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Draymond Green Reveals He Didn't Call Kevin Durant Crying to Recruit Him to Warriors
January 28, 2022
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green shot down a longstanding rumor Friday that he called Kevin Durant and tried to recruit him to the Warriors following Golden State's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Appearing on JJ Redick's Old Man & The Three podcast, Green explained how his communication with KD actually went down:
Green said the narrative that he called Durant from the parking lot crying after the game was incorrect. Instead, Green said Durant FaceTimed him while he was in the locker room to discuss the game.
Draymond did acknowledge, however, that he called Warriors general manager Bob Myers after the game to see what could be done to sign Durant in free agency.
Ultimately, the Dubs signed KD to a two-year, $51.25 million contract, and Golden State went on to win the next two championships with Durant winning NBA Finals MVP each time.
The Warriors' core of Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had already won a championship in 2015, but the arrival of Durant shifted the balance of power back to them in a big way.
Green told Redick that he began thinking about the possibility of the Warriors signing Durant after the Warriors won a title in 2015, which is why he took less than he could have gotten when signing a new contract.
In addition to getting revenge on the Cavs in 2017 by beating them in the Finals, the KD-led Warriors swept their way through each of the first three rounds of the playoffs. They also beat the Cavaliers 4-1, giving them a remarkable 16-1 record during the postseason.
The following year was a bit more of a struggle, as the Warriors had to overcome a 3-2 series deficit against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, but they managed to advance and then swept the Cavs in the NBA Finals as Durant once again outdueled LeBron James.
Durant and the Warriors made it to the Finals again the next season, but both KD and Thompson got injured during the Finals and the Dubs fell to the Toronto Raptors.
That marked the end of Durant's tenure in Golden State, as he subsequently signed with the Brooklyn Nets.
The Warriors haven't been anywhere close to the NBA Finals since then, although they do have the second-best record in the NBA this season at 36-13 with Curry, Thompson, Green, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole leading the way.
Durant signing with the Warriors is one of the most obvious cases of the rich getting richer in the history of sports, and it was a move that paid huge dividends for all parties involved.