“If you said, ‘Oh, KD’s coming back, and we’re gonna play with him,’” - Steph Curry was willing to play again with Kevin Durant again
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Steph Curry didn’t hold back about Kevin Durant. The reigning NBA Finals MVP shared his thoughts about the possibility of the Golden State Warriors bringing back Durant. Here’s Curry opening up on what could have been a reunion with KD in The Bay area:
“If you said, ‘Oh, KD’s coming back, and we’re gonna play with him,’ I had so much fun playing with him those three years, I’d be like, ‘Hell, yeah!’”
“You tell me I’m playing with [current Warriors teammates Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Draymond Green], I’m like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ There’s all types of emotion and things that happen to the league.”
“If anybody’s saying that you wouldn’t entertain that conversation — no disrespect to anybody on our team — but you don’t know how things work. But you also understand, like, if we run this thing back, I’ve got complete confidence in my team that we can win it again, as constructed.”
The Warriors decided not to break up their current roster to acquire Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets. The Warriors would have to give up several players, including Wiggins, Poole, Green, Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman.
Warriors team owner Joe Lacob operates on the principle of winning now and in the future. Golden State would have severely compromised its future if they had gone all in on Kevin Durant.
Lacob’s team would have been the overwhelming favorites to repeat had they succeeded in reuniting KD with Steph Curry. They went to the NBA Finals in three straight years and could have won all three had Durant not torn his Achilles.
Kevin Durant with the Warriors:
— 3 Seasons
— 3 Finals Appearances
— 3 Conference Championships
— 2 Championships
— 2 Finals MVPs https://t.co/45br5AkIW7
Any team’s plan to get Kevin Durant sputtered when KD decided to re-commit to the Nets.
Steph Curry calls Kevin Durant “misunderstood”
Kevin Durant has received significant criticism since leaving Russell Westbrook and the OKC Thunder to join the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. The critiques increased when he abandoned Steph Curry and the Warriors' winning culture to team up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn.
KD has even become a favorite punching bag for non-basketball fans this offseason. Durant’s trade request before his four-year extension started caused an uproar on social media. Moreover, when the Nets couldn’t trade him, he reportedly asked for the firing of general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash.
Steph Curry defended Kevin Durant in the interview with his usually candid replies:
“I was never hesitant. The idea of playing with KD and knowing who he is as a person, from our history in those three years, I think KD’s a really good dude. I think he is misunderstood.”
“I think he has had certain things happen in his life that hurt his ability to trust people around him, in a sense of making him feel safe at all times. So all of those things, I understand, having played with him and gotten to know him. I love that dude.”
Steph Curry on Kevin Durant:
“I think KD’s a really good dude. I think he is misunderstood…I love that dude” ✊
(via @RollingStone) https://t.co/pMMKyxX8J0
Curry has always had Durant’s back, showing that's still the case even if they are no longer teammates.