“If I knew it was okay to join people, f**k I would have joined the Bulls, I would have played with Mike” - Shaquille O’Neal says Kevin Durant can’t understand people being upset at his Warriors move, says he was a ‘bus driver’ in OKC
Back in 2016, Kevin Durant drastically changed the landscape of the NBA. Upon hitting free agency, the former MVP decided to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder and join forces with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
The superteam era was already in effect before this move, but Kevin Durant signing with Golden State pushed it to the forefront. Given that the Warriors had already won a championship and were fresh off eliminating Durant's Thunder, fans were not shy about their resentment towards him.
Legends cement their legacies with rings, and that's exactly what Kevin Durant did with the Warriors. In his three seasons with Golden State, he won two titles and took home a pair of Finals MVPs.
On this day 4 years ago, Kevin Durant had one of the greatest Finals Games of All-Time
43 points
13 Rebounds
7 Assist
65.2 FG%
82 TS%
Lead the Warriors to a 3-0 series lead over the Cavs in the NBA Finals!! https://t.co/NqdXqF66g1
To this day, Durant still receives criticism for jumping ship to an organization that had already built a title winner. During an episode of his "The Big Dye Lie" podcast, Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal sounded off on Kevin Durant for leaving a spot where he was "the guy" to be apart of the Warriors' dynasty.
"When he was in OKC, he was the bus driver and everybody was on him and he couldn't close. And people were really curious like you can't close and then you wanna join the team that beat you and then he don't understand why everybody was upset about that. So, it's supposed to be about competition. If I knew it was okay to join people, f*** I would have joined the Bulls."
Is Shaquille O'Neal right about Kevin Durant choosing to sign with the Warriors
Looking at it from all angles, a case can be made for both sides. Based on his comments, it seems Shaq's biggest gripe with Kevin Durant is the stature he had in OKC.
As an emerging superstar and pillar of OKC's franchise, he was seen as someone who would eventually lead his team to a title like the stars before him. Instead, he took the road less traveled and signed with a team he could not get passed.
From Durant's perspective, he was a free agent who had the choice to go anywhere that could afford him. Golden State had the cap space to offer him max money, and were on the brink of winning more titles.
To this day, stars who never won titles are just as famous as those who did, just for the wrong reasons. With that in the back of his head, it's hard to blame Durant for chasing rings when the media puts such value in them when debating legacies.
Hot take: I like Kevin Durant. I’m happy he played for the Warriors. That was a good time.
At the end of the day, winning titles is the name of the game. Whether it was done in poor taste or not, Durant did what was needed to make sure his legacy was not tarnished.