“What me and Draymond did a few years back, that s**t happens all the time” – Kevin Durant compares his shouting match with Draymond Green to Jordan Poole’s altercation, says teammate brawls are rare in the NBA
Last week’s altercation between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole has been the talk of the basketball world. No one knows exactly what the fallout will be, but this is something that fans and analysts alike are not used to seeing. There are rumors of things that happen in NBA practices, but very rarely is footage of an incident like this brought to light.
NBA superstar Kevin Durant weighed in on the incident when speaking to ESPN. Kevin has a unique perspective because he was a teammate of Green's with the Golden State Warriors for three years.
In 2018, Green and Durant got into a shouting match on the sidelines, leaving some to speculate that was the reason Durant did not re-sign with the Warriors the following offseason.
“That’s not the same situation,” Durant said.
Durant said what happened between him and Green and what happened between Poole and Green is not comparable.
"What me and Draymond did a few years back, that s**t happens all the time," Durant said. "So, it’s easy to get through something like that, but I don’t know what this situation is like.”
Punch was seen on video
What mainly separates the Draymond’s issue with Durant versus his problem with Poole is that one involved an exchange of words and the other involved a punch. Physical violence holds a lot more weight than someone a verbal disagreement.
The Warriors' situation is further complicated as video of the practice incident was obtained and published by TMZ. Once TMZ disclosed the video, the dynamics of the situation changed dramatically.
“It’s rare," Durant said. "I’ve been in the league 16 years, and I’ve never seen that until the other day on camera. You hear about it with (Michael Jordan), and you hear about it with Bobby Portis, but there’s nothing that’s happening every year."
One incident Durant referred to involves Warriors coach Steve Kerr. During the 1995-96 season, Kerr played for the Chicago Bulls and was punched by none other than Michael Jordan during practice. That incident wasn’t shown to the entire world. Fans and journalists heard about the punch, and it was discussed during Jordan’s award-winning "Last Dance" documentary. Perhaps Kerr's experience with a similar issue will help him handle this situation with his team.
Green will return to the Warriors for practice and their final preseason game against the Denver Nuggets. Fans will get to see Green and Poole co-exist for the first time then.