Getty Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant sit on the Golden State Warriors bench.
Kevin Durant helped lead the Golden State Warriors to two NBA Championships during his three-year tenure in The Bay. Back in 2019, he left the Dubs in favor of signing with the Brooklyn Nets, alongside his good friend Kyrie Irving.
Since then, Brooklyn’s experiment has failed, Irving is a member of the Dallas Mavericks, and KD was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
Things were looking promising for the new-look Suns, who have yet to lose since the star forward’s debut. Unfortunately, they could be without their newest addition for the remainder of the year.
Durant injured his left ankle on March 8, while warming up for Phoenix’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, another one of his former teams.
Kevin Durant took a fall while warming up for his first home game with the Suns 😳
He got up after.
According to Greg Moore of the Arizona Republic, the Suns fear that KD could miss the remainder of the regular season, and even the beginning of the playoffs.
“The Arizona Republic has learned that there is concern within the organization that Durant has a grade 2 sprain, which would keep him out for between four and six weeks,” Moore wrote. “Phoenix’s regular season finale is April 9, meaning it’s possible Durant could miss the remainder of the regular season and potentially the start of the playoffs.”
Andre Iguodala Discusses Kevin Durant’s Time With Warriors
During Durant’s time with the Warriors, star guard Stephen Curry helped to make his transition into the team seamless. Their championship teammate, Andre Iguodala, recently discussed Curry’s efforts on the Club Shay Shay Podcast.
“I think Steph took a back seat every year,” Iguodala told host Shannon Sharpe. “I’m talking about stats-wise, numbers-wise, attempts-wise. … Steph was the one that sacrificed the most. How many more threes would he have if KD didn’t come along?”
Iguodala later further highlighted how Curry’s focus, while KD was in town, was solely on the team.
“No one talks about he never complained. Never had an issue. Never talked about his brand. His brand possibly could have took a hit. He wasn’t quite selling as many shoes. He just kept it all in stride because he just knew the bigger picture, man. When you win, everything else is going to come how it’s supposed to come.”
Steph, Klay & Draymond Causing Internal Issues For Warriors
Though Curry may have done an excellent job helping Durant fit in with the Warriors, he may not be doing the most to help this season’s team.
According to Matt Steinmetz of 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru,” he, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are all creating a rift between themselves and Golden State’s younger players.
“But we’ve gotten to the point where it’s like, Steph, Draymond, and Klay Thompson, like, they’ve become hard to play with,” Steinmetz said. “It’s hard to play with them, because they’re so demanding. And they’re so, I’ll say it, judgmental. And you know what they also have been? They’ve been exclusive this year. That’s what their championship veterans have been. They have been exclusive. They have not included the young players like great leaders would. They put up a line between themselves and the young players, as opposed to acknowledging their young players and trying to help them. Instead, it feels like they are saying, ‘We can’t play with these guys. You want us to play with these guys? You can not win.’”
“[The Warriors veterans] have been demanding, judgmental, and exclusive.”
@SteinmetzNBA lays out the disconnect between the vets and the young players in Golden State 👀
(via @SteinyGuru957)