OAKLAND -- Don't get it twisted, says Kevin Durant. The reaction on social media far exceeded any actual drama between he and Warriors teammate Draymond Green.
The animated discussion late Friday night between Durant and Green, which began trending late in a 128-119 loss to Memphis, was much less a sign of dissension than a matter of men clearing the air in public.
Green was, according to Durant, spreading truth in his typically demonstrative way.
"He's an emotional guy," Durant said Saturday after video review and practice. "It wasn't an argument at all. It wasn't a disagreement. I felt like Draymond was emotional and something was bothering him, and he came and talked to me. He always can talk to me. I didn't take it personally that he was using loud tones. That's just how he is.
"But it wasn't a disagreement, or it wasn't a fight. It was more so he was voicing on how he felt the game should've been going. And I agreed with him. I agreed with him, and I had his back and I just told him to move on to the next play.
"It's a long year, man. That stuff is going to happen."
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The Warriors were leading the Grizzlies 111-109, with 20.6 seconds remaining, when Green confronted Durant after a timeout. The previous possession ended with Durant, isolated against lumbering Memphis big man Zach Randolph, taking and missing a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
That's not what the situation called for, according to Green and others. The pick-and-roll had been successful most of the night, and it was there between Stephen Curry and Durant.
When Durant went away from it, Green not only explained that he shouldn't have but also why he shouldn't have.
"That was on me," Durant said. "I felt I had a matchup that I liked.
"I should've let Steph set the screen for me and go from there. But it's a learning experience. We'll get better from it. We move on. No hard feelings, none of that stuff. We move on."
Warriors coach Steve Kerr also downplayed the confrontation that generated a firestorm on social media.
"It's just good communication from two teammates who are passionate and trying to figure something out together," he said. "Kevin didn't take it personally. I thought Draymond handled it really well. We had a good film session, a good meeting today, where guys talked about different things. It's all part of the process."
Durant expressed an appreciation for Green's willingness to deal with things immediately and emphatically, rather than letting them fester and become an actual issue.
"That's a good thing, especially coming from an All-Star, a guy that is a huge part of the organization and a part of the franchise," Durant said. "That's what you need. You need that. You need someone to just be real and just let us know that, ‘Look, we're still getting better. We're not where we want to be. We've made some mistakes.'
"But at the same time, he's still encouraging and still positive and still have his teammates' back. It's definitely good."
