Warriors GM Myers says Durant's 'gesture of taking less' helped keep team intact

Kevin Durant

Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers praised Kevin Durant for his "gesture" of taking a smaller deal with the NBA champions.

Durant decided to forgo a massive long-term contract in order to remain with the Warriors on a two-year deal worth roughly $53million.

Though he will hardly be strapped for cash, Durant could have been one of the highest-paid players in the league.

Myers realised Durant's sacrifice – passing on a pay increase of up to $8m per year – was the main reason they could keep the team's core on board.

"His gesture of taking less gave us the ability to be very aggressive in pursuing Shaun [Livingston] and Andre [Iguodala]," Myers said, via ESPN.com.

"I can pretty much unequivocally say without it, we're not looking at the team we have right now. What Kevin did shows who he is, shows what he's about and I think it's clear that that's winning.

"Without him doing that it would have been a different roster, and clearly to me, a roster that wasn't as good as the one we have right now."

Myers made sure everyone knew that no-one pressured Durant into his decision.

"He did it on his own volition, which makes it that much more impactful and impressive to me," Myers said. "He's a max player for the foreseeable future forever. For him to do something like that is commendable. Without him doing that, other sacrifices as far as roster would have had to be made."

The Warriors cruised through the postseason, ultimately beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in the NBA Finals.