Report: Kevin Durant texted Draymond Green night of 2016 NBA Finals Game 7 indicating commitment to Warriors

Draymond Green recounted calling Kevin Durant from the parking lot after the Warriors lost Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

Durant – just after straining his credibility – called that “100 percent false.”

But what would Durant say about a post-Game 7 text exchange with Green?

Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated:

About 30 minutes after Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, Warriors forward Draymond Green sat at his locker in full uniform, fiddling with his phone. All around him, teammates hastily showered and dressed, rushing from Oracle Arena and the champagne fumes that polluted the air. But Green was in no hurry to leave.

And so, at that locker, in that uniform, less than an hour after the most excruciating loss of his life, Green punched up Kevin Durant’s number. “See what we’re missing,” Green says, recounting the text message he sent Durant. “We need you. Make it happen.” Green had been courting Durant for months, but this was his strongest pitch yet, delivered at the most dramatic juncture. “Right after you lose Game 7,” Green says, “shows you’re serious.”

by the time Green peeled off his home whites and hit the showers, he could sense that his squad would laugh last. Durant’s response flashed across the screen: “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

The Finals ended June 19. Durant revealed he’d sign with the Warriors on July 4. Between, there were free-agency meetings in the Hamptons, a dinner with his soon-to-be-former Thunder teammates and breathless speculation about where he’d sign. Most presumed he’d return to Oklahoma City for at least one more year.

But he was set on on Golden State all along? Wow. That’s quite a revelation.

Of course, texting Green never bound Durant. Any team, including the Thunder, could have persuaded him off his apparent plan. The Warriors had to close, and they did – then closed on a title nearly a year later.

As far as Durant denying Green calling him after Game 7, the difference between a text and call doesn’t clear that up.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who reported Green’s story of the parking-lot call:

He did both.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 13, 2017

Texting from the locker room and calling from the car, just after losing the biggest game of his career? Green was stalkerish in his recruitment of Durant.

But Green obviously has no regrets now.