On one side of the court, there were Draymond Green and Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, three Warriors directing their raised voices toward a specific opponent.
On the other side, that opponent, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, was shouting and gesturing right back.
What may have appeared to be beefing among NBA stars during the Warriors-Kings preseason game Thursday night turns out to be little more than benign trash talk in the wake of a hard foul the Kings forward laid on Warriors big man JaVale McGee with 3:05 left in the third quarter.
Asked afterward what the yakking was about, Durant rejected the idea of vitriol.
“Nothing,” he said, grinning. “Nothing.”
Durant, standing across the hall from the Warriors locker room at SAP Center, then glanced a few feet away.
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“He’s right there,” he said, nodding toward Cousins, standing near the door to the Warriors locker room. “Ask him.”
Partially overhearing Durant’s comment, Cousins, feigning simmering outrage, took a step in the direction of his Team USA teammate.
“What say, dog?” Cousins said, glaring at Durant.
Cousins then turned way, grinning, and resumed his conversation with a Warriors official.
“See?” Durant said with a dismissive smirk. “Nothing.”
Turns out the show, during which Green was giggling but Cousins appeared visibly annoyed, was just that, an exhibition in bogus umbrage.
“It was definitely fun,” said Green, also a teammate of Cousins on the U.S. Olympic team. “That’s how it’ll be. Like I’ve always said, everybody gets mad when you’re friends with somebody. It just makes it more competitive. It’s cool.”
