Warriors star Draymond Green made waves on Tuesday, when he discussed former teammate Kevin Durant's departure from Golden State.
Green was blunt in his assessment, saying it was a "mistake" for Durant to leave the Warriors.
"When he decided he was going to leave, I thought it was a mistake," Green said on the Colin Cowherd podcast. " ... Basketball is 100% the most important thing in Kevin's life. It is the thing that he cares about himself more than anything in the world. The reason I thought Kevin was making a mistake was because I felt like when Kevin was here, what he was allowed to do was simply just go play basketball, which is what Kevin loves to do."
He also seemed to downplay the two Finals MVPs Durant was awarded during his tenure in Golden State, suggesting some of it was the result of Stephen Curry seeing heavy double teams.
"Kevin Durant was absolutely incredible in those Finals, as you know," Green said. "You watched it, we all watched. Kevin Durant was absolutely insane. Steph Curry got double-teamed, probably seven times the amount that KD did in a given series."
The comment came after Green was asked whether Curry needs to add a Finals MVP to round out his impressive resume.
"If you don't understand basketball, you're going to say he needs a Finals MVP to validate who he is," Green added.
Green's point was that Curry is the consummate teammate, whether that means passing out of double teams or deferring to a hot-handed scorer.
Durant later fired back at Green's analysis, apparently with respect to the double teams.
"From my view of it, this is 100% false..." Durant said on Twitter.
Durant's time with, and exit from, the Warriors remains an oft-debated topic among basketball fans.
Some of Durant's critics are quick to point out that he won two titles with a team that had already won one the year prior to his arrival. Others have questioned the wisdom of his departure to Brooklyn.
After turning over some of the roster in the years since, the Warriors are now back in the Finals, while the Nets have three early-round exits in the postseason since Durant's arrival.
Cowherd, for his part, noted that Durant and Nets teammate Kyrie Irving were both watching their former teams square off in the Finals -- in Irving's case, the Celtics.
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