Kevin Durant: Did he destroy the NBA?

It was the summer of 2016. The Cleveland Cavaliers had just won their first NBA championship by doing the unthinkable, overcoming a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors who were coming of a record-breaking 73-9 regular season.

Lebron James finally delivered his promise to the city of Cleveland, the championship they so desperately wanted and was preparing himself for the repeat. Until something happened....something in free agency of the same offseason, that changed the course of the league for almost 3 years.

Can you guess what move I'm talking about? Let me help you! Take a look at the 2016 NBA free agents here. If you guessed Chandler Parson's departure from Dallas Mavericks to sign with the Memphis Grizzlies then you are wrong.

But if you guessed Kevin Durant signing to the Golden State Warriors then you are correct! Still to this day it blows my mind that KD choosed to leave Oklahoma City Thunder and join the best team in the NBA at that time, which already had an MVP in Stephen Curry, a superstar in Klay Thompson, a perennial all star in Draymond Green and defensive juggernaut Andre Iguodala.

But what actually happened? What led KD to that hard decision? Did he destroy the NBA for the 3 years he was there? 

Let's find out!

Chapter 1: Oklahoma City Tbunder 2015-2016

Oklahoma city had a great 2015-2016 season. After the 2012 NBA finals the team didn't have any major success due to some changes on the roster but mostly due to their superstars missing a lot of games. 

The previous season saw Kevin Durant missing 54 games due to fracturing his right foot. Due to their superstar missing 2/3 of the season, the team missed the playoffs for the 2014-2015 campaign. The 2015-2016 NBA season was crucial for the Thunder. It was the last year of KD's contract so they had to make it count.

After creating a strong supporting cast around him and Russell Westbrook, with players like Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams, Andre Roberson, Enes Freedom and Dion Waiters, the team had a very good perfomance in the regular season. Thunder finished with a 55-27 record, good enough for the 3rd seed in the western conference and seem destined for a deep run in the playoffs.

But they had to face some obstacles to reach their goal. Two actually in the faces of warriors and San Antonio Spurs. If you wanted to get past the Western Conference you had to face both of those superteams. Warriors with the unstoppable back court, Steph and Klay and the defensive specialist Draymond Green. 

Golden State had just won the most regular season games with a 73-9 a record previously held by 1996-1997 Michael Jordan's Bulls (72-10) and were looking ready for repeat. 

From the other hand, Spurs with Kawhi Leonard, Lamarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan on his last attempt at winning one more title, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobilli, were looking as scary as the warriors. Their record: A franchise best 66-16.

It was sure that KD and the Thunder wouldn't have an easy path to the finals.

Chapter 2: 2015-2016 Playoffs

The Thunder had an easy first round. The Dallas Mavericks with an old Dirk Nowitzki and a washed Deron Williams proved to be a no match for KD and his friends. OKC won the series with a gentleman's sweep 4-1 and advanced to the second round.

In the second round the things got tougher. OKC had to face the second best team in the NBA, San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder entered the series as an underdog and the first game proved that point. 

Spurs destroyed the Thunder by 32 points, 124-92 and gave them a strong message. But OKC were able to bounce back, won the next game by one point and took back the much needed home court advantage.

After 4 games the series was tied 2-2. But then Russell Westrbook and Kevin Durant took over by scoring 58 and 65 points combined in games 5 and 6. Spurs were too old to keep up with Thunder's young stars. 

Oklahoma showed to everyone that they were no joke. After eliminating the Spurs, Thunder had another tough task to accomplish. The mighty Golden State Warriors.

Chapter 3: Getting 3-1 lead against Warriors

Thunder vs Warriors 2016 Western Conference finals

The Thunder, once again were the clear underdogs but started the series with the right foot. A 108-102 win inside the Oracle arena was exactly what they Thunder wanted. 

Game 2 went on Golden State but OKC still had home court advantage. And then the unthinkable happened.

Thunder went on to win game 3 (105-133) and game 4 (94-118) both by big margins. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook complemented each other and the supporting cast followed them. In game 4, Andre Roberson and Serge Ibaka had 17 points each, while Steven Adams and Dion Waiters provided 11 and 10. 

With such good performances from the supporting cast it seemed impossible for the Thunder to choke the 3-1 lead. The stage was set for a finals rematch against Lebron and Durant after 4 years. But can you guess what happened next? 

Chapter 4:...and blowing it

I mean...you knew it was coming. That's right, Thunder blew a safe 3-1 lead. Yes I know, if we are talking about NBA no lead is safe. But still, at that time there were only 9 teams in NBA's 69 year history that blew a 3-1 lead. 

That means it's almost impossible for a team to lose when up 3-1. But the Thunder did it anyways. Kevin Durant was throwing bricks in games 5 and 6, while Russell Westbrook was getting outplayed by Stephen Curry. It didn't help that there was no support from the bench either.

Thunder had a chance at closing the series out and advancing to the finals in game 6, after having an 8-point lead at the fourth quarter but Durant would score just 4 points on 1-7 shooting in the fourth. 

In game 7, Durant actually showed up by putting 27 points on 10-19 shooting but his performance wasn't enough to give Thunder the victory. It was a huge blow for the organization. 

After finally having their superstars healthy and coming so close to reaching the finals after 4 seasons of failures, they ultimately collapsed at the most crucial time.

KD had a decision to make and the Thunder had to find a way to keep him.

A decision that changed the league

Kevin Durant with Golden State Warriors

In the 2016 NBA's free agency, KD was the main attraction available in the market. Durant had planned meetings with five teams which were the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs and lastly, the finalists Golden State Warriors. 

Of course re-sign with Thunder was the first option, at least that's what most of us were thinking. KD had to weigh his options. 

From their part, Thunder tried to make some moves to show their free agent superstar that cared and wanted the same thing as him: a championship. 

But did they actually? The only important move that Thunder made was to trade Serge Ibaka for Orlando Magic's young shooting guard Victor Oladipo and the draft rights to Domantas Sabonis who was the 11th pick of the 2016 NBA draft. 

Grant, Oladipo and Sabonis with the Oklahoma City Thunder

Oladipo was a rising star but still needed some time to develop and Sabonis was a rookie and couldn't contribute right away.

Those moves weren't enough for Durant. He felt that the organization wasn't committed at winning a title. For him the time was ticking, he was still young at 29 years of age but he hadn't won the championship he so much needed. So, in July 4th of 2016, Durant took maybe the most important decision of his career.  

Kevin Durant choosed to sign with the 73-9 Golden State Warriors (who as well blew a 3-1 lead in the 2016 finals).

The villain

Durant's signing with the Golden State Warriors shocked the world of NBA basketball. You could say that the move was similar to Lebron's in 2010 when he joined the Heat alongside Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

But that's not the case. Let's not forget Lebron joined a team that had missed the playoffs the previous season and didn't have any major success since 2006. Durant from the other hand choosed the safest option, the easy way to win a title. 

Warriors were the best regular season team ever. They had an MVP, a top tier superstar shooting guard and an all star defensive player of the year winner. With Durant on the roster, who could actually stand against them?

Not only that, but he joined the team that eliminated him! What kind of superstar does that? That was a horrible decision and a weak move from Durant's part. Durant turned himself from a hero to the most hated player on the league overnight and that's completely his fault. 

What about the competition?

Warriors big 4 back in 2016-2017 season - image source: USA today

There was no competition in NBA for almost 3 years. No one could stand against the warriors superteam. Golden State won 2 straight championships without even sweating

Yes, they actually came close to elimination in 2018 western conference finals against the Houston Rockets, when they were down 3-2 but they managed to come back (Rockets choked the series by missing the most 3s ever in game 7). That was it. 

Durant with Golden State Warriors against Houston Rockets

Warriors could not be challenged. It was boring, for me at least because I knew the outcome of the season before it even started. Of course Durant won 2 straight chips with Golden State and hadn't he been injured in 2019 NBA finals against Toronto Raptors, he would have one more.

Recently KD asked why he is not included in the GOAT conversation. 

"Why shouldn't I be in that? That's the question you should ask. Why not? What haven't I done?" Durant told Duane Rankin from Arizona's Republic.

I mean it's clear, Durant won't ever be in the conversation for the greatest player of all time. First because his championships were given from the moment he decided to join an already formed superteam and second, because he destroyed the NBA for 2 and a half years!

Yes he did! That's my verdict. Sorry KD, you get no flowers for that!

'Until the next time, thank you for being here'

The Sports Bust - James Bartzis