After Warriors exit, Kevin Durant sounds like he’s on decent terms with Draymond Green
Warriors #Warriors
Dec. 22, 2020Updated: Dec. 22, 2020 11:52 a.m.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 21: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors warms up behind Stephen Curry #30 before the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on January 21, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)Harry How / Getty Images
Kevin Durant is now long gone from the Golden State Warriors, but from all indications, he hasn’t forgotten about his former teammates.
In a recent interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke, KD said he’s spoken to Steph Curry several times over the last few months, that he checked in with Klay Thompson after his Achilles surgery, and he even had a pleasant interaction with Draymond Green during the offseason.
Durant has maintained that he didn’t leave the Dubs solely because of well-documented arguments with Green, though those verbal sparring matches certainly weren’t helpful when he became a free agent. Now with the Brooklyn Nets and fully recovered from his own Achilles injury, Durant told Burke he ran into Green and his family at an unnamed restaurant over the summer, and was genuinely happy to see him.
“These bonds that we created will never be broken no matter what jerseys we put on, no matter what part of the country we all live in,” Durant said of his Warriors teammates. He got even mushier: “I’ll always be a Warrior in my heart,” he said, before closing the interview by reiterating, “I definitely miss my guys, I can’t lie.”
Whether that mushiness will translate when the Nets play the Warriors in the NBA season opener on Tuesday remains to be seen. And we’ll have to wait even longer to know for certain if KD and Green are cool, since Green is missing Golden State’s inaugural game due to a muscle strain in his right foot.
Alex Shultz is the sports editor for SFGATE. You can reach him at alex.shultz@sfgate.com.