Golden State Warriors: KD, Draymond and the NBA’s love of beef
By James Siegle
The NBA loves its beef
There’s something about beef.
Millions of viewers anxiously await whenever Durant and Russell Westbrook face off. LeBron James against Kyrie Irving was a big hit for a while. The Chris Paul vs. Rajon Rondo melee rocked the internet for days.
High-profile members of the media even partake in beefing. There’s the at-times rocky relationship between Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. Shaq has also exchanged words with Durant. Meanwhile, JaVale McGee and his mother (former WNBA player Pamela McGee) also feuded with Shaq.
That’s a lot of beef.
Clearly the NBA viewership market gets a kick out of relationships gone south. The Twitterverse has admittedly made things more interesting. Players post vague comments after touchy in-game moments. Then fans are left to decipher — was this comment regarding a teammate, or simply an unrelated post-game restaurant experience?
The Kevin Durant/Draymond Green situation was much ado about nothing. It’s the heat of competition. Many average athletes played high school sports; it’s the same concept. Games are intense, words are exchanged…and teammates usually come out okay.
KD and Green appear to be back on good terms. The situation was certainly overblown.