On Jan. 6, Draymond Green was reinstated by the NBA after serving an indefinite suspension since Dec. 12 after landing a blow to Jusuf Nurkić’s face against the Phoenix Suns.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!#Warriors Draymond Green EJECTED for making "unnecessary contact" to Jusuf Nurkić's face 😳
pic.twitter.com/ldB8TxD0Hx— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) December 13, 2023
The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/dlFtd7okI7
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 6, 2024
Given Green’s history, there were a lot of initial reactions to the suspension. However, one Green reflected on the most during an episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” which was released yesterday, was by former teammate Kevin Durant.
Durant and Green played together from 2016-2019 on the Warriors and have some history in the media after many suggest Green played a role in Durant wanting to leave Golden State.
“That was insane to see,” Durant said. “Glad Nurk is alright. Never seen that before on a basketball court (or) an NBA game. I hope Draymond gets the help he needs. It’s been incident after incident. I know Draymond, and … he hasn’t been that way when I was around him and coming into the league. Hopefully he gets the help he needs and gets back on the court and puts all this stuff behind him.”
Kevin Durant on Draymond Green being indefinitely suspended for this play:
“That was insane to see … Never seen that before on a basketball court (or) a NBA game … He hasn’t been that way when I was around or coming into the league, so hopefully he gets the help he needs.” https://t.co/lCS6KpdVXT pic.twitter.com/wPh38jq6wW
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) December 14, 2023
After admitting that he was wrong in this Podcast episode, Green later expressed how Durant’s comments made him feel.
Green’s full remarks: “It really pissed me off when Kevin Durant said, ‘He wasn’t like that when I was around. I hope he gets the help he needs.’ … So then, I went back to Kevin Durant’s statement, and I said, ‘He said he was not like that.’ And so as I sat with myself, I said ‘I think it’s time that the world get to know me, who I am, and if I can look at Kevin’s statement the right way, through the right mindset .through the right lens, he’s acknowledging essentially what I want the world to know about me.’
“And then he spoke about help. And I’m like, ‘How he gonna say I need help?’ And when I went back through it with another lens, I was like, ‘Maybe, you shouldn’t hear help so negatively. Like, maybe you’re listening to the word help with the same mindset that the word help meant when you were 15 years old, so maybe you shouldn’t hear that negatively. So negatively. It may be he’s not saying that as negatively as you’re taking.'”
For those who have been misled by this post, here is the true meaning of Draymond Green’s comment about Kevin Durant pic.twitter.com/fIk8I1q02f
— Ball Room Service🏀 (@ballroomservice) January 8, 2024
Durant clarified his comments after he said he read a headline about what Green said about him.
“You got to look at it from my perspective,” Durant said after the Suns lost 138-111 to the Clippers last night. “Before I had made those comments, they were saying Draymond was going to therapy and sh*t. What (am I) supposed to think? They say somebody going to therapy. I’m hoping he get better from that, and I hope he learn from whatever he feel like he need to learn from going to therapy. That’s all I heard. I’m glad he’s back. I’m glad he can move past that.”
Durant then discussed his relationship with Green and how his comments were received.
“Draymond is an incredible teammate,” Durant continued. “He got his times where he lose his temper, but everybody has those times. I’m sure they’re all happy to have him back, but I didn’t mean no ill will about what I said. I know some people look at me as a malicious snake. Passive aggressive. I know how people feel about me sometimes. So when I say sh*t, I don’t mean no harm by nobody. I don’t mean to disrespect him or his family if he felt that way. I’m just glad he’s back out on the court.”
(Video via The Athletic’s Law Murray)
Kevin Durant says that he is happy that Draymond Green is back while saying: "I didn't mean no ill will about what I said. I know some people look at me as this malicious snake. Passive aggressive. I know how people feel about me sometimes." pic.twitter.com/vxPrI47W6N
— Law Murray 🧽 (@LawMurrayTheNU) January 9, 2024
Durant is overall just happy to see Green back to being with the Warriors.
“I’m just glad he’s back,” Durant said. “I’m glad he’s able to talk about his situation and move forward from it and getting back to playing and finishing out his Hall-of-Fame career.”
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
