered by unleashing a tirade centered on Durant’s decision to play a third season on a one-year contract. Green’s verbal attack was vicious enough that the Warriors suspended him for a game, costing him a game check worth $120,480. It was vicious enough that many expected Durant’s exit was all but guaranteed, that many expected the Warriors’ reign would end.
But what looked to be a breach in the Warriors’ chemistry is now looking like an exhibit of its strength.
They have survived, and are surviving. They’ve won seven straight, nine of 10, are back atop the Western Conference and have an aura of feel-good hovering over the team for the first time really since the incident. There have been lots of internal meetings and conversations behind the scenes. The organization quietly but diligently worked to manage the ramifications and address the issues that seemed to erupt out of nowhere in that eventual loss to the Clippers. Now, it’s firmly in the rearview.
The residue is no longer evident on the court as the Warriors are back playing harmoniously. Operation DeMarcus Cousins is underway. Some in the locker room recently went as far as saying the incident is over, old news, not worth revisiting. So much so that several key figures from the Warriors declined to comment when asked about how Durant and Green got through it. Nobody wants to revisit this. They want to leave it in the past, let time work its magic.
But perhaps that is unfair to Durant and Green. Time shouldn’t be the only thing to get credit. That they are this far along is a product of character. As Nelson Mandela said in a 2008 speech, “It is so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.” They aren’t heroes for this, but it is commendable they chose the harder route.
The story of the season, however it ends, must include what happened on Nov. 12 in Staples Center, where the Warriors play for the second time in four days as they visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. So it should also include the effort they put into fixing it. And since they are playing on a holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., it is only fitting the story of how they worked towards peace is told.
And it all began in Dallas, ahead of the Nov. 17 matchup against the host Mavericks, when two men chose to value togetherness over harboring ill will. Durant and Green began the journey back into a relationship with a heart-to-heart talk.
For Green, it was a metaphor for his season.
It had been a while since Green felt he had hit rock bottom. After drilling four 3-pointers in a home win over New Orleans on Wednesday, he reflected on his doubt about how he would get through this.
“Just kind of frustrated and hopeless,” Green said of his low point this season. “Those moments, they happen. Just staying the course, having people in your corner that a) is supportive and b) not afraid to tell you that your shyt stink. I think that’s important. You see so many times people like ‘yes’ men being around them. They go home and whoever lives in their house is like, ‘Oh yeah. You’re right.’ My girl isn’t like that. She’ll tell me my shyt stink. My family isn’t like that. They’ll tell me. My friends will tell me.”
Indeed, it’s been a trying season for Green and the All-Star break is still a month away.
He turned down a three-year, $72 million contract extension offer from the Warriors in the offseason. He had designs on a bigger deal, so this season was critical. But it began with adversity. Knee soreness kept him mostly out of training camp. Then he suffered a turf-toe injury that hampered him until he had to miss two games. And then, the incident.
Green was hurting, physically and emotionally. He was the one in the wrong for how he handled it and had to wear the hat of the bad guy. His team punished him, his teammates called him out and his future with the Warriors never looked more improbable. Something that seemed blasphemous a year ago was even being talked about freely on social media: Warriors fans were discussing life after Draymond.
Piling on, he missed 14 of 16 games due to the toe injury. Unlike Durant, Green couldn’t let basketball be his escape. When he finally returned to action, he couldn’t shoot. Defenses were leaving him wide open, taunting him, embarrassing him. His confidence was visibly shaken as he hesitated to take open shots. And he wasn’t even defending like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
“I learned about myself by just seeing things that go on and seeing what I can get through,” Green said. “Sometimes, it’s kind of a shocker, like, ‘I can get through this.’ It’s just more challenges, which makes you stronger.”
One thing that can be said about Green, though: he doesn’t run from taking his medicine. He could have demanded a trade when the Warriors opted to suspend him and announce it publicly. He could have checked out on his teammates or even went all Jimmy Butler on them. He could have given up on himself, ceded his post as a leader and glue.
But something happened down there at his low point. Green found an old friend.
“It’s incredible,” he said of being counted out and written off again. “I be needing that sometimes, for people to say, ‘He’s done. The run is over.’ That’s amazing. I appreciate those people. Those people are the reason I am where I am today. Keep talking that shyt. They just make me better. If they were smart they’d just shut the hell up. It’s so many people that want to see you fail. Stay true to that. Want to see me fail. But they’ve go to know their personnel. You can’t talk shyt about a motherfukka that feed off that. If you know your personnel, you’d stay silent, pray on the downfall.”
Rejuvenated, Green found resolve. He doubled down on being Green. Which meant regaining his defensive prowess. Which meant again being an aggressive playmaker who puts constant pressure on defense. Which meant reclaiming his post as the heart of the team, one responsible for its thriving and not its demise.
On top of his list was making things right with Durant. Fixing his relationship with Durant was the challenge that would test Green. It would require the best of who he is, all his wisdom and intelligence and humility. So when they sat down in Dallas, Green listened. He even came away impressed.
The talk couldn’t set them on the road to recovery if Durant wasn’t willing. He was. And he didn’t use the opportunity to simply hear Green out or for the chance to exact revenge by going off in return. Durant didn’t just take the high road. He invested himself in making this work.
Franchises have been torn apart by less. Professional sports is full of bitterness and unresolved conflict. Star players are millionaires who can find legions of support and praise no matter where they go. They don’t have to be responsible or sacrificial or even rational. They can, in some ways, create their own universe with “yes men,” as Green called them, and comforting indulgences.
The NBA, specifically, has seen teams fall apart, players force trades, without ever even trying to address the core issues. Boston guard Kyrie Irving just apologized to LeBron James for his behavior, two years after he demanded a trade that led to the breaking up of the Cavaliers — and no one really knew Irving was unhappy in Cleveland until his mind was already made up.
Durant didn’t do that. He could have. Instead, he chose peace. He fought for something higher.
Durant told Green he wasn’t accepting the emotional excuse. Green’s fire is what makes him great even if it also makes him volatile. But Durant wasn’t buying that it’s uncontrollable. He’s seen Green control it. He’s seen him keep his composure in the crucible of championship stakes. He’s seen him locked in and focused, forcing his emotions to submit to his will.
So Durant challenged him to be better. Green accepted.
It was in this forum, the proper one, where Green explained his free-agency concerns with Durant. And Durant explained himself. He told Green how he could’ve been more communicative but that he is just used to letting his actions speak for him. Durant shows how he feels by his work ethic, how he pours himself into his teammates. He shows he is all-in by being all-in, putting in the time, making sacrifices for the team and playing with all his heart.
Though he’s found his voice over the last few years, Durant still has a loner quality to him, still is a bit of an introvert. He lives in his own head. Always has. Earlier in his life, he didn’t know how to communicate. It’s part of why his focus can be so great. He became a master at compartmentalizing, getting lost in basketball. He speaks his mind now, but his preferred form of communication is his presence. He expresses his commitment by locking arms with you, the kind of action that speaks louder than words.
Shortly after his meeting with Green, Durant recorded a podcast with Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes and spoke about having a statue in the Bay Area one day. Was that Durant efforting to vocalize how he feels about this team?
No, time is not the only ingredient in reconciliation.
It became clear Durant and Green were on the mend when the double tap returned.
By the roadie at Houston, the first game after Green’s suspension, the two were back on speaking terms. They were spotted chatting as they walked into the arena together. In the Houston game, they were back doing their special high-five. Players slap hands after just about every play. Durant and Green do it differently. They tap twice quickly, often backhanded. It’s so fast you can miss it. It’s their thing. Three days after the sideline blow up, it was back — a sign the awkwardness was subsiding, that they were going to give it a try.
At first, Durant and Green’s interactions looked forced, with Stephen Curry in the middle coaxing moments of laughter. But before long, Durant and Green were back in their rhythm. Over the last few years, Green was probably closer to Durant than any other Warrior besides Quinn Cook, who grew up near Durant. It was Green who recruited Durant to the Warriors and Green who seemed to vibe most with Durant. Then it took some time after the confrontation, but when they had their flow back as boys, it was obvious. It didn’t mean it was all back to normal. It meant they were committed to moving forward.
Against New Orleans on Wednesday, in the third quarter, there was a play when Durant loudly and vehemently, as top players tend to do, corrected Green in the huddle. Remember, it was Durant’s rebuke that triggered the incident. But this time, it was nothing but teammates, as competitive as ever, holding each other accountable. Like it was before. One of their teammates noticed the exchange and took it as a sign of how things were back to normal.
Over the next few months, maybe something else will happen to knock them off track again. Maybe they will never be the same and the season is just a common goal they are rallying under. Maybe the issue was never really that big of a deal to begin with.
Green is hoping no matter what, in 20 years, when they are older and gray, they will call each other friends and it will be real.
“It’s very rare,” Green said of what he and Durant have. “Obviously, we had a good relationship and then to go through something like we went through and still come out of that with a great relationship, that’s special. Those are the relationships you have for life. My deepest relationships that I have is, like, with people that I went through shyt with. It could’ve been a bad argument. It could’ve been ready to go to blows. Those are my best relationships because you go through something and then you come out on the other side and y’all are tighter and better for it. Those are the special relationships.”
No, time shouldn’t get all the credit. It took effort, maturity and character to get to where they are. It will take more to keep building on what they have.
And Green will have been reminded of what he knew all along: that he can get through this, and just about anything thrown his way.
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