VIDEO: Kendrick Perkins Claims Kevin Durant 'Never Bounced Back' From Blowup With Draymond Green
By Sam Dunn
If the Golden State Warriors struggle greatly in 2019-20 -- and they might -- the biggest headlines around the Bay will surely involve recriminations over Kevin Durant's departure, and what might have possibly been done to keep him around on a giant contract extension despite his ruptured Achilles.
But to hear NBA big man turned analyst Kendrick Perkins tell it, there really wasn't much of a realistic chance that KD would agree to come back to the Dubs. And it all centers on Draymond Green.
"KD never bounced back from the Draymond situation." @KendrickPerkins explains to @Rachel__Nichols why he thinks Kevin Durant parted ways with the Warriors. pic.twitter.com/49p6gHjkOm
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 4, 2019
Durant and Green famously beefed earlier in the season, with the latter reportedly giving the two-time Finals MVP a serious tongue-lashing, insisting that the Warriors didn't actually need him. The well-documented NSFW blow-ups threatened to derail the Warriors' season early on, and though they were able to see things through and win their fifth straight Western Conference title, the wheels came off in the Finals.
#NeverForget when KD told Iggy “this is why I’m out” after argument with Draymond pic.twitter.com/jU0PUWyirH
— Basketball Studios (@bballstudios) July 1, 2019
And that was that. KD's career in NorCal is over, and he's a Brooklyn Net now. Perhaps Draymond Green, for all his passion, really was his own worst enemy here.