Kevin Durant had an issue with the media. What else is new?
Ahead of Tuesday’s nationally televised game between the Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets, San Jose Mercury News columnist Dieter Kurtenbach argued that the Warriors were “winning the breakup with Kevin Durant.”
The premise is that Durant left the Warriors to form a superteam in Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving. Golden State lost in the NBA Finals in the 2018-2019 season before Durant left. Even though the Warriors were the worst team in the league the following season and missed the playoffs last season, they have the best record in the league this season.
The Nets have made the playoffs in both seasons since Durant signed with them, but he didn’t play in the first season because he was recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. The Nets were eliminated in the conference semifinals last year.
Durant must have seen the article and not have cared for it. He “liked” several tweets criticizing the article.
It’s easy to see Durant’s point. He didn’t leave the Warriors because he was looking to prove he was better off without them. He wasn’t trying to win any breakup. He left because he had moved on and just wanted to go play with one of his friends on a new team in New York. That was it. He’s probably happy for the Warriors that they are doing well. In a head-to-head matchup, he wants to beat them, but he’s not using them as a measuring stick and trying to win a breakup.
Then again, the article wasn’t written for Durant, but for Warriors fans. Warriors fans probably love reading and being told that they have won a breakup, because they’re the ones who were offended by KD leaving.
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