Kevin Durant’s departure from the Golden State Warriors in 2019 came as a shock as he already had won two Championships with the Dubs and even in the next one they reached the finals. It also shocked former teammate Stephen Curry. With the Warriors gunning for glory in the NBA, no one expected Durant to move away from them.
The Warriors were extremely dominant in the NBA between 2015-2019 as they reached five consecutive finals and won three titles. It definitely helped Steve Kerr’s men that someone of Kevin Durant’s stature joined them and KD even became an integral part of them winning the back to back championships. However the Warriors won another title in 2015 which was before Durant’s arrival, proving that they can surely do it without him.
The Warriors got hold of Durant after falling short in the 2016 NBA Finals against LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers. While Steve Kerr knew that it called for some risk, the move overall worked for them as they became a formidable side with a trio of Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant with Draymond Green being the backbone of the franchise.
While they won back to back championships in 2017 and 2018 but they fell short of the three peat due to injuries to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant which allowed the Toronto Raptors to win the finals.
On the “Old Man and Three’ podcast, Draymond Green reminisced how Stephen Curry opened the door for Kevin Durant as he shared, “I think the ultimate sign of respect that you can show someone is to invite them into your home,” Green said. “The ultimate respect you can give me is to open the door to your home for me. Steph, I felt like, opened the door to his home for Kevin, and Kevin came in. And, goddamnit, this is home for you, too. We’re all brothers.”
When asked about his switch from the Warriors, Durant said he felt it was time for a change as he shared how he wanted to play for a new team and not think about things that he has left in the past. KD just wanted a new adventure where he could lead his side to the Championship.
“I felt like it was time for a change. I wanted to play for a new team,” Durant said during the Brooklyn Nets’ 2019 media day. “Simply put, I just did it. I didn’t really think about what I was leaving behind or what we accomplished. I put that up on the shelf already. When it was time to make a decision on my future, I just thought solely about me.”
Currently Kevin Durant is with the Brooklyn Nets where he tried creating a new ‘Big Three’ with Kyrie Irving and James Harden but the project did not work with plenty of external and internal problems. Therefore, Harden moved out to the Philadelphia 76ers. While Kyrie also had some unrest, he is gradually getting back to terms and hopefully will partner Durant next season for the Nets alongwith Ben Simmons.
On the other hand, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors won their seventh title in franchise history as they defeated the Boston Celtics 4-2 in the NBA Finals.
