"Golden State didn't handle it right": Former Warriors champ critical of Kevin Durant-Draymond Green's altercation being mishandled

Quinn Cook, who won the 2018 NBA title with the Golden State Warriors, reckons the team could have achieved greater heights had they better managed the public dispute between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, which eventually led to Durant leaving in 2019.

'KD' played in the Bay Area for three seasons, from 2016 to 2019, helping Golden State win back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 and winning the NBA Finals MVP each time.

While he had a lot of success with the Warriors, Durant didn't see eye-to-eye with Green on certain matters, which resulted in frequent clashes. One instance came in a Nov. 2018 in a game against the LA Clippers.

After Green failed to get a shot off, which forced overtime, Durant went at his then teammate. Green didn't take it sitting down and went ballistic, saying, among other things, that the team didn't need Durant, who's free to leave Golden State.

On the Captain Jack Podcast, Cook said that what happened between Durant and Green affected the team for the rest of the season. It was exacerbated with the team management not doing much to quell the animosity between the two stars.

The former Duke player said:

"I'm gonna say Golden State didn't handle it right. It was never addressed to us. We was the one dealing with it every single day. We had team meetings and kumbayas, but that sh*t ain't work. And we all went through that."

"I think we all men. Let's just figure it out. Let's put it all on the table. If we gotta fight, let's fight and get it out of the way. If we gotta talk, let's talk. If we don't address the situation, it's never gonna get handled. And we just never handled the situation. Never. And it hurt it us."

Check out what he had to say below:

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What Kevin Durant said about his Golden State feud with Draymond Green in 2018

Following their infamous sideline feud, Draymond Green was suspended by the Golden State Warriors for a game for what he said during his argument with Kevin Durant, who eventually joined the Brooklyn Nets the next season.

The two have since moved on from the incident and even talked about it in 2021 on the Chips show of Green on YouTube. Both highlighted that it could have been handled better by all the involved parties.

Durant told Green:

"It wasn't the argument. It was the way that everybody (reacted). Steve Kerr acted like it didn't happen. Bob Myers tried to just discipline you (Green) and think that would put the mask over everything.

"I really felt like that was such a big situation for us as a group, the first time we went through something like that. We had to get that sh*t all out ... Communication is key. Like we didn't show that."

Check out what he said below, beginning at 8:57:

After leaving Golden State, Durant spent three and half years in Brooklyn but missed a full season because of injury. He's now part of the Phoenix Suns.

The Warriors, meanwhile, won another title in 2022, led by their veteran core of Steph Curry, Green and Klay Thompson.