Kevin Durant has admitted last season's in-game argument with team-mate Draymond Green influenced his decision to leave the Golden State Warriors for the Brooklyn Nets in free agency.
The Warriors were attempting to win a third straight NBA title with Durant - and fourth in five years - when an argument broke out between the pair in November 2018.
Durant reportedly ranted at Green for not getting him the ball. Green responded, reportedly by calling Durant a choice name and telling him to leave the team because the Warriors were a championship-winning squad without him.
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"I wish that wouldn't have happened," Durant told ESPN's First Take. "I feel like that was a situation that definitely could have been avoided. It really came out of nowhere. For us, everybody [outside the team] was looking for something to tear us down with and I think they used that.
"That just brought in a firestorm where every day it was about my free agency, every day was about my disposition as a player, what I look like on the bench, what I look like in the game. It opened up a lot of nonsense that could have been avoided. And me and Draymond talked about it.
"I mean, your team-mate talks to you that way, you think about it a little bit. Like I said, we talked about it. But definitely, for sure [it was a factor in leaving]. I'm not going to lie about it."
Golden State suspended Green for one game in the aftermath, before going on to lose in the NBA Finals in June, with an Achilles injury to Durant denting their hopes.
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Durant elected to sign with the Brooklyn Nets over the summer, but is not expected to return to the court this season as he recovers from off-season surgery.
Without Durant - and injured All-Star guard Klay Thompson - the Warriors have made a 1-3 start to the season, which took a further turn for the worse when Steph Curry broke his hand in Wednesday's loss to the Phoenix Suns, leaving Golden State at risk of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
