He definitely comes across like he's not really part of the team. You have the Warriors with their original big 3 and Iggy, and then Durant is sort of like a high-powered insurance measure that comes into play just to put them over the top. There isn't a lot of real chemistry there but the talent level is so high that it allows them to keep winning and pretend everything is fine.
They didn’t need KD on the warriors. He doesn’t fit in and is almost extraneous and unnecessary. The warriors were just being greedy.
I read this article earlier today, which quotes KD as saying that after his All-Star years with the Sonics and Stolen Sonics (er, Thunder), he still needed validation that other players appreciated his game. That's why when the Warriors gang-seduced him in the Hamptons, he jumped at the chance to play with them. These guys -- these really good NBA players -- liked his game! It's perfect! Michael Jordan didn't need anyone to tell him how great he was. For that matter, neither did Dwyane Wade, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitski, Tim Duncan, etc. Not to mention the great players who came before them. I'm a UT guy and used to love Durant, but more and more he strikes me as a member of that subset of supremely talented beta players. Like TMac, only now with better teammates.
Does he even believe what he wrote on his shoes? Like... nothing in the yellow marker actually invalidates the "haters." How does being "2017 championship" show that you weren't on a superteam or that "if you can't beat them, join them" isn't true.
Probably because the two are independent variables. KD is a beta who just happened to be born into the body of an all-time athlete.
It's true but at least he got them hardware..... as opposed to coming up short - would be even more of an embarrassment.
I had this idea while walking my dog to restore parity to the league: Kevin Durant doesn't belong to any team. The way it'll work is that every year, the best team to not win the NBA championship gets to have Kevin Durant the following year, no salary cap hit. Durant gets to play hero and have a great shot at winning titles every year, and the Warriors lose the roster advantage they had because of Durant's weakness. I'm sure there are holes in this concept, because I only thought it about for a minute before I had to scoop up my dog's crap, but I figure it's a starting point.
Was going to post the same quote from that Kawakami article! KD wanted to know he was going somewhere that "fit," and if the "fit" has changed, he might be open to moving onto another city/team. He's really in a no-win situation, if they win, they probably would have won without him (#UltimateLuxury), and if they somehow lose, he might have been forcing too many ISOs and got the W's out of the "beautiful game" they were known for in their pre-KD run.
I agree completely. And while the Warriors fanbase undoubtedly appreciates him coming there to join their already-champions, that adulation is nowhere near what he would have gotten by joining the Knicks or even the TWolves and getting them a title.
