Draymond Green opened up on what he considers the greatest era of basketball and acknowledged Kevin Durant’s role in it. The 15-time All-Star is a generational talent, and despite their differences in the past, Green knows it.
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Green, Durant and Baron Davis were reminiscing on the Golden State Warriors’ dominant run when Green declared 2015-2019 the greatest era of NBA basketball.
Considering he won three championships in that span, the former Defensive Player of the Year comes off as a bit biased, but he also acknowledged the plethora of talent that entered the league during that span.
Even if some disagree, Green stressed that this era of basketball is top-three in the league’s history, at the very least. The 34-year-old also admitted that Durant joining the Warriors was what made this memorable era possible.
“You [Durant] coming to the Warriors elevated [the era] so much to where that’s why it became that… We never really experienced the era of basketball we experienced had you not came to the Warriors,” Green said, pointing out that KD’s decision improved the game.
Green explained that the 36-year-old’s arrival in Golden State made rival teams step up their own game. “All of a sudden it was like, ‘Oh, woah, wait, we gotta build to beat [the Warriors] and [Durant]?'” Green continued. “It elevated the team and elevated skillsets.”
Durant admitted that, when he was making his decision to leave Oklahoma City, he believed he would have been making a big mistake if he passed up on the opportunity to join Golden State.
“If I stay in OKC, I think I’m passing up on something so incredible that I don’t know if I can just pass this up,” KD recalled.
Draymond Green continues to credit his former teammate
While the two weren’t particularly fond of each other when Durant departed from the Warriors in 2019, Draymond Green has praised his former teammate numerous times in recent years.
Following the Dubs’ fourth championship with their current core in 2022, Green revealed that he doesn’t think KD received enough credit for his role in their dynasty.
“I don’t think the outside world gave Kevin enough credit,” Green shared on a past episode of his show. “I think if you came within our organization, Kevin was given all the credit. But the reality is, I don’t think this team wins another championship if Kevin doesn’t come.”
Now that time has passed, and the Warriors were able to win it all once again without KD’s help, it seems Draymond Green is more appreciative of what the future Hall of Famer brought to the Bay Area.
