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Kevin Durant Reveales Why He Chose The Warriors In 2016

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress declared the thirteen American colonies as a new nation–the United States of America–and no longer part of the British Empire. The day would become an American holiday; a day of pride, remembrance, and celebration across the great nation. Fireworks bursting in front of the night sky while sparklers are glaring in front of a young child’s immense grin are common images thought upon for the Fourth of July. But, in 2016, it was way different. An Independence Day decision made by one of the NBA’s greatest players would send thousands of Oklahoma City Thunder fans–as well as NBA fans in general–into a tizzy, upsettingly remembering the news they heard that morning.

This was almost two year ago. Now we have two teams, who seem unbeatable for all the other remainig 28 teams. The Warriors went 12-0 against the Western Conference in last year’s playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers won 12 of 13 games, leading to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors facing off in the NBA Finals for a third consecutive year – A first in NBA history. It may have taken both teams a little longer and more effort this year, but the result remained the same. The Warriors and Cavs are currently playing their 4th consecutive NBA Finals series. But in a recent interview, Durant revealed why he eventually signed with the Golden State Warriors, and it wasn’t just because they could be a winning team.

Per The Atlantic:

“Everybody looked at me like I was crazy,” Durant said in an interview with The Athletic. “It was just like, ‘Why wouldn’t we? This would be super special.’ I’m like, ‘I want to be part of something super, super special.’ It was just perfect. Everybody was just thinking the same way I was. Just no egos.”

“At that time in my career, I didn’t know how other people felt about my game. And I knew that I was pretty damn good and I knew I worked extremely hard, but I needed that validation from my peers and teams and GMs, people that are really into the game, to really help me feel good about myself and help me feel confident and let me know that what I was doing was working.

So when they all came, and they all put stuff to the side to come to the meeting, I was like, man, this is amazing. Best team in the league, some of the best players, most accomplished players want me on their team and want what I do, what I bring to the table. It was pretty cool, you know what I’m saying?

Because I’m looking at this whole basketball thing from a kid’s perspective. I’m still excited, I’m still learning. So to have that much love in the room for how I play basketball, that’s cool. They’ll get to know me as a person, I was confident with that. But the basketball side, I was, like, man it’s pretty damn cool that people enjoy the way I play and want me to play with them.”