"Go to the largely dysfunctional Brooklyn Nets with overwhelmingly dysfunctional Kyrie Irving" - Colin Cowherd appalled that Kevin Durant wasn't advised against leaving Golden State Warriors
Colin Cowherd expressed his view that Kevin Durant's decision to leave the Golden State Warriors proved to be wrong for him. The 33-year-old won two championships in the Bay before deciding to move to the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.
With the Warriors missing the playoffs two years in a row after he left, many thought KD made the right move. However, once the team got their core group back together, the Dubs returned to the NBA Finals. Many are now criticizing the former MVP's decision.
Cowherd, a renowned analyst in the sports world, believes that the lack of advice from people around Kevin Durant led to that move. Speaking on "The Colin Cowherd podcast," he said:
"Nobody checked him when he said I want to leave the best coach I've ever had, the best culture I've ever had, the best teammate Steph Curry I've ever had. Nobody checked him, his agent Rich Kleiman didn't check him, his shoe company apparently didn't push back.
"The feeling was, 'Kevin Durant is going to take a huge leap here,' leave all that greatness and go to the largely dysfunctional Brooklyn Nets with overwhelmingly dysfunctional Kyrie Irving. Nobody raised their hand and went, 'Woah no you're not going to do that, we're not going to let you do that.'"
Kevin Durant has been a part of the Brooklyn Nets for the past two seasons. He has not even been able to lead them to the conference finals because of the lack of support from his teammate and friend Kyrie Irving.
They also had James Harden on the team. However, the growing uncertainties surrounding Irving forced Harden to make a move to the Philadelphia 76ers at the trade deadline.
Steph Curry without KD:
1st ever Western conference finals MVP
Finals appearance
Scoring title
Broke 3 point record
Kevin Durant without Steph:
2nd round exit
Swept in 1st round
The conversation ends now
The Golden State Warriors successfully reached their sixth finals in eight years. The pressure is now on Kevin Durant to do something special with the Brooklyn Nets and prove that he made the right choice by leaving the Warriors.
How good would the Warriors be if Kevin Durant was still a part of the team?
Kevin Durant's arrival to the Warriors in 2016 made them one of the best teams in the NBA. In his very first season, KD helped them finish at the top of the West with a 67-15 record.
He fit in well with the likes of Curry and Green, which made them tough to beat. The Warriors lost only one game in the postseason and courtesy of his staggering display, Kevin Durant was crowned the Finals MVP.
@doubledworth ) KD, Klay and Steph on fire at the same time. This is just silly
(🎥 @doubledworth )
https://t.co/86axV48abQ
Next season yet again, the Dubs continued their brilliance and marched on to win another title. KD won his second consecutive Finals MVP for his stellar performance.
The Dubs team with Durant was considered to be one of the best in modern basketball. They had a lot of shooting and, with a defensive mind like Draymond Green, the opposition never really had enough chances to attack the Warriors.
Steph really caught his mouthpiece mid-fastbreak and assisted KD 🤯 😂 https://t.co/FvnUWPKrN0
Durant injured his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals and, after that, decided to team up with Kyrie Irving as part of the Nets. If he had decided to stay, the Dubs would not have been as weak as they were in those years.
Despite all the criticism he has received, Durant was one of the key factors behind the Golden State Warriors winning two championships.
He took a massive load off Steph Curry's shoulders. There will be constant debate as to who among the two is better. However, there is no doubt that, if they continued playing together, the duo would still be taking the league by storm.