Over the course of its existence, there are only a few moments that have completely shaken up the NBA, and one of them came in 2016 when Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors. Here was a man who was widely regarded as a top 3 player in the world at worst, and he was joining a team that had won a record 73 games in the 2015-16 season.
He was also joining them after losing to them in the Western Conference Finals in 2016, which led to many calling it a weak move. Durant still gets criticized for making that move to this day, and whatever you may think of his decision, at the end of the day, they had tremendous success together, which is all that matters.
Klay Thompson Had A Ruthless Response When Asked About His Thoughts When Kevin Durant Joined The Warriors
Durant and the Warriors won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, as they blew away the competition for the most part. They could have very easily had a three-peat, but both Durant and Klay Thompson got injured in the 2019 Finals, and the Raptors took advantage to win it in 6 games. That would end up being Durant’s final season with the Warriors, but he and the team had made their mark on history by then. Klay was on the All The Smoke podcast recently, where he was asked about his initial thoughts when KD decided to join, and he had a ruthless response.
“Oh, it’s over.”
That is pretty much what the rest of the NBA thought as well when Durant made that decision. You couldn’t see a way that they could be beaten over a playoff series and with the exception of the Rockets in the 2018 Western Conference Finals, no one even got close. The Cavaliers managed to win just 1 game over the two Finals that the teams contested, as it was a bloodbath.
It wasn’t great for the NBA that you basically knew who was going to win before the season even started and some in the league office probably were glad when KD decided to leave for the Nets. It stopped the Warriors from winning for a while but they returned to the top last season and look primed to win more in the years to come. Klay, for one, believes title no. 5 is coming soon and it might well be.
