Getty/Harry How Kevin Durant (right), when he was a member of the Golden State Warriors.
Over the course of the Warriors dynasty run, the team started as fringe contenders to possibly becoming one of the most dominant teams ever assembled.
When you have a team that goes 73-9 and then they add one of the most dominant players in Kevin Durant the season after, criticism is definitely going to be intense.
Now, formal teammate Stephen Curry weighed in on how they approached it. Speaking to The Ringer’s Logan Murdock, Curry shut down that narrative quick.
“He wasn’t just some hired gun–type vibe for us,” Curry says. “We were really trying to integrate him into how we do things.”
Durant’s inclusion in the Warriors already potent offense made the team almost unbeatable. The team finished with one of the best net ratings of any team in league history, and made them one of the most hated teams on the planet.
As the team won more and were more successful, Durant seemed to become more displeased with where he was in his career. The constant slander and hate he received from the public reportedly got to the point that he decided to leave and join Brooklyn.
The ‘Slander’ Origin and Prevalence Today
The criticism with Durant started when he left Oklahoma City and joined the Golden State Warriors. It only grew with how successful the team was. Durant was even able to win back-to-back Finals MVP, but the hate only got stronger.
After Durant’s departure from the Bay Area, then ESPN’s Royce Young wrote a piece on the tainted and tension filled relationship between Durant and Curry.
“That partnership never came with Curry. There was no animosity or bad blood, but an unspoken tension lingered. Durant was the outsider in Curry’s domain, the mercenary hired to stack trophies. At least with Westbrook, Durant had a bond. An up-and-down one, but one they built together.
Durant has heard it everywhere. From journalists writing pieces on how he’s perceived as a mercenary or the thousands of Twitter trolls looking to clown Durant for being a ring chaser, he can’t escape it.
Earlier this month, Stephen A Smith bought up the criticism when speaking of Durant’s legacy.
“If [the Nets] do not win a championship, do you understand that Kevin Durant is on the verge for being recognized more so for the guy that left Steph Curry to go with Kyrie Irving, than he is for the two chips and two finals MVP? I didn’t say we’ll forget him. I didn’t say we’ll diminish him because he’s a champion … but I’m saying, headline, what he’ll be known more for.”
Durant, ever the guy to clap back, responded back with simply one word.
“Egregious.”
Smith stoked the flames by firing another response at Durant’s clapback.
Smith has a point, as the media and passionate fans alike keep bringing up the narrative that Durant was ‘ring chasing’ and a ‘hired gun’. Once the day comes when Durant gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, the topic of ring chasing will surely come up, and is forever wrapped in Durant’s storied legacy.