Kevin Durant is one of the greatest small forwards in the history of basketball, and he is a proven winner. He won two championships with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, and there’s no question that he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he retires.
Despite his talent and ability, many people believe that the Golden State Warriors could have won championships in 2017 and 2018 without Kevin Durant. That opinion has only increased in popularity since the Warriors won the most recent championship in 2022.
Recently though, Draymond Green stated that the Golden State Warriors wouldn’t have been able to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017 without Kevin Durant, adding that other teams were starting to “figure out” the Warriors.
"We would not have beat the Cavs coming back around without Kevin"@Money23Green talks about how important @KDTrey5 was to the Warriors' success. @OldManAndThree pic.twitter.com/jdyjIOE64H
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) June 28, 2022
I don’t think the outside world gave Kevin enough credit. I think if you came in our organization, Kevin was given all the credit. The reality is, I don’t think that team wins another championship if Kevin doesn’t come. Now you may say, “You won the fourth one without Kevin”. But there’s a gap in there where teams started to figure us out… We would not have beat the Cavs coming back around without Kevin.
While it is true that the Warriors managed to win this year without Kevin Durant, he was definitely a core part of those teams that managed to win titles after 2016. He deserves recognition for his contributions, and Durant’s ability to create his own shots made the Warriors go from a good team to being absolutely unstoppable offensively.
There is no doubt the Golden State Warriors are doing fine now, and they could potentially win more titles going forward. However, it is clear that they wouldn’t be a dynasty without Kevin Durant coming over to their team in free agency, and hopefully, he gets the credit he deserves after this statement by Draymond Green.
