Who could Kevin Durant and Draymond Green be talking about with this triple-double comment?
Green: “As long as we win, and have a good team. It’s not about chasing stats.”
Kevin Durant told reporters following Golden State’s 127-119 win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday that Draymond Green doesn’t care about triple-doubles.
Green had just recorded his second triple-double of the season — a 15-point, 10-rebound, 13-assist effort. When told of his teammate’s comments, the Warriors’ point forward said he doesn’t care about stuffing stat sheets, but prefers winning to accolades.
“Nah, I don’t care (about triple-doubles) at all. It’s not really a focus of mine,” he said. “Trust me, if I cared, I’d have a lot more than — what do I have, one this year? Two? I’d have a lot more than that if I cared. It really doesn’t matter to me. As long as we win, we have a great team. It’s not about chasing stats.”
At the end of December of 2015, Green had five triple-doubles and finished the season with 13. There were also 10 games in the 2015-16 season where he fell two or fewer points, rebounds or assists shy of a triple-double.
The Golden State duo’s public shaming of stat sheet stuffing could be perceived as a shot at Durant’s former teammate Russell Westbrook.
It isn’t breaking news that Westbrook leads the NBA with 16 triple-doubles anymore; it’s more like common knowledge. Westbrook is averaging a triple-double and is on pace to become just the second player to do so over the course of a season since Oscar Robertson did it in the 1961-62 season.
For what it’s worth, Westbrook is on record saying he doesn’t care about triple-doubles.
“Honestly, this triple-double thing is kind of getting on my nerves,” Westbrook told reporters after a Dec. 14 loss to Utah. “People think that when I don’t get it, it’s a big thing; when I do get it, it’s a big thing. If y’all just let me play, if I get it, I get it, if I don’t, I don’t (and) it is what it is. I really don’t care for the hundredth time. All I care about is winning, man, honestly.”
Durant left Westbrook and the Thunder over the summer to sign a deal with Golden State. If the perceived jab at his ex-running mate holds true, it seems the divorce wasn’t very peaceful.
