Durant said his meeting with the Warriors’ brass last Friday in the Hamptons – a contingent that also included the Splash Brothers of MVP Stephen Curry and All-Star Klay Thompson – had a “great vibe throughout the whole day”. Durant made the decision public on The PlayersþÄô Tribune Monday morning. He canþÄôt officially sign until July 7.
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After the addition of Kevin Durant, the Golden State Warriors look like an unstoppable machine on paper.
“I know it’s Jerry West and I know he’s the ‘Logo, ‘ and you’re expecting a sexier conversation, but it was more so about the team and how I could fit in and how great the coaching staff was”, Durant said. No matter what happens, Under Armour is still getting Steph Curry for a tremendous bargain, locked in for $4 million per year until 2024, compared to Kevin Durant’s $300-million contract he signed two years ago.
“The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player – as that has always steered me in the right direction”, Durant said in the article. “That’s the negative of LeBron James [now playing for Cleveland Cavaliers] going to Miami [in 2010], KD going to Golden State”. The 2014 MVP and four-time scoring champ, before holding up his Warriors jersey, explained what motivated him to leave Oklahoma City and come west.
“I don’t want to go through that again, so I plan on being here”, Durant said. Durant had made Thunder a well-oiled machine.
By joining with the Warriors, Durant has become the villain in the eyes of many.
Together, the two made one trip to the NBA Finals and three other trips to the Western Conference finals. I understand the fans in Oklahoma City and basketball fans around the world are, I guess, upset.
Durant said his relationship with Westbrook was great. “There are no words to express what the organization and the community mean to me, and what they will represent in my life and in my heart forever”. Those invaluable relationships are what made this deliberation so challenging. “To me as a father and a husband and a man, it was good to see him make a man decision”.
He repeated those sentiments in describing the fit with his new teammates, saying, “It was natural, it was authentic, and it was real”.
Of course, the Rockets had won National Basketball Association titles in 1994 and 1995.
Durant has been a hard opponent for the Warriors — he averaged 30 points per game against them in this year’s Western Conference finals and dropped a career-high 54 points on them in 2014. While you might think a trade is out of a player’s control, Barkley openly admitted at the time that he forced his way to Houston, noting that he “called the shots” and threatened to retire if the Suns didn’t send him where he wanted to go. It’s on defense where Durant will make an impact as well.
Golden State and Dallas have agreed on a deal to send center Andrew Bogut to the Mavericks, a person with knowledge of the deal told the AP.
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Losing Durant to a top rival will sting for the Thunder.
