3. Kevin Durant
2. Steph Curry
Want to have a rollicking good time? Put a bunch of NBA people in a room and get them to come to a consensus on who the most indispensable Warrior is.
Stephen Curry is a Warrior for life. We’re about five months away from Kevin Durant signing an extension that will keep the duo together for the rest of their primes, so this is a completely theoretical discussion. It would take one of the two superstars asking out for the team to break them up, so it’s not like either of them is going anywhere, which is why lists like this are a little silly to begin with.
The goal in sports is to win the championship. If Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are together, they will be overwhelming favorites to do exactly that for the foreseeable future. It’s really not that complicated.
Still, the notion of which one would be the first to go if the Warriors ever had to make a decision is an interesting one.
Rather than try to come up with some brilliant analysis on the topic myself, I’ll just let Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr answer for me:
"“Steph is one of the great players in the world. Two-time MVP, incredibly dominant in terms of the way he impacts the game. “But you’re talking about Kevin Durant at 6’11” protecting the rim, and scoring 35 points a game in the Finals, and getting to the line, doing whatever he wants to do…There’s a different level of impact that’s actually possible for Steph and for KD. Steph is my size, he’s literally exactly my size. So what he’s capable of is all based on his amazing skill.”"
Sounds like a vote for Durant, right? Not so fast. In early December, he followed up his original comments with these when Curry was out with an injury:
"“We’re faced with a real challenge. Steph is the guy that makes us go. We have great players, but Steph is the engine. Everything we do revolves around him.”"
So there you have it. Call it a draw if you want…there’s no right answer.
I’m taking Steph though. Just don’t tell KD.