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Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant came under heavy scrutiny for his decision to join the Golden State Warriors in 2016. The Warriors had won an NBA record 73 games during the regular season and had gone to back-to-back NBA Finals, winning the title the previous year. Pairing Durant, a former Most Valuable Player award winner with back-to-back MVP Stephen Curry, tipped the balance of power in the NBA historically. Durant would go on to win two championships and two Finals MVPs in his three years with Golden State.
However, because the Warriors were such overwhelming favorites in their two title wins against LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and the Cleveland Cavaliers many fans put an asterisk on Durant’s accomplishments. On July 10 he responded to one of his critics on Twitter.
“Ok take away 2 titles with KD, 2 rings without him leaving KD with 0. What is it u wanting to argue?” One fan wrote.
“You’re gonna spend your whole life tryna convince people that those chips aren’t in the record books?” Durant responded.
Did Warriors Need Kevin Durant?
One could argue that the Warriors needed Durant to overcome the tandem of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. In 2015 Curry and the Warriors beat the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, however, Love got injured in their earlier series against the Boston Celtics and Irving went down in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
The year before Durant joined, the Warriors held a 3-1 lead against the Cavs. But with Irving, James, and Love all healthy, the Cavs became the first team to overcome such a deficit and won their first title in franchise history.
Upon Durant’s arrival, the Warriors became a force unlike anything the NBA, or perhaps sports in general, had ever seen. The combination of Durant, Curry, and Klay Thompson along with the defensive genius of Draymond Green allowed the Warriors to annihilate opponents. They would go on to beat the Cavs 4-1 in 2017 and swept them in 2018 with Durant winning MVP both times.
Kevin Durant Praises Steph Curry’s Performance
But despite Curry being without a Finals MVP in his first four trips to the NBA Finals, he found a way to put his critics on hush last season. Without Durant Curry led his Warriors to a title and won the first Finals MVP award of his career over a very game Boston Celtics squad.
Curry’s Finals performance was highlighted by the show he put on in Game 4 at the TD Garden. After surrendering home-court advantage the Warriors trailed 2-1 heading into the matchup making the game a must-win for their title hopes. Curry put the team on his back and scored a scintillating 43 points in the victory. During an episode of his podcast, the ETCs, Durant lauded his former teammate for his performance.
“The Game 4 was iconic to me. It’s like much more than just the win. That game right there was like, ‘All right, this is one of the greatest we’ve ever seen,” he said.
“In that environment, the shots he was making … the rebounds, though. It was the rebounds for me; playing with Steph, that’s how I know he’s super, super engaged when he’s on the boards heavy. Coming over somebody’s back grabbing an [offensive rebound], it’s just like, yo, he really wants this.”
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