Kevin Durant’s tenure with the Golden State Warriros lasted just three years, as the superstar forward joined the team, went to three straight Finals, won Finals MVP and rings in two of them, and departed for the East.
Durant will join his friend Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn, where he’s likely to miss the 2019-20 season as he recovers from his Achilles injury, but for two superstars that have struggled to find happiness, the hope for both is that joining forces can bring them that. By leaving Oklahoma City to join Golden State, Durant hoped winning championships would fulfill him, but that apparently wasn’t the case.
The criticism towards KD’s move to the Bay never quieted and, as such, it seemed as though he never could fully enjoy winning those titles. On Monday’s edition of The Jump, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explained why his muted reaction to winning led the Warriors to have concern he would walk, with Rachel Nichols confirming that Durant never really found winning those titles in Golden State as fulfilling as he initially hoped.
As Nichols notes, Durant thought winning would cure all, but his desires and requirements for happiness go beyond the basketball court. That would seem to be why he wants to be in New York, where his business ventures are located, and wants to play with his friend Kyrie, who has had a similar journey as Windhorst notes.
All of this is to say, the Kyrie-KD dynamic in Brooklyn will be fascinating to watch. Here are two superstars who are top 10-15 players in the NBA by just about any metric, seeking not just championships, but happiness. They want to win, but on their own terms. They want to explore possibilities off the court to fulfill the gaps basketball can’t. They have, to say the least, unique perspectives on life and basketball, and together could help each other or could only create more headaches.
