Circle those Warriors-Nets games on your calendar in 2021.
Kevin Durant caused a bit of a stir recently when he questioned Steve Kerr’s motion offense in a recent interview with WSJ Magazine. It did not go unnoticed by his former Golden State teammates.
“At the end of the day, we had [a lot of] talent and there was an expectation of us figuring out how to balance all that,” Steph Curry told ESPN.com.
“And we talked a lot about it throughout the three-year run. It wasn’t always perfect, but I think in terms of, you know, the results and what we were able to do on the floor, that kinda speaks for itself. We all wanna play iso-ball at the end of the day in some way, shape or form. But I’d rather have some championships, too.”
The Warriors won one title without Durant and then two with him after he joined them in free agency from the Thunder. This postseason, Durant was hurt in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Rockets. Without him, Golden State finished off Houston in six games then swept the Blazers in the Western Conference Finals. Durant returned in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Raptors, but ruptured his Achilles tendon. The Raptors would win the series in six games and Durant, who is likely to miss the entire upcoming season, signed with the Nets in free agency.
Durant told the magazine that it never felt like he got the same respect as Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson — all of whom have played their entire careers with the Warriors.
“I mean, that’s tough,” Curry said. “There’s so many narratives that go on, especially when you’re at the top of the league. No matter how, you know, the full transition happens to Brooklyn, him separating himself from the Warriors — that’s gonna happen. I think he knows, you know, what we were about as teammates, what we were about as friends on and off the court.
“And again, nobody is gonna take away the accomplishments we had. But at the end of the day, whatever he, you know, needed to do to make that decision and however he wants to explain that — that’s just what’s gonna happen.”