In a conversational segment with host Colin Cowherd, Draymond Green addresses Kevin Durant's recent remarks about his place in the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) conversation. Green cautions against self‑proclaiming GOAT status but acknowledges Durant's right to claim it, noting Durant's scoring efficiency, work ethic, and defensive contributions during his Warriors tenure. He pushes back against narratives that diminish Durant's championships—especially the 2020 bubble title—emphasizing Durant's high scoring averages (e.g., 36 points in a series) and his role as a rim protector alongside Green and Andre Iguodala. Green also discusses Stephen Curry's journey to GOAT recognition, highlighting the 2022 championship and Finals MVP as the turning point for broader acknowledgment, and reflects on how LeBron James only entered the GOAT dialogue around 2016. Throughout, Green critiques media portrayals of Durant, defends the legitimacy of his titles, and expresses respect for his former teammate while underscoring the importance of team effort and clutch leadership.
Chapters
Kevin Durant says, why is he— well, I'm gonna read this 'cause I wanna quote this. KD kind of asked a rhetorical question in a sense. He said, because I went to the Warriors? He's speaking on the GOAT conversation. Why is he not in the GOAT conversation? He said, because I went to the Warriors? Why shouldn't I be in that? Question mark. That's the question you should ask. Why not? What haven't I done? Well, um, I say you got to be very careful in saying that you yourself is a GOAT. That's something you have to be very careful of. Yet I, Draymond Green, said I am one of the greatest defenders of all time. If I may have said the greatest defender of all time. So I totally get where he coming from. I can't be one to sit here and be like, you can't throw yourself in that conversation. I did. And if you ain't gonna put yourself there, ain't nobody else gonna put you there. So you gotta embrace that. So I respect that. What I will say is, I think oftentimes KD has a huge problem with the media. He'll probably come out and say, "Why everybody say I got a problem with the media? It just seem like you do." He'll probably come out and say like, "Ugh." Or, "These dudes say anything on podcasts," and like all that stuff. He got a podcast, by the way. Or had one. As far as my GOAT conversation though, I think KD is one of the greatest scorers we've ever seen. No one ever says LeBron James is a scorer, but he's scored the most points of all times. Because it ain't the flashy, Bron gonna get to the bucket, he gonna get to the cup, he gonna get it done. We know who Bron. But people always say KD's the greatest scorer of all time. Like you can make that argument. Like the way KD scored the ball is so effortlessly. —like so effortless. Like, that's what KD do. He's never seen a bad shot. Like, he gonna get you 31 points on 14 shots. He gonna be 10 for 14, 6 for 6 from the line, 2 for 2 from 3. Like, that is a normal KD night. As effortless as anyone we've ever seen. Like, and KD works. Like— Yeah. One of the hardest workers I've ever seen. I've already told y'all like every rep is game speed. That's mind boggling. Like that's crazy. Steph work like that. And like, obviously I'm not one that's gonna be like KD's championships aren't real. Like stop it. Like there's no championship that's not real.
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People say the bubble championship, like there's no championship that's not real. And KD put in work for them championships, averaged 36 in one of the series and maybe 33 in the, like KD put the work in. So the whole, The championships is not real. That's not a thing. You couldn't help off Klay and you couldn't help off Steph at all, ever. And you had to play one-on-one with KD and good luck, good night. And so that's what it is. And KD defensively, when he was here, was insane. Like KD allowed our small ball lineup we had two rim protectors. I was a rim protector, he was a rim protector. And really kind of two and a half, 'cause Andre kind of does some of that too in a different way, but like in a much different way. Anyway, KD was incredible defensively too when he, like when he was here. So the whole championship thing, not, he ain't got real championships, that's not a thing. Stop it.
However.
Steph didn't get the credit that Steph gets today until 2022 when he led this team to a championship and won the Finals MVP. So if you not giving Steph that credit, which people didn't, just didn't. Like, and by the way, as a fan of basketball, I've watched Steph do everything. When I watched him do what he did in 2022, he took steps up for me. Like, oh no, this dude is like, he up in that conversation now. Yeah, yeah, he there now. You gotta go do what Steph did to get to that conversation, in my opinion. I'm not in the GOAT conversation, that's fine. But in my opinion, My opinion, you gotta do what Steph did to get to that conversation. Maybe the team ain't as ideal as you want it to be. Maybe, you know, maybe, you know, everything ain't perfect. But guess what? When it's time, I'm gonna say, hey, come get on my back, let's go here. When everything, all else failing, hey, come get on my back and let's go here. The team ain't gonna always be the most perfect. Our 2022 team sure wasn't the most perfect team. But when it was time, and by the way, guys contributed in a major way. Andrew Wiggins, myself, Draymond Green, Klay, Loon, like we all did our things. Like, Belly, like every GP. People stepped up and did they thing. But like, you not gonna go back through that team and compare it to any of our other championship rosters and be like, yeah, that's it. Otto, Otto was huge. Like, but we went and got it done. And in large part, when all else was failing, Steph said, all right fellas, come on, let's go there. Period. That's how he got to that conversation. So for me, you gotta do that first. When all else has failed and the team ain't ideal, all right, come here, let's go do that. I got nothing but love and respect for KD. Won 2 championships with KD. So it's never no hate, in all love, but for me, for me, I can only speak for me, but you gotta go do that thing. Nobody mentioned Bron, like really respecting Bron like that till 2016.
Yeah.
Bron had respect before that. We all know who LeBron James was, but really calling him the GOAT, like really saying LeBron James is in the GOAT conversation, 2016. That's when that happened. So you gotta do that thing.
