One of the biggest stories that occurred this past Sunday wasn’t the crowning of an NBA champion, but where one of the game’s greatest players was traded to. Kevin Durant, after two years in Phoenix, was dealt to the Houston Rockets. The story broke on Sunday, hours before his old team, the OKC Thunder, would win their first-ever title. There’s a nasty rumor going around that Durant wanted the news to come out to overshadow the Thunder’s big moment.
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Why would he do that? Well, KD had a rollercoaster run with the OKC Thunder during his time as their face of the franchise. He led them to the Finals alongside Russell Westbrook and James Harden, and even captured his one-and-only league MVP in a Thunder uniform.
But things got complicated after a few tough playoff exits, especially the 2016 loss to the Warriors after being up 3-1. The future Hall of Famer then shocked everyone by joining the Dubs, the very team that beat him.
Still, accusing Durant of leaking trade news just to shade his old team is a big accusation. Draymond Green doesn’t buy it. The Warriors legend addressed it on the latest edition of his podcast.
“They said KD chose for that news to come out on Sunday cause he wanted to overshadow the Thunder,” he explained. “I personally don’t think KD is that type of guy, but that’s what people tried to say. I can’t rock with the conspiracy theories.”
Green’s co-host, Baron Davis, agreed that the rumored accusation is quite silly. “The player is the last person to know they getting traded,” said Davis. “Facts,” responded Green.
It really should be that simple. Durant is one of the most laid back players of this generation. The last thing he has time for is this level of pettiness. Sure, he goes off on social media rants, but firing off a few tweets is not the same as organizing a media storm on Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Draymond once said that the Warriors don’t win as many rings without KD
Another nasty rumor that was started was that Durant left the Warriors due to his relationship with the team, particularly Draymond Green. While there are a few instances of them not getting along, that was hardly the case.
Not only that, but Green himself has nothing but praise for his ex-teammate. “Without Kevin Durant, I don’t know if we win another ring,” claimed Draymond during a recent interview when talking about ring culture.
The four-time NBA Champ was referring to the two straight years of dominance that the Dubs had with Durant in 2017 and 2018. But Dray assures listeners that winning a ring is hard work.
“We just got that good and made it look that easy,” he added. And he’s right. There never seemed to be any doubt as to who was going to win the titles in those years.
And that’s not just because the Warriors were a super team. They also meshed well as teammates. The last several seasons in the NBA are proof of just that. Since the Dubs’ 2018 triumph, the NBA hasn’t seen repeat champions.
The league is stacked with talent, sure. Most teams are. But adding 5 All-Stars to your team doesn’t make them a cohesive unit. Those KD/Curry/Klay/Green Warriors’ teams get overlooked because “online experts” don’t know ball. Fortunately, true fans of ball know that those teams were great.
