Draymond Green Makes Stance on Kevin Durant's Greatness Clear With Simple Statement

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated May 19, 2025 6:23 PM ET

Draymond Green and Kevin Durant were teammates for three seasons on the Golden State Warriors. They won two championships together in 2017 and 2018 and played in three straight NBA Finals.

The Warriors tried to reunite with Durant in February by acquiring the two-time Finals MVP from the Phoenix Suns, but a trade didn't happen because Durant didn't want to get traded during the middle of the season.

Green and Durant got into a verbal exchange during the 2018-19 season against the Los Angeles Clippers. Durant admitted that his heated exchange with Green played a role in him leaving the Warriors for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019.

Green could be petty toward Durant, but he recently praised his former teammate on the latest episode of his podcast with former NBA guard Baron Davis.

"He is a star, a legend, a GOAT, a champion, an Olympic Gold medalist," Green said about Durant. "Four times. You can't go at KD's game, so you start talking about leadership. That's what people do. KD is KD. Point blank period."

Durant took a lot of heat this season from fans and pundits since the Suns didn't even qualify for the play-in tournament despite having three All-Stars: Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. The Suns were a walking disaster this season, winning only 36 games.

After finding out that Durant wasn't interested in getting traded, the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat in February. Golden State made the playoffs and defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round in seven games.

However, the Warriors lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round. Steph Curry suffered a left hamstring injury in Game 1 against the Timberwolves and missed the rest of the series.

Durant and the Suns are expected to part ways this summer. It will be interesting to see if the Warriors try to trade for the future Hall of Famer again.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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