Kevin Durant almost certainly won’t play in the NBA during the 2019-20 season, but on Sunday he picked his teammates for the next four years. The two-time NBA Finals MVP announced via traditional means and then on Instagram that he would join Kyrie Irving and sign with the Brooklyn Nets as he rehabs from successful Achilles surgery in the coming months.
Durant’s decision is one that changes the landscape of the NBA, leaving behind a Golden State Warriors team he went to the NBA Finals with three straight seasons, winning two titles along the way. And it signals a huge change in a Warriors team that has since signed D’Angelo Russell to a big contract (in a sign-and-trade with the Nets for Durant) and reportedly traded former Finals MVP Andre Iguodala in the process.
Despite all the talk about Durant leaving Golden State as the team left Oakland, there was a lot of belief that Durant may stay with the Warriors, rehab his injury and, eventually, keep the dynasty together. So much so that the Warriors had a significant plan to talk Durant out of going elsewhere: namely, Steph Curry.
Though there were reports that Durant told the Warriors he was leaving earlier, according to reports Curry was on his way to New York from China to talk to Durant as he made his decision public. Marcus Thompson wrote about the decision early Monday morning on The Athletic and chronicled the trip from China that Curry was in the process of taking when word of Durant to the Nets came down.
Stephen Curry flew straight to the New York area from Shanghai, China. But he wasn’t going to pitch Kevin Durant on why he should stay with the Warriors. It was already too late. He was on the plane when the news broke that Durant was leaving for Brooklyn.
And Curry didn’t turn the jet around or cancel the trip. Because it wasn’t about recruiting. It was about respect. It was about thanks.
Thompson frames the trip to New York as a “last-ditch effort” and one that was obviously in vain, but it is striking to imagine Curry enduring a long flight from China to New York, only to hear mid-flight that it was all for naught. And despite knowing that Durant was leaving, Curry apparently did finish the trip and see him for himself to talk about the decision.
But Curry went to have one last moment with Durant as teammates. To tell him one more time how much he appreciated him for the three years they had. They’d won two championships together. Dominated the league together. Made history together. He was there to wish Durant happiness and peace, express his support for his decision. And when Curry got to Durant’s apartment in Manhattan, Durant confirmed to Curry his decision that their time together was over. Face to face. Man to man. Friend to friend.
Russell is a considerable consolation to Warriors fans who are worried about the future of the team with Durant’s departure and the injury to Klay Thompson, despite him signing with Golden State on Sunday as well. But it does characterize Durant’s relationship with the Warriors, his now-former teammates, and how they did seem to fail to connect on a deeper level over the previous three seasons.
