KD confident Green punch won't derail Warriors

MILWAUKEE -- Kevin Durant knows immoderate of the parallels are there.

From a distance, the Brooklyn Nets' prima guardant has watched -- similar everybody other -- the leaked video footage of Draymond Green punching Golden State Warriors teammate Jordan Poole during practice. The defending champion Warriors' locker country has been wounded by the incidental -- and the information that it became public.

At the opening of the 2018-19 season, an incidental betwixt then-Warriors teammates Durant and Green had a akin benignant of interaction wrong the model of the enactment -- a verbal disagreement that got much heated astatine the extremity of a crippled successful aboriginal November -- which carried implicit into the locker country and threatened to derail the team's camaraderie.

Durant and Green yet healed their relationship, and the Warriors went astir their business, thing they're trying to bash again astir 4 years aboriginal successful the aftermath of this latest episode. But arsenic Durant watches the process unfold, helium sees a stark quality betwixt past and now.

"That's not the aforesaid situation," Durant told ESPN. "Somebody got punched successful the look ... It's nary examination to that. It was conscionable immoderate words that being -- I heard radical accidental that that happens a batch successful the NBA. I had ne'er seen thing similar that before. But what maine and Draymond did a fewer years back, that s--- happens each the time. So it's casual to get done thing similar that, but I don't cognize what this concern is like."

Durant, who played for the Warriors for 3 seasons and won NBA championships and NBA Finals MVPs successful 2017 and 2018, said helium has not spoken to Green, who is taking immoderate clip distant from the team.

Although Durant and Poole, who was drafted by the Warriors successful 2019, ne'er crossed paths arsenic Golden State teammates, they person built up a spot of a narration acknowledgment to their shared narration with aggregate members of the Warriors coaching staff. Durant noted, however, that his relationship with Poole is not "to the constituent wherever I tin substance him oregon telephone him and speech to him astir it."

"It seems cool, everybody's backmost to normal," Durant said. "Draymond is playing adjacent game, Jordan was playing past game. So I conjecture it's backmost to normal. Anything astir our athletics that doesn't conscionable impact the crippled of hoops -- erstwhile it gets to that benignant of stuff, I effort to enactment distant from it. It has thing to bash with anybody other but those radical successful the locker room."

While the wide quality is that Durant and Green ne'er exchanged punches during their 2018 verbal exchange, the tenor of the disagreement hovered implicit everything the Warriors enactment did successful the ensuing days and weeks.

Durant and Green patched up their disagreement overmuch quicker than they were fixed recognition for, but the strength of the incident, on with the uncertainty surrounding Durant's pending escaped agency, hung implicit Warriors players and coaches each season.

Now, the Warriors person to flooded the aforesaid benignant of interior strife.

Knowing the interior workings of that peculiar locker room, Durant is assured the Warriors volition find a mode to flooded the latest setback. Stephen Curry is universally respected wrong and extracurricular the enactment for his calming demeanor and quality to unite his radical erstwhile times are tough, and Durant knows that what makes the Warriors large arsenic an enactment is their quality to gully connected enactment from a assortment of antithetic levels.

"I deliberation the champion happening astir the Warriors is their mantra's been 'Strength successful Numbers' that full time," Durant said. "And it's ever been a collaborative effort with everybody there. So Steph is not unsocial successful trying to stitchery everybody. I'm definite Andre [Iguodala] is helping him. I'm definite Bob [Myers] and Shaun [Livingston] and Klay [Thompson] and conscionable the guys that person been determination are helping him arsenic well.

"So you can't woody with thing similar that by yourself. Steph knows that, Bob knows that. I cognize that from being a portion of that group, that they bash everything arsenic a collaborative effort, truthful I'm definite they're each talking internally arsenic a radical to spot what's the champion mode to determination forward."

Durant said that, during a decennary and a fractional successful the NBA, helium can't retrieve seeing different subordinate getting punched similar Poole was.

"It's rare," Durant said. "It's rare. I've been successful the league 16 years, and I've ne'er seen that until the different time connected camera. You perceive astir it with MJ and you hear astir it with Bobby Portis, but there's thing that's happening each year. It's precise uncommon that thing similar that happens.

"It's nary of our business. But it happened to beryllium portion of our regular speech due to the fact that we've seen the videos. We've each got our opinions, but to beryllium honest, mine's don't matter. It is what it is."

Durant's existent teammate, Kyrie Irving, said helium had seen akin kinds of incidents passim his clip successful the game, including connected the NBA level.

"I'm utilized to it," Irving told ESPN. "I'm utilized to everything successful basketball. ... I'm utilized to everything successful sports. I'm utilized to everything. There's not immoderate damn astonishment for the astir part. I've seen it with my dada [former nonrecreational subordinate Drederick] arsenic a kid, I've seen it successful NBA locker rooms. Men, erstwhile it comes to this game, are precise passionate, particularly successful our league. And erstwhile emotions emergence similar that, thing tin happen.

"The No. 1 happening is support yourself astatine each times. But arsenic a teammate for Jordan -- he's a bully kid -- we don't expect things similar that to happen. And erstwhile you spot thing similar that, you consciousness for a member due to the fact that it's similar that feeling of empathy of 'If I'm successful that moment, what bash I do?' And we don't cognize due to the fact that we're not Jordan, we're not Draymond. I commune that Draymond gets what helium needs and JP comes backmost and stays focused and doesn't let thing to distract him."

Durant acknowledged that Green's punch has been a taxable of speech wrong the Nets locker room, conscionable arsenic it has passim the NBA since the video was leaked past week.

"We can't accidental we haven't talked astir that," Durant said. "That wouldn't beryllium genuine. I deliberation everybody, that was a speech successful everybody's locker room. But what does maine exposing that, however does it assistance the communicative astatine all? So we'll support that to our small conversations successful here, conscionable similar they're going to support immoderate they're doing nether wraps successful Golden State."

Durant, who has rebuilt his narration with Green implicit clip and won a golden medal with him past summertime astatine the Tokyo Olympics, is hoping that his erstwhile squad tin determination past its latest jarring experience, but helium made it wide respective times erstwhile asked astir the Warriors' proceedings that "it's nary of my business."

"I cognize that group," Durant said. "That's a beardown group, tight-knit group. And I conscionable hatred to spot that beryllium seen successful the public, what's going connected successful practices and stuff. But hopefully they get that figured retired and we tin determination forward."