The Golden State Warriors were the ultimate cheat code. They were a team fresh off breaking the Bulls' record of most wins in the regular season and added Kevin Durant next to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
The outcome was as predictable as it was unfair to the rest of the league. Three straight trips to the NBA Finals, two rings, and some of the most explosive and prolific offensive displays in basketball history.
But none of that was enough. The people always wanted more, the media always wanted more. And that Curry vs. Durant narrative may have eventually taken a toll on how things went down in the end.
Stephen Curry Didn't Care About Being The Warriors' Go-To Guy:
“Even with conversations with ‘Whose team is it?’ I couldn’t care less,” the two-time MVP told John Dessereau of The Ringer. “Straight up. But the commentary is real.”
“I think the biggest thing was understanding how big the spotlight was from the jump,” Curry explained. “And paying a little bit more respect to how big of a decision that was for him to come here. Because once he made the decision, you almost take for granted … the commentary around the league, media, other teams, all that other stuff that you can’t really avoid. We thought, and we all approached it that we could have our own bunker almost and be kind of sheltered.”
The Warriors Knew Durant Wasn't Coming Back
Steve Kerr's team was living the dream. But Draymond Green's altercation with Durant changed the course of everything. The chemistry was off, the locker room grew apart, and it was the beginning of the end:
“That moment was probably the one where it’s clear that it isn’t a foregone conclusion that he’ll be back next year,” Curry said. “There were just a lot of other distractions that were popping up left and right. That we were all having to try to answer to, him included, and a lot that was centered on his future. That was the moment where we all knew we were trying to win a championship.”
The Warriors made the most of Durant's tenure in the Bay and vice versa. They put together one of the best teams of all time and it's a shame that we didn't get to see them on the court for longer.
