When KD joined the Warriors in 2016, there was no shortage of hate from critics. He was called “weak” and a “traitor” for not only joining the team that beat him a few months prior but for choosing to go and team up with a roster composed of three NBA All-Stars in their prime.
In the eyes of the NBA community, he took the easy way out.
But in Durant’s point of view, that move made the path to a title harder. Here’s a 2016 tweet detailing that opinion by Durant:
Durant: "That call to Oklahoma City was the hardest thing I've had to do in my life."
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 7, 2016
Durant says this is "the hardest road," not the easiest to a championship.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 7, 2016
In a way, things did become harder for Durant. After the move, he became the NBA’s biggest and most hated villain. And even after he embraced that role, his reputation remains damaged to this day.
Kevin Durant: "We live in a comic book world where either you're a villian or a superhero if you're in this position. I can't control that."
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 7, 2016
Additionally, it’s also worth noting that leaving the comfort and familiarity of a place and team you’ve called home for years is never easy. He picked up and made the unpopular decision to join a new environment despite not really knowing how it would work.
In the end, however, it seems like a stretch to say that move was the “hardest” path to a title. No matter how difficult it may have been for him to make the unpopular choice, playing alongside Steph, Klay, and Draymond made the team almost impossible to beat. The only real obstacle in their way was themselves.
Needless to say, fans weren’t buying it back then and they dang sure aren’t buying it now.
