“Kevin Durant grew as a player in his time with Golden State”: Warriors’ Draymond Green cites KD’s playmaking as a skill to have evolved in the Bay Area

Draymond Green says Kevin Durant has evolved a ton as a basketball player after joining the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

If you’ve been following the NBA closely enough, you know what Draymond is talking about. Kevin Durant was initially thought of as a pure scorer with some multidimensional wing skills.

Over the years, KD has developed into a weakside shotblocker on defense and a floor general on offense. He’s had double-doubles with assists this season with the Nets and is looking like his best self as a playmaker ever.

Also Read: “Larry Bird is really great”: When Patrick Ewing told his doubting friends his first-hand experience of playing against the Celtics legend in his rookie season

Towards the end of his regular season career with the Warriors, KD took on the role of de facto point guard more than ever before in his career. While the Warriors conceded a few Ls in those games, this helped Durant gain confidence as a facilitator.

Draymond Green on the evolution of Kevin Durant

As a Warriors and a Bay Area legend, Draymond Green has his own special place in the franchise’s history. He’s overseen the transformation of the team from being a fringe playoff team to winning multiple championships.

Green took on a leadership role early on in his career. It was what led to his fallout with Kevin Durant eventually, but he acknowledges what KD has done with the talent he has.

“You can even hear him talking out there on the floor and the things that he’s telling them to do. It’s kind of a completely different perspective than before he came here.”

Also Read: “No one in the world can stop Kevin Durant”: Draymond Green explains how his former Warriors teammate and Finals MVP is the most dangerous player in the world

“And I think his time here definitely helped him grow as a basketball player. Obviously, it helped us grow as a team. But you can definitely see and feel the difference.”

“Whereas you would see him before and everything was kind of attack, attack, attack. It’s not that anymore. And so it’s you can definitely see, tell, feel, hear the difference.”