Durant leaves contender for chance with Warriors
July 11, 2016
NBA superstar Kevin Durant took the sports world by storm Monday, announcing his decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder and sign a two-year, $54 million deal with the Golden State Warriors.
Durant, 27, is leaving a franchise he has been with for his entire nine-year career. He said his experiences as a free agent were by far the most challenging in his professional life.
The forward met with a handful of teams before ultimately making his decision to join the Warriors, a team he was unable to surpass in the playoffs for the last couple years. The Thunder and Warriors played in the conference finals of this year’s playoffs, with OKC infamously blowing a 3-1 lead to lose the series.
Some may disagree with Durant’s decision to leave the Thunder to join a team that finished with a 73-9 record last year and was one win shy of repeating as NBA Champions.
“I’m viewing this as one of the weakest moves I’ve ever seen by a superstar, plain and simple,” said ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith. “Kevin Durant is one of the top three players in the world and he ran away from the challenge that he faces in order to jump on the bandwagon of a team that is a little bit better.”
The Warriors sold Durant on winning championships during their meeting, which Golden State players and executives both attended. A notable contributor to the Durant signing was reigning MVP Stephen Curry, who sent Durant a text message following his meeting with the team, letting him know that he could care less about who the face of the franchise is and who gets the most recognition.
It’s tough to tell how Durant will impact a team as successful as the Golden State Warriors, but the NBA world will be eager to find out.