Getty Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and other members of the Golden State Warriors display their 2017 NBA championship rings.
The Golden State Warriors have received — and continue to receive — a significant amount of flak for their 2016 acquisition of future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant. It was a move that paid major dividends for the Dubs, who went to the NBA Finals three straight years and won two championships. But those who were against the concept of super teams and/or wanted more parity in the league hated it from Jump Street.
Just as they hated it when LeBron James and Chris Bosh teamed up with Dwyane Wade in Miami a handful of years earlier.
Apparently, Evan Turner — who co-hosts the Point Forward podcast with Warriors forward Andre Iguodala — was also against the move. On a recent episode of their show, the former No. 2 overall pick lit up Iguodala while discussing that period of Warriors basketball, and fans all over social media latched onto his comments.
The growing Twitter noise eventually drew out Durant himself, who tweeted, “Awwww, it wasn’t fair???” in response to a fan tweet.
When another fan jumped into the thread and referred to the run as being “Lame AF” and accused Durant of being “defensive,” the former Warriors star fired back again, tweeting: “Yo it’s crazy how people say I’m defensive when these guys been crying for 7 years about it…”
Evan Turner Tells Andre Iguodala Off on KD-Era Warriors
The exchange that ignited the flame war over the KD-era Warriors, which was posted on the pod’s TikTok (embedded above), played out as follows:
Turner: “Y’all won a lot of championships but it was lame as f***. For four or five years there was a media run and there was a hype train of a franchise running through, which were the Warriors.”
Iguodala: “Yeah…”
Turner: “And that was KD doing that… There was just certain points where it just seemed unfair. We’re not knocking it, to each their own, but it was just like, you had to wait until this narrative ended…”
Iguodala: “Man, we still didn’t get no calls, though, so…”
Turner: “I’m not knocking it but, at the same time, I’m still playing against Andre Iguodala, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and whoever else. That’s like playing versus MJ fool. It still don’t make no sense. It doesn’t justify anything. Y’all won a lot of championships but it was lame as f***.”
Iguodala: “Steph just won one by himself.”
Turner: “And that’s perfectly fine. I’m talking about when you lame-ass n****** did that for two or three straight years. That was lame as f***.”
Iguodala: “Was that us? Or was that us following the trends of where the league was going or had already been?”
Turner: “I would never go recruit no KD, I don’t give a damn who was there…”
Wiggins Officially Out for Blazers Game
The Warriors will continue to be shorthanded even beyond Steph and Iguodala when they return to the hardwood at Chase Center against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. Per the latest injury report, forwards Andrew Wiggins and JaMychal Green have both been ruled out as participants.
For his part, Wiggins was cleared to resume play recently after suffering an adductor injury earleir this month. However, he has since remained on the shelf due to a non-Covid illness.
According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, “there’s a sense this could be his final missed game.”
Green, meanwhile, was in health and safety protocols for a time and now finds himself saddled with a right lower leg infection.