When Kevin Durant joined forces with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, it shocked the entire NBA community to its core. Most anticipated that the balance of power in the league was disturbed for many years to come, and that was the truth, more or less.
With KD leading the attack for the Dubs, it was almost too difficult to stop the Warriors. As a result, the Warriors made it to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances and ended up winning two of them. They would have won another one if it weren’t for a bunch of injuries that hit the Warriors like a slap on the face.
Additionally, Durant decided it was time for him to start a new chapter in his career as he decided to leave the Dubs in free agency. When KD announced this decision, most viewed it as KD taking advantage of the Warriors and winning two easy rings.
That’s what the narrative is for most fans. If you ask any random fan about the Warriors dynasty, most will say that KD couldn’t win without Steph and co., hence he joined the Dubs.
But following the Game 1 defeat of the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, an interesting stat has popped up, thanks to a Reddit post by u/AdzBoogie. In the post, the Redditor has highlighted the stats of Stephen Curry in some of his previous NBA Finals games.
As per the post, Steph Curry has lost eight out of his last nine NBA Finals games without Kevin Durant by his side. On the contrary, Steph won nine out of his last 10 NBA Finals games with KD by his side. Also, these defeats include six straight losses at home games.
But at the same time, when we consider the entire time of the Warriors during the KD-Steph era, the stats tell us something completely different. Considering all the games played during those three seasons, the Warriors played better when Steph played w/o KD than Durant played w/o Curry.
All things considered, the legacy of both the stars is intertwined with each other. If the Warriors lose the 2022 NBA Finals at the hands of the Boston Celtics, it might benefit Durant in a way, though. People will realize that KD was a lot more than a mere bus rider and had an irreplaceable impact on the success of the Dubs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPdbuLGOQCY
