OPINION: Kevin Durant’s selfishness has ruined the NBA
Warriors go back-to-back as Durant secures Finals MVP, again
Keith Allison / CC BY 2.0
Kevin Durant looks on during the Oklahoma City Thunder’s game at the Verizon Center against the Washington Wizards on February 1, 2014. Durant has now won back-to-back championships and Finals MVP with the Warriors, ruining the NBA in the process.
June 9, 2018
It was obvious on July 4, 2016 just how negative of an impact Kevin Durant made on the competitive balance of the NBA.
Durant chose to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder after nine seasons with the franchise to form a superteam in the Bay Area with aspirations of winning multiple championships.
Durant made his dream a reality as he and the Golden State Warriors swept the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 last night to win the 2018 NBA Finals, the team’s third title in four years.
This was the fourth consecutive season the two teams have met in the NBA Finals. How original.
It all began in 2015 when the Cavaliers were unable to overcome injuries to All-Stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving — despite Lebron James returning home after spending four seasons with the Miami Heat — and ultimately lost the series to the Warriors 4-2.
The following year, the two teams met again in a rematch. The Warriors found themselves leading the series 3-1, but the Cavaliers eventually came back to defeat the Warriors in Oakland in Game 7 to become NBA champions.
After losing to the Cavaliers in Game 7, Draymond Green called soon-to-be free agent Durant in the parking lot at Oracle Arena, already beginning to try and convince him to come to the Bay Area.
That call led the Warriors core players — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Green and coach Steve Kerr — to travel to the Hamptons over the Fourth of July weekend in 2016 to give Durant their free agent pitch.
Durant is the second best basketball player in the world currently — behind James — and had every team begging for his talent.
Durant and the Thunder’s season ended after a loss to the Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals after holding a 3-1 series lead.
He had to realize after his team lost to the Warriors, the Thunder could not beat the Warriors in a seven-game series. Durant must’ve figured — if you can’t beat them, join them. Do whatever it takes to get that ring, right?
Durant said that he made the best basketball decision, which you cannot fault him for. He joined the best team in the NBA with a desire to win an NBA Championship.
The problem that I have — along with many others — is the effect Durant’s decision had on the rest of the NBA.
The Warriors just came off a historic 2015-16 season as they set the NBA-record for most wins in a season with 73 in 2016. Curry also won back-to-back MVP awards.
The second best basketball player in the world joined the best team in NBA history. When Kevin Durant joined the Warriors, the competitive balance of the NBA shifted forever. The landscape of the NBA became unfair with four All-Stars on one team.
It’s ironic that the Thunder, the team in which Durant previously led, lost to a superteam led by James in the NBA Finals, only to defeat James in the Finals in back-to-back seasons with arguably the greatest team ever assembled.
You can’t blame Durant for making the best decision for himself. He is now a back-to-back NBA Champion and Finals MVP. Durant made the best decision for himself.
Durant made the selfish decision that anyone of us would have made if we were in his shoes, however this decision has ruined the fun of the NBA. Sports are supposed to be about the mystery of who could win on any given night.
Watching Game 4 last night was depressing. I’m a huge basketball fan and I was checked out halfway through the third quarter. Having four All-Stars on one team is simply unfair.
The rest of the league is now trying to find a way to overcome this juggernaut. The Rockets were one Chris Paul hamstring injury away from doing just that. Now it’s time for more superstars to join together to try and defeat the Warriors.
Maybe someday the NBA can go back to being competitive, with superstars going at each other instead of joining up to make superteams.
Michael Collins • Apr 30, 2019 at 8:41 pm
These ppl saying this is historically in line aren’t seeing the big picture, you guys are taking about the league when it had half the teams it does now. It’s absolutely absurd to have 4 top 20 players 2 being top 5 on the same team in a 30 team league. Durant joining a 73 win already established power house that had won a ring already is nowhere near the same as lebron joining the heat or rejoining the Cavs. If Durant resigns with gs than the current yearly playoff snoozefest will continue. It’s a shame because those 2016 playoffs were some of the best series ever and since then it has been garbage. The league has to restructure Max contracts so that each team can offer 1 players a ridiculous amount of money, so much that theoretically the top 30 players wouldnt want to miss out on this slot.
Mike Holguin • Jun 9, 2018 at 7:39 pm
SMH…This started because of James making his super team. When he joined Wade who was the 3rd best player in the league at the time, and brought along their pal Bosh who was also an All-Star as his position. Those players in their prime made caused this, and it was garbage for James to do it. The Warriors just did everything better, by making a better team. In the past, superstar players on the edge of retirement would try to get one ring by joining a team they thought would be in contention. With James starting this, K.D. & the Warriors simply beat James at his own game…because it would only be a matter of time before James would do it again. This off-season, he will.
Dennis Berry • Jun 9, 2018 at 7:34 pm
Hey, Read your op piece. On the 4 all-stars, teams have had 4 all-stars on the team the same year 9 times. And the 1983 Sixers had 3 starters out of their 4 players. The Celtics were in the finals 10 consecutive years and won 8 straight title. Throughout history 5 times teams have been in 4 consecutive finals with Boston the record holder with 10. Durant isn’t ruining the NBA. This happens in streaks all through the NBA history. You get dominate teams with dominate players (remember Shaq joining the Lakers). The Rockets actually had a better season record than the Warriors. It will even out in a couple years. Now if LeBron decides to join the Warriors to make it a SUPER TEAM, then maybe I might agree with you. I won’t complain about it but I will agree with you. FYI I will admit that I am a Kings fan from the days of the original ARCO Arena.