LeBron James isn’t happy Kevin Durant won his first NBA title on Monday night. That much might be obvious, given they were opponents in the NBA Finals. But James did offer a unique perspective on Durant’s championship with the Golden State Warriors.
James was asked about Durant in the last question of his 12-minute press conference with the media in Oakland after Golden State’s Game 5 win ended the NBA Finals and—though he was complimentary to a player he knows personally—he wasn’t exactly thrilled to see Durant’s first NBA title come against his Cleveland Cavaliers.
James was asked about his emotions and what Durant has learned since they first met in the Finals, where James’ Miami Heat beat Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012.
“I’m not happy he won his first,” James said. “I’m not happy at all.”
Once he got that fact out of the way, he got to explaining the growth he’s seen in Durant’s game.
From when I played him from the 2012 Finals to now, like I said: experience is the best teacher in life and he’s just experienced and experienced and experienced. And it also helps when you’re able to experience some things with this (Warriors) team as well.
James said that Durant “felt like he needed to reassess and reassemble his career and come here,” something that LeBron was neither critical nor supportive of. But Durant has spoken about being better than second best quite a bit in his career.
"I’m tired of being second … I’m done with it.”
-Kevin Durant, April 2013 pic.twitter.com/6wQMtrsLBr— SI Vault (@si_vault) June 13, 2017
It just took going to Golden State to finally get over the top. There are going to be endless debates about how much his championship “means” because this is basketball and people love to talk, but James was clear that the championship itself is all that matters.
“Getting that first championship for me was like having my first son. It was just a proud moment and it’s something you never forget and at the end of the day nobody can—no matter what anybody says from now on in your career, whatever they say, they can never take away that you’re a champion.”
LeBron was clear about this: despite his opinion on “super teams” Durant and the Dubs put in the work to win and the winning is all that matters.
“When you put in the work and things pay off,” James said, “you can always be OK with whatever happens in your career.”
