Kevin Durant broke the hearts of an entire fan base with his career-changing decision to sign a contract to join the Golden State Warriors. In doing so, he brought to light the hypocrisy with which sports fans live by.
Kevin Durant has been among the NBA’s elite for quite some time. The 2013-14 MVP spent all of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise, including the last eight seasons after the team’s relocation from Seattle.
Durant exercised his free agent option and opted to join the Golden State Warriors on a two-year deal with a $54 million salary and a player option for the second year.
Durant broke the hearts of an entire fan base with his career-changing decision to sign a contract to join the Golden State Warriors. In doing so, he brought to light the hypocrisy with which sports fans live by.
Without Durant, Golden State set a league record with a 73 wins during the regular season, but faltered down the stretch after climbing to a commanding 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals, eventually losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the decisive seventh game.
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Durant and the Thunder fell to the Warriors in seven games after also building a 3-1 series lead and failing to capitalize.
Durant’s decision became the topic of conversation, rightfully so when a top player in the league switches teams, however, the criticisms of his decision prove to be flawed and unjust.
Don't give a damn what anyone says: weak move by KD. You go to GSW, the team who beat you, when you're already on a title contender? Please!
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 4, 2016
The great thing about the NBA is the players’ ability to leverage themselves and their careers more so than any other pro level league in America.
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Nobody knows the dynamics of Durant’s relationship with Billy Donavan, Sam Presti or his teammates while he played for the organization.
Durant’s decision, on the surface, may not seem like the best to fans who want to see parity across the league and it’s fine to have those feelings, but that doesn’t make you correct.
There always seemed to be cracks in the foundation of the relationship between Russell Westbrook and Durant on the court.
No matter how much they dismissed rumors of friction, Durant couldn’t have been happy with Westbrook, who at times displayed tunnel vision on the court.
To me it was always clear both of them could not co-exist over their entire careers. They were never able to establish who the number one guy on the team was.
Although on the surface you can question his competitive spirit for joining forces with a three other All-Star talents on the Warriors, that willingness to join forces with players on a team that made history against you for the sake of winning a championship takes a lot of guts.
Not many players can put aside personal difference or frustrations.
Imagine Michael Jordan replacing Joe Dumars for the Detroit Pistons after failing in Game 6 with the Chicago Bulls. Probably no way that would’ve ever happened.
But respect Durant for being able to look past that to grow his legacy and pursue the elusive NBA championship.
There is also this perception that guys should just gut it out and stay with a team instead of pursuing the best opportunity to win.
The Thunder showed they could compete for a title by beating the San Antonio Spurs and taking a 3-1 lead on Golden State, but I’m not sure that team as constructed was going to win a championship.
Durant is allowed to seek the best opportunity to be as successful as possible in his career. There is no difference in you being in a great position at your current employer but finding the opportunity for more success with a different company.
Lastly, the idea that if you join other established player in pursuit of a title is some sort of sin is rubbish.
Long have players went out to join forces with other top-of-the-league talents, yet it seems the moves of LeBron James spurning the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat or Durant’s move have inspired many fans to question his ability to win a championship “on his own” without building a team.
Again it’s a smart and calculated move to join a team that offers the best opportunity to win. I don’t recall the Boston Celtics player being chastised for coming together and sacrificing individual numbers to win.
Perhaps it’s because Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett‘s careers were on the back end as opposed to Durant or James. But those guys were still cream of the NBA crop at the time of the trades.
Teams don’t win championships without multiple All-Stars and there are more factors to a player’s decision to join a team than a fan would ever know.
Not every team has the success and luck, for that matter, in drafting multiple All-Stars. In an ironic twist, the Warriors did. However, they’ve just added another.
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Whether you agree or not, the factors Durant weighed made he feel Golden State was the best destination for his career.