The Golden State Warriors insist the fallout from their decision to suspend Draymond Green one game for his altercation with Kevin Durant was worse than the incident itself.
The Warriors have taken pride in handling issues internally while also being accessible to the public.
The incident between Green and Durant revealed that even the Warriors have issues and that became a story of its own, especially with Durant entering free agency this offseason.
The absence of Stephen Curry both in terms of on-court production and off-court stability seemed to magnify the issues.
Klay Thompson tried to be the voice of reason with Curry out.
"Kind of just reflect on what we've done and what a special run this has been," Thompson said of his message. "I mean, guys would trade in their accolades or statistics to come do what we do in a heartbeat. I know it. Guys have told me that before. Not just me but everyone tries to remind each other of that. This time does not last forever."
Durant tried to block out as much of the noise as possible as the NBA becomes more of a social-driven league.
"[The NBA has] grown so much that so many people want to cover it and be a part of it," he said. "I'm not saying all the content is great, but it's amazing that the game has grown so much to have so many eyes on it. With social media and the access to media it's kind of hard to dodge that type of stuff, especially when you have a little bit of controversy."
