Coming off a season in which he was one of three finalists for Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond Green is still in the prime of his NBA career, but he is already carving a lane for his post-playing career.
Green, who has made appearances in the studio on TNT's "Inside the NBA," recently sat down with former Golden State Warriors teammate and current Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant for an interview on "Chips," a new series for Bleacher Report alluding to the chip players have on their shoulders.
(Warning: Interview contains explicit language)
The two spoke on an array of topics, ranging from their time as teammates, what led to the end of the Warriors dynasty and the free agency decisions that have dominated Durant's career.
After watching the 24-minute interview in its entirety, a few thoughts came to mind…
1. Draymond is a natural
It helps that he has a pre-existing relationship with Durant, but Green continues to show just how good he will be in the media once his playing career comes to a close.
As an interviewer, Green was able to maintain a conversational tone which made for a great conversation complete with plenty of insight.
2. KD was destined to join Golden State in 2016
In addition to a perfect storm of circumstances with the salary cap and the Warriors players that were already under contract, Durant called it an "absolute perfect fit" from a basketball standpoint and said that he knew signing with the Warriors was what he wanted to do when going into free agent meetings.
He added that the free agency process confirmed what he felt about the fit in Golden State and holds no regrets, saying "I would do that s–– a million times."
3. The Warriors believe they would have won the 2019 NBA title if they were healthy
As Green went through the list of accolades Durant and the Warriors accumulated over three seasons, he said "you did do three years there (in Golden State), two championships. Would have been three, had you not gotten hurt," to which Durant interjected with a quick response of, "easily."
It's one of the ultimate "what ifs?" in NBA history, but a calf injury and subsequent torn Achilles tendon suffered by Durant kept him out of all but 12 minutes of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors.
As ultimate competitors, it's expected for them to have such confidence that they would have won, especially considering the type of run Durant was on during that postseason, but it's also a slight underestimation of how good that Raptors team was. Kawhi Leonard was on a historic run of his own.
4. The argument between the two in Los Angeles didn't drive KD away, the response did
Now infamous, the verbal spat between Green and Durant during a timeout against the LA Clippers has often been referred two as the beginning of the end of Durant's tenure in Golden State. While the blame is often placed upon Green, the two delved into the true issue being the response of the coaches, front office and ownership.
As evidenced by the video's title, it's an interesting take on the role of the executives, especially given the fact that Green is still a member of the organization.
5. Durant enjoys the Twitter interaction
Citing other players like Green, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, Durant touched on how his tendency to interact with fans and pundits on Twitter isn't uncommon among star players. KD added that it's deeper than wins and losses and connected to his decision to join the Warriors in 2016, which he feels fans should move past by now.
At the end of the day, he indicated that he keeps it about basketball, it remains harmless and he'll continue to do it.
6. Green firmly believes their Warriors teams were the best ever
In addition to saying the KD-era Warriors were the best era of basketball in his opinion, Green added that the team would have likely won several more titles had Durant stayed, followed by a question of whether or not he held any regrets in joining the Nets.
7. It's worth the 24-minute watch
As the interview closed, Durant told Green, "this is gonna be an incredible interview, by the way. This is gonna go crazy."
He's not wrong. It's worth checking out in its entirety here.
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