In an appearance on the "All The Smoke" podcast, Golden State's mercurial star offers an extended insiders perspective on Durant's departure, among other topics
People forget who the real mastermind of this team is, Steve Kerr. He took over the reigns from Mark Jackson who got them into the playoffs and the realm of respectability and took them to the next level. Lacob said at the time he made the change because Jackson wasn't the right guy to take them there. This was said before the season started. Kerr simply organized the existing talent and told them how he wanted the team to play. The rest is history. He used the talents of his players to the max and developed strategies and tactics he still uses today. The players that were added were all support and bench players who were 'handpicked' for their particular skills. This was a careful construction between Kerr and the GM staff. That year, Kerr's first, they won the Championship.
The next year, they lost. Green had arguably his best season. They decided that H. Barnes was the weak link and went on the crusade to sign KD, which they did. They went on to win the Championship for the 2nd time and Green was a much less effective scorer than he had been. Even his rebounding took a hit, but KD is an almost 7 footer so it is understandable.
2017-18 they won again! Green never recovered his offensive game and his rebounding. KD was unstoppable and it certainly looked like replacing H. Barnes was the key to the Warrior's success.
2018-19, they lost. They seemed tired all season and let's face it, when you played for 3-4 years at the level the Warriors did, it takes its toll. KD continued to dominate. Green's offensive production seemed to have permanently gone south, especially his 3 ball. 11ppg on 45%fg seems to be his high water mark. Still, we got to the Finals but trouble was brewing and then the injuries.
We will never resolve the Green/KD affair because it is impossible to know the psychological effects of one's emotions and thinking on the court. Nothing is provable. Both contribute and play hard. If I had to choose who I would want on my team I would pick KD. He has proved beyond all doubt that he helped deliver two championships to the Warriors and is a dominant player and HOF shoo-in. He does seem a bit weak minded and I think the Warriors as a team did not fully address the situation and underestimated KD's intention to leave. Who in their right mind would want to leave the Warriors in the midst of an historic championship run with some years remaining with which to continue their winning ways? There was something there that was intolerable to KD and the Warriors let it happen. Trying to recapture a championship will be extremely difficult for the Warriors without a dominant player like KD. He made the difference for the last two rings. Green is a support player who is a contributor mostly on D and is able to setup plays. Execution is another story and so is discipline. Will nostalgia end the Warrior run to greatness? They need to get real serious, real soon and make some hard decisions about their future. No tears, Myers.
That was a great interview. Barnes was really excellent and Draymond is always candid and entertaining.
My biggest surprise was how apparently poorly Kerr and Myers handled the Draymond/KD Clippers dust-up. By his telling, Draymond had already spoken with them about his concerns about KD possibly leaving and not being happy. We don't know for sure if KD had spoken with them about leaving, but on another "Smoke" episode, KD says he thought there should have been a more open discussion of the tiff between Green and KD - with teammates and coaches - and there never was. On "the incident" itself, I always saw it Green's way - he pushed the ball and KD lagged behind when he should have been getting himself into position. KD dumped on Draymond FIRST, then Draymond (clearly unhappy with himself for turning the ball over) completely lost it with KD. "Losing it" is on Green, and he ought to get some help there. (His comment about refs "not respecting" him is in the same vein, and deserves more introspection on his part).
OTOH, Draymond is a winner. I'm glad he's on the Warriors, and I'm sure that he'll be successful in whatever he choses to do.
I'm still a KD fan. What a marvelous basketball player. What a generous community member! I wish him well with the Nets - he can be a one man wrecking crew (can't see oft-injured Kyrie helping all that much) - but I'm sure in years ahead he will fondly remember his time with the Dubs.
I'm sick to death of hearing about Durant, but I really appreciated this interview. It has the ring of truth.
But yeah, I'll be glad when we stop talking about Durant. I loved cheering for him as a Warrior; when it was going well, it was amazing. But Durant seems unhappy, and in the long term, that just doesn't work. If he really criticized Steph and Klay for not playing the right way, he was WAY out of line -- ironically so, since he was the one who seemed to want to go iso and beat his guy.
I'm glad he gets to start fresh in Brooklyn and hope he enjoys playing with his friends, but I'm glad the Warriors can roll with the original core and reload for another run. Wish they hadn't had to give up Iguodala to do it.
I really hope Warriors fans take a lesson from this not to immediately disbelieve reporters who are reporting things they don't like about the Warriors. I remember Ethan Sherwood-Strauss in particular got a lot of hate for accurately reporting that KD had one foot out of the door.
Also, I remember people defending KD's Game 2 performance against the Clippers and saying fans were being ungrateful for criticizing him for it. Well, here you go, Draymond thinks he quit in that game too.
And of course, a bunch of people have made the Draymond/KD on court argument into the moment that spurred KD to leave the Warriors, but I've always felt that's been a pretty transparent effort to go with the story that shits on Draymond the most as a form of "revenge" by the fans he infuriated for years. That argument was clearly preceded by a lot of stuff (as Draymond details), and I'd bet a lot of money KD had already decided to leave at that point. Notice that in this interview Draymond mentioned that KD once told him he was going to leave if things didn't change. It was on his mind. And when I say pay attention to what he does and not says, the contract lengths Kd negotiated line up with that too.
Here’s a too-shortened version of SOME of the factors that led to KD’s NYC decision. I find it interesting that Kyrie is voted on SO low. That’s where I think media (and by media I mean the one guy who has an axe to grind) came in and distorted everything. I have another as-yet-untold factor and I still believe, coming from a basketball background, that the No. 1 reason is Kyrie with other reasons not too far behind, but behind Kyrie. Again, some fans have been brainwashed away from that, which is my main frustration with it all. Kerr kind of sees it this way too (I have not talked to Steve about this but I hope to someday).
Well I agree with some parts of what draymond said. I also feel bad for Steph. How can a team mate tell a 2 time mvp he isnt playing the right way. The way I interpreted it, kd having seen that he couldn't beat LeBron to the greatest player title wanted to dominate Steph and klay. He wanted them to play for him as opposed to playing with him. Of course it's easy for klay to be subservient because he has never been an mvp. But how can he tell a 2 time mvp to abandon his own legacy and play for him when it was obvious that the team had better results playing through Steph. Im sure he couldn't try that nonsense with Westbrook.
As for draymond. He didnt change the game. Curry and klay were >40% 3pt shooters before draymond was even drafted. The splash brothers changed the game with their shooting. Draymomds presence didnt overly influence their shooting prowess. Warriors were playing small ball before draymond came into the league. Stak 5 was playing centre for Don Nelson . Bogut sets better screens than draymond. One thing I can say is that draymond wants fame. His thirst for recognition and his relationship with lebron's Klutch circle will end up hurting our team. That's all I have to say..
People forget who the real mastermind of this team is, Steve Kerr. He took over the reigns from Mark Jackson who got them into the playoffs and the realm of respectability and took them to the next level. Lacob said at the time he made the change because Jackson wasn't the right guy to take them there. This was said before the season started. Kerr simply organized the existing talent and told them how he wanted the team to play. The rest is history. He used the talents of his players to the max and developed strategies and tactics he still uses today. The players that were added were all support and bench players who were 'handpicked' for their particular skills. This was a careful construction between Kerr and the GM staff. That year, Kerr's first, they won the Championship.
The next year, they lost. Green had arguably his best season. They decided that H. Barnes was the weak link and went on the crusade to sign KD, which they did. They went on to win the Championship for the 2nd time and Green was a much less effective scorer than he had been. Even his rebounding took a hit, but KD is an almost 7 footer so it is understandable.
2017-18 they won again! Green never recovered his offensive game and his rebounding. KD was unstoppable and it certainly looked like replacing H. Barnes was the key to the Warrior's success.
2018-19, they lost. They seemed tired all season and let's face it, when you played for 3-4 years at the level the Warriors did, it takes its toll. KD continued to dominate. Green's offensive production seemed to have permanently gone south, especially his 3 ball. 11ppg on 45%fg seems to be his high water mark. Still, we got to the Finals but trouble was brewing and then the injuries.
We will never resolve the Green/KD affair because it is impossible to know the psychological effects of one's emotions and thinking on the court. Nothing is provable. Both contribute and play hard. If I had to choose who I would want on my team I would pick KD. He has proved beyond all doubt that he helped deliver two championships to the Warriors and is a dominant player and HOF shoo-in. He does seem a bit weak minded and I think the Warriors as a team did not fully address the situation and underestimated KD's intention to leave. Who in their right mind would want to leave the Warriors in the midst of an historic championship run with some years remaining with which to continue their winning ways? There was something there that was intolerable to KD and the Warriors let it happen. Trying to recapture a championship will be extremely difficult for the Warriors without a dominant player like KD. He made the difference for the last two rings. Green is a support player who is a contributor mostly on D and is able to setup plays. Execution is another story and so is discipline. Will nostalgia end the Warrior run to greatness? They need to get real serious, real soon and make some hard decisions about their future. No tears, Myers.
That was a great interview. Barnes was really excellent and Draymond is always candid and entertaining.
My biggest surprise was how apparently poorly Kerr and Myers handled the Draymond/KD Clippers dust-up. By his telling, Draymond had already spoken with them about his concerns about KD possibly leaving and not being happy. We don't know for sure if KD had spoken with them about leaving, but on another "Smoke" episode, KD says he thought there should have been a more open discussion of the tiff between Green and KD - with teammates and coaches - and there never was. On "the incident" itself, I always saw it Green's way - he pushed the ball and KD lagged behind when he should have been getting himself into position. KD dumped on Draymond FIRST, then Draymond (clearly unhappy with himself for turning the ball over) completely lost it with KD. "Losing it" is on Green, and he ought to get some help there. (His comment about refs "not respecting" him is in the same vein, and deserves more introspection on his part).
OTOH, Draymond is a winner. I'm glad he's on the Warriors, and I'm sure that he'll be successful in whatever he choses to do.
I'm still a KD fan. What a marvelous basketball player. What a generous community member! I wish him well with the Nets - he can be a one man wrecking crew (can't see oft-injured Kyrie helping all that much) - but I'm sure in years ahead he will fondly remember his time with the Dubs.
I'm sick to death of hearing about Durant, but I really appreciated this interview. It has the ring of truth.
But yeah, I'll be glad when we stop talking about Durant. I loved cheering for him as a Warrior; when it was going well, it was amazing. But Durant seems unhappy, and in the long term, that just doesn't work. If he really criticized Steph and Klay for not playing the right way, he was WAY out of line -- ironically so, since he was the one who seemed to want to go iso and beat his guy.
I'm glad he gets to start fresh in Brooklyn and hope he enjoys playing with his friends, but I'm glad the Warriors can roll with the original core and reload for another run. Wish they hadn't had to give up Iguodala to do it.
Thanks so much for highlighting this interview. I enjoyed it a lot.
I really hope Warriors fans take a lesson from this not to immediately disbelieve reporters who are reporting things they don't like about the Warriors. I remember Ethan Sherwood-Strauss in particular got a lot of hate for accurately reporting that KD had one foot out of the door.
Also, I remember people defending KD's Game 2 performance against the Clippers and saying fans were being ungrateful for criticizing him for it. Well, here you go, Draymond thinks he quit in that game too.
And of course, a bunch of people have made the Draymond/KD on court argument into the moment that spurred KD to leave the Warriors, but I've always felt that's been a pretty transparent effort to go with the story that shits on Draymond the most as a form of "revenge" by the fans he infuriated for years. That argument was clearly preceded by a lot of stuff (as Draymond details), and I'd bet a lot of money KD had already decided to leave at that point. Notice that in this interview Draymond mentioned that KD once told him he was going to leave if things didn't change. It was on his mind. And when I say pay attention to what he does and not says, the contract lengths Kd negotiated line up with that too.
Here’s a too-shortened version of SOME of the factors that led to KD’s NYC decision. I find it interesting that Kyrie is voted on SO low. That’s where I think media (and by media I mean the one guy who has an axe to grind) came in and distorted everything. I have another as-yet-untold factor and I still believe, coming from a basketball background, that the No. 1 reason is Kyrie with other reasons not too far behind, but behind Kyrie. Again, some fans have been brainwashed away from that, which is my main frustration with it all. Kerr kind of sees it this way too (I have not talked to Steve about this but I hope to someday).
Well I agree with some parts of what draymond said. I also feel bad for Steph. How can a team mate tell a 2 time mvp he isnt playing the right way. The way I interpreted it, kd having seen that he couldn't beat LeBron to the greatest player title wanted to dominate Steph and klay. He wanted them to play for him as opposed to playing with him. Of course it's easy for klay to be subservient because he has never been an mvp. But how can he tell a 2 time mvp to abandon his own legacy and play for him when it was obvious that the team had better results playing through Steph. Im sure he couldn't try that nonsense with Westbrook.
As for draymond. He didnt change the game. Curry and klay were >40% 3pt shooters before draymond was even drafted. The splash brothers changed the game with their shooting. Draymomds presence didnt overly influence their shooting prowess. Warriors were playing small ball before draymond came into the league. Stak 5 was playing centre for Don Nelson . Bogut sets better screens than draymond. One thing I can say is that draymond wants fame. His thirst for recognition and his relationship with lebron's Klutch circle will end up hurting our team. That's all I have to say..