‘No slander on my watch’: Draymond Green defends Kevin Durant’s greatness

Perhaps with that in mind, Warriors veteran Draymond Green made it clear that he’s not attributing the rise of the Suns to Durant’s departure. His comments from Friday’s postgame press conference:

Let’s not put this all on Kevin, like Kevin’s not great. Cause Kevin is great, and there will be no Kevin slander on my watch. Kevin’s team wasn’t fighting to get in (the playoffs). Kevin is doing just fine, and they’re doing just fine.

I think when you look at the situation, it benefited for both teams for Kevin to leave here. I think it benefited Houston, and I think it benefited the Suns.

Green and Durant won two championships with the Warriors in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, and Durant was NBA Finals MVP in both years. Those experiences formed a clear bond that exists to this day.

Game 1 of the best-of-seven series between the Rockets and Lakers is Saturday night in Los Angeles, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Central. The game will be televised and streamed to a national audience via ABC.

Durant is questionable to play with a bruised right knee, which he reportedly suffered at practice this week. The Rockets are optimistic that Durant’s knee will not be a significant issue during the series, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

More: With bruised knee, Kevin Durant questionable for Rockets-Lakers Game 1

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: ‘No slander on my watch’: Draymond Green defends Kevin Durant’s greatness