Kevin Durant and Draymond Green were teammates on the Golden State Warriors when a single late-possession sequence became the inciting incident. On November 12, 2018, in the Warriors' road game at the Los Angeles Clippers, reporting says Green retained the ball on a late possession instead of passing to Durant, lost control, and the exchange moved to the bench and then into the locker room, where accounts indicate Green challenged Durant about Durant's impending free agency and used an expletive multiple times [durant-green-clippers-spat-2018] [1][4][6]. Contemporaneous reporting captured teammates' reactions and quoted at least one unnamed player saying, 'With what was said, there is already no way Durant is coming back,' a line cited in The Athletic and reproduced in subsequent coverage [4][6]. The Warriors announced a one-game suspension for Green on November 13, 2018 for 'conduct detrimental to the team' [draymond-green-suspension-2018] [1][4]. Durant gave limited public comment in the immediate aftermath—'I’m gonna keep that in-house. That’s what we do here. What happened, happened'—while social-media artifacts (a circulated fan lip-read and a deleted Instagram comment from Durant's brother) intensified public scrutiny of the episode, even as some visual interpretations remained unconfirmed [1][7][6]. Durant later told ESPN on October 31, 2019 that the November 2018 altercation 'definitely' factored into his decision to leave Golden State, connecting the incident to his eventual move to Brooklyn [2].
As of the most recent reporting in this corpus, Durant and Green have publicly appeared together and jointly criticized Warriors management for how the November 2018 episode was handled, most prominently during an August 18, 2021 'Chips' conversation in which both assigned blame to leadership rather than portraying sustained personal animosity (slug: durant-green-chips-interview-2021) [durant-green-chips-interview-2021] [5][3]. Durant's October 31, 2019 statement that the incident was a factor in his decision to leave Golden State remains a documented link between the confrontation and his departure to Brooklyn in 2019 [2]. There is no public record in these sources of ongoing legal disputes or repeated public attacks between the two after their 2021 conversation; the relationship appears repaired to a degree, even as both continue to critique the organization's response [5][3].
From Durant's viewpoint, the Nov. 12, 2018 bench-to-locker-room exchange was an unexpected breach of respect during a sensitive pre-free-agency period, and the team's handling amplified the rupture. Durant has said the episode 'definitely' was one factor in his decision to leave Golden State, and later described management as acting like the incident 'didn't happen' [2][5].
From Green's viewpoint, the confrontation was a regrettable lapse for which he later accepted responsibility, and he believes the organization mishandled the aftermath. Green publicly said 'I was wrong' about the episode and later criticized the front office for its crisis management on his show 'Chips' [3][5].
From the franchise's perspective, the team needed to address an internal breach of conduct publicly and promptly; the chosen corrective action was a one-game suspension for Draymond Green. Management's response aimed to enforce standards of locker-room conduct, but later player comments suggested the approach did not fully repair trust inside the roster [1][4][5].
No; as of Aug. 18, 2021 Durant and Green publicly reflected on the 2018 incident together and both criticized Warriors management's handling, indicating their personal relationship had been repaired to a degree and they were not publicly feuding after that conversation [5][3].
The immediate trigger was a Nov. 12, 2018 late-possession play in a Warriors road game at the Clippers during which Draymond Green kept the ball, turned it over, and then engaged in a bench and locker-room exchange with Kevin Durant; reporting indicates Green challenged Durant about impending free agency and used profanity during the argument [1][4][6].
Late in regulation of the Warriors' Nov. 12, 2018 game at the Clippers, Green reportedly retained the ball on a late possession, lost control, and afterward he and Durant argued on the bench; the confrontation continued into the locker room where sources said Green challenged Durant about free agency and used an expletive multiple times [1][4][6].
Yes; the Golden State Warriors suspended Draymond Green for one game without pay on Nov. 13, 2018 for 'conduct detrimental to the team' following the Nov. 12 exchange [1][4][6].
Kevin Durant told ESPN's First Take on Oct. 31, 2019 that the Nov. 12, 2018 altercation 'definitely' was a factor in his decision to leave Golden State, though he framed it as one of multiple factors including roster considerations and a 'need for a switch' [2].
On Aug. 18, 2021 during Durant's appearance on Green's 'Chips', both players criticized Warriors management's response—Durant said leadership 'acted like it didn't happen' and Green said management 'f***ed it up'—shifting some responsibility to the organization for amplifying the conflict [5][3].
Yes; contemporaneous reporting cited an unnamed player saying 'With what was said, there is already no way Durant is coming back,' and media coverage relayed teammate alarm that the exchange damaged relationships amid Durant's pending free agency [4][6].
Yes; a Shams Charania tweet relayed reporting that the exchange included a challenge to Durant about free agency, a fan-captured lip-read circulated claiming Durant mouthed 'that's why I'm out' (unconfirmed), and an Instagram comment by Durant's brother was posted then deleted—items that amplified public attention though some remain speculative [1][7][6].