NBA star Draymond Green finally has revealed what he told Kevin Durant that led to their viral chest-poking meme.
During the April 8 episode of Durant’s new podcast “The ETCs,” Green spoke with his former teammate and revealed that he was giving his then-Golden State Warriors teammate a pep talk, which many people familiar with the meme had already guessed.
The moment unfolded on April 16, 2017, in Game 1 of the Warriors’ first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers — Durant’s playoffs debut with Golden State. “I was definitely gassing him up like, ‘can’t nobody f-ck with you. Can’t nobody f-cking stop you,'” Green said. He added, “Hey, if you do this, they can’t f-cking stop you.”
“That’s exactly what it was,” said Durant — who finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Warriors to victory in that 2017 game after that encouragement — as he talked about his former teammate’s motivational tactics that day and how he would get asked about the clip constantly.
This revelation comes even as many observers perceived that the pair had an at-time troubled relationship during their three seasons together — something they also clarified during the episode. The two had been playing together on the Oakland, California, team since Durant’s arrival in 2016, and managed to score two championships during that tenure, in 2017 and 2018, before Durant left for the New Jersey Nets in 2019.
Reports began circulating that the two were at odds following several minor incidents and one notable shouting match that took place on the court in a November 2018 game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Durant called out Green for not passing the ball to him in order to take a game-winning shot with a tied game as the fourth quarter was ending. Green — who turned the ball over on the play, leading to an overtime game the Warriors eventually lost — quickly fired back, cursing and yelling that Durant was posed to leave the team that following summer. He added that the team didn’t need him. Green also refused to apologize and was subsequently suspended for one game.
However, during the podcast, the two men downplayed the drama that unfolded between them, and they both gave their perspectives on what went down that infamous night.
Green puts it: “I got the rebound, and I took off up the court. K is clapping for the ball, and I’m taking off. I’m driving up the court. In my mind, K is about to come in for the trail, and I’m about to pitch it back. He is about to walk into the 3, we’re going home. We got a game tomorrow. This is how I’m envisioning this whole play happening.”
He added, “As I turn to go across the court for the pitch back, K has completely stopped coming [laughter]. So I dribble the ball off my foot, looking for him. The sh-t went all wrong.” Meanwhile, Durant said he thought all along he would be the one to make the shot. “That was the disconnect. That was it. I wanted the moment. Draymond saw it in a different way. That was the clash.”
Draymond also admitted that he “definitely said some things I shouldn’t have said” but wouldn’t reveal what it was. Nonetheless, the pair seemed to have put it all behind them.
