Kevin Durant is insisting that a heated confrontation last week with Golden State Warriors teammate Draymond Green won’t impact his decision to either re-sign with the organization or walk in free agency in 2019.
“Nah, (it won’t factor),” Durant told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes on Tuesday. “Because at the end of the day, I’m just a ballplayer that’s just trying to be in a great environment to play basketball and groom my skills every day. And I want to compete on a level that once the game starts, I’m just totally comfortable with my surroundings, with just going out there and being me.”
Durant says he’s prepared to leave the past in the past and move forward with Green, who reportedly dared Durant to find a new home next summer since the Warriors have proven they can be successful without him.
“I never really felt like it was a problem, because I know Dray and he says some crazy (expletive) out his mouth all the time,” said Durant. “But on top of that, it was just that there was so much coming with it from the outside, and so much stuff that we have to answer now.”
Green was issued a one-game suspension last week by the Warriors for conduct detrimental to the team for his altercation with Durant both during and following the team’s overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 12.
The two chatted days later in Houston to clear the air and attempt to get on the same page as Golden State looks to complete a rare three-peat.
“I was upset, but I know that I can’t hold on to something like this,” Durant added. “I know that I’ve got to make a choice with myself, like how long are you going to be upset about this to the point where you’re going to let it affect what you do on the floor or how you approach the game?
“Once it gets there now, I got to make a grown-man decision and tell myself, ‘Look, man, no matter what, you still got to come to work every single day. It’s going to work out. It’s going to figure itself out.’ And I think everyone’s been handling it the best way they could and we’re just trying to move forward with it.”
Durant is under contract this season for $30 million and has a player option for next year that he’s expected to decline in order to enter unrestricted free agency. He’s currently averaging 27.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 6.1 assists for the 12-6 Warriors, who’ve dropped four of their last five games.
Smirfitts Speech 