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Despite being without two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors still had two pretty good options — Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson — at the end of regulation in their 121-116 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. So it was puzzling and surely frustrating for everyone badociated with the Warriors to see Draymond Green attempt to dribble through traffic in a tie game in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, only to lose the ball and fail to get a shot off as time expired.
As you can see in the clip above, Thompson is visibly frustrated at the way the final sequence unfolded. But the real fireworks started once the team got back to the bench. First it appears Durant says something to the effect of “give me the ball” while pounding his chest. Green, never one to remain silent, fires back at Durant, with Thompson standing idly by between the two stars.
KD and Thompson had both struggled with their shot up to that point, but it’s hard to fathom a final possession where neither one of them touches the ball. Durant finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 10 badists, while Thompson scored 31 on the night. Perhaps Green, who had six points on 3-for-9 shooting, was trying to draw in the defense to kick out to a teammate, but either way it looks like Durant wasn’t too happy about it.
Warriors vet Shaun Livingston addressed the exchange after the game, saying “things happen like that in sports” and that he was happy to see some “fire” and “emotion” from his teammates (via Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle).
This isn’t the first time Durant and Green have gotten in each other’s faces. Green yelled at a nearly silent Durant in a Jan. 2017 loss to the Grizzlies. Then the two had a much more animated back-and-forth a month later in a loss to the Kings.
Durant has said before that he doesn’t get upset with Green when he gets vocal like this, so the latest exchange likely won’t lead to any long-standing chemistry issues with the world champs. However, next time it’s a close game in the final possession, Green might think a little harder about pbading to his teammates.
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