When Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors, it completely shifted the balance of power in the league. The Warriors were already the best team in the league and made back-to-back NBA Finals appearances while winning one of them.
Adding Durant to the team was something that fans had previously only seen in NBA 2K games. As a result, the Dubs went to three more Finals and won two more championships.
But after the 2019 NBA Finals, KD decided it was time to leave the Warriors and get a team of his own. He did so by joining forces with Kyrie Irving and selected Brooklyn Nets as his destination.
Following that decision, most fans believed that the Warriors dynasty was over and it will be very unlikely that the Dubs would make another Finals appearance, let alone win a ring.
Well, fast forward to 2022, KD and the Nets were swept in the opening round of the playoffs and the Warriors have advanced to the 2022 NBA Finals. It is amazing how quickly the Warriors bounced back and now are in a perfect position to add another championship to their resume.
Keeping that in mind, an NBA fan on Twitter made sure to point out the fact that the Warriors replaced KD with Andrew Wiggins and still made the finals pretty easily:
“The Warriors replaced Kevin Durant with Andrew Wiggins and still made the finals pretty easily.”
The Warriors replaced Kevin Durant with Andrew Wiggins and still made the finals pretty easily
— Anthony (@omgitsbirdman) May 27, 2022
Considering this is a very controversial post, many fans reacted to this tweet. While a lot of fans supported the tweet, there were plenty who disagreed with it:
https://twitter.com/dubnation777/status/1530037947755810816
Durant is nothing bro just made it easier for the warriors
— Century 🅙 (@CenturyOG) May 27, 2022
https://twitter.com/King_Flexing123/status/1530026703489220610
💯. Hence why everyone outside the Bay hated that weak ass move by KD. They never “needed” KD. It was overkill / over the top imbalance of the highest order. Like Draymond said to his face – we don’t need you. He wasn’t lying.
— Ramin (@RFurz) May 27, 2022
They didn’t need kd to make the finals but they needed him to beat lebron
— 7/11 (@zeke_mvp) May 27, 2022
If the NBA enforced a Hard Cap rule, I think you would see a new Champion every year.
I get sick of the same team and players winning every year.
— bmg (@bmg020964) May 27, 2022
Harrison Barnes scoring 0 points is why they lost in 2015. All they needed was a slightly better small forward. KD was overkill but nonetheless, any simple upgrade was enough.
That being said, Wiggins over KD ANY DAY 👈👈👈
Wiggins been balling lately too
— sunhat (@sunhatcatdog) May 27, 2022
This should speak to the greatness of Steph Curry
But people only want to use this as ammo against KD
Y’all are pushing the wrong narrative
— JD 💨 (@Dak4Six_) May 27, 2022
Just wait until Durant and Irving and Simmons have time to play together and build chemistry. Then you'll see BWAA HAA HAA sorry I can't do this.
— Jay Cee (@JayCee62767711) May 27, 2022
Lmfao are you surprised? Anyone could be on that 2017/2018 warriors teams and make the finals. Could pick a random fan and they still would have won. They didn’t need him, he needed them.
— Mendo🦈 (@Mzndoza) May 27, 2022
You need dray steph and klay to unlock the magic. It doesn't work if one of them is out
— craig chalk man is a sad raptors fan (@craigrobb77) May 27, 2022
i like that u just said it yourself, pretty easily.
A Nuggets with just 1 Star, Memphis without his best player and some injuries, and Mavs that is the worst team to reach a WCF
You put KD in this path and he would reach the finals too
— Mael🇵🇷 (@yiyiyizXz) May 27, 2022
Easily? Warriors’ first 8 playoff series with KD, Rockets took them to a game 7 and the 7 other series saw them lose a total of 3 games.
2 Championships and a grand total of 6 losses in 2 seasons. It will never be THAT EASY with Wiggins.
— SportsFanNoypi (@CantBreak100) May 27, 2022
It was never about having KD to make it to the finals. It was about having KD, so the Warriors can beat Lebron and a heathy Cavs team.
— Gemini P ♊️ (@iamgeminip) May 27, 2022
Not so easily. This game was a must win. Kevin Durant is long forgotten at this point. I would more want to see Golden State knocking down shots at a better percentage. They are getting the wide open looks but it's only after Offensive rebounds that they are scoring.
— A High Tech Way (@ahightechway) May 27, 2022
As many fans pointed out, Kevin Durant definitely needed the Warriors more than the team needed him. Because even without Durant, the Dubs made it to the Finals.
Of course, there were many factors in favor of the Warriors. As they didn’t face a healthy Denver Nuggets in the first round and Ja Morant didn’t play the entire second-round series for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Despite getting lucky, the Warriors still needed to play well in the WCF, which they did by dominating Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
Regardless of how the Warriors made it to the Finals, if they end up winning it all, the narrative will be against KD and how leaving the Warriors was a poor decision from the former MVP.
If Durant wants to make sure it doesn’t play out like this, he needs to win a ring with the Nets very soon. But will he even stay with the team next season? He hasn’t spoken to the franchise since losing 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs.
