Kevin Durant Responds to Draymond Green's Comments on Stephen Curry: '100% False'
May 31, 2022
Kevin Durant chimed in on Twitter after Draymond Green argued Stephen Curry had to deal with more double-teams when they all were teammates on the Golden State Warriors:
Green had discussed Curry's legacy on The Colin Cowherd Podcast:
"Steph Curry got double-teamed probably seven times the amount that KD did in a given series," Green said in the interview, which was quoted in the tweet that led to Durant's response.
Green and Durant later exchanged messages on Twitter:
The Warriors won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, and Durant was the Finals MVP both times. The squad also won in 2015 without Durant, and Andre Iguodala won the Finals MVP award.
Though some have held the lack of a Finals MVP against Curry when considering his legacy, he has impressed during the title runs.
The superstar averaged 26.0 points per game during the 2015 Finals, nearly 10 more than any other teammate. Iguodala averaged 16.3 points, while Klay Thompson scored 15.8, though voters recognized the former's effort in defending LeBron James.
In 2017, Curry averaged 26.8 points compared to Durant's 35.2, though he took 3.4 fewer shots per game and dished 9.4 assists. His 27.5 scoring average in 2018 was just short of Durant's 28.8, and his 37 points in the clinching Game 4 might have come too late for voters after he tallied 11 in Game 3.
Regardless, Curry has been elite with the pressure on, averaging 26.4 points per game in the playoffs during his career compared to 24.3 in the regular season. He has averaged 26.5 points in five Finals appearances with a 92.7 free-throw percentage.
This despite increased attention from defenses.
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, who coached the Cleveland Cavaliers in three straight Finals against Golden State, said after the Clippers beat the Warriors in February: "You've got to remember, in 2017 and 2018, we blitzed [Curry] with Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson on the floor. That's how dangerous I think he is."
Even if Durant disputes how many double-teams Curry faced, opponents clearly focused on the latter.