Golden State Warriors: 3 players facing the most pressure in 2018-19
By Tony Pesta
2. Kevin Durant
Since his decision to join the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant has been one of the most scrutinized athletes in all of sports. His move was considered weak and lost him a large number of his core fans. With this constant criticism, there comes constant pressure to prove his haters wrong.
Durant has been on a mission to show that there was nothing “weak” about his decision. He has done this by having back to back dominant performances in the NBA Finals and winning the Finals MVP in each appearance.
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If Durant is able to win a third straight Finals MVP award, he will be joining elite company. KD would have his name next to legends such as Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players in NBA history to win this award three consecutive times. An accomplishment like this would only further solidify Durant as an all-time great.
Achieving something this great won’t come easy. Since the 1968-69 season, five different teams have won back-to-back championships only to fall short in their third season. This is truly something only legends are capable of pulling off.
The worst part is that the majority of NBA fans are assuming Durant will accomplish this incredible feat. The levels of expectations for him have been set so high that simply winning two championships would be considered a failure.
This means KD will have to overcome all of the obstacles in front of him this season. He will need to continue to block out his naysayers and play at a high level every night. At this point, every NBA team will be gunning for the Warriors’ position at the top. This will keep KD constantly battling throughout the season.