NBA history will unfairly punish Kevin Durant for his Brooklyn Nets exit

From joining the Golden State Warriors to leaving for Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant has nearly become a villain in the league. Many NBA pundits termed his move to the Warriors the “weakest move” by a superstar player. When he joined the Nets, he was blamed for joining another superteam and later when Kyrie Irving and James Harden left him, he was painted to have weak leadership qualities. Over the years, it seems like whatever the former league MVP does, it annoys one or the other. ESPN NBA analyst Brian Windhorst came in defense of KD and said that history will wrongly blame Durant for all the wrong reasons. 

While reminding people that Durant was the only differing factor between team USA and other contenders, Windhorst said that the credit for the USA basketball winning the gold medal should go to Durant. The ESPN writer also added that Harden and Irving leaving the Nets wasn’t KD’s fault. “I don’t think his legacy needs that asterisks but I know he feels that pressure. And frankly, people keep calling it a basketball tragedy that those Nets ever played together,” Windhorst said. According to Brian, spending three years in Brooklyn was a personal loss for the former scoring champion. He said that the trio broke because both Harden and Irving weren’t serious about basketball. 

Windhorst also mentioned that Durant has survived one of the scariest injuries that an NBA player can suffer. Despite that, he came back and took his game to another level. While the sniper could have stayed with the Warriors and won a couple of more championships, he decided to join Irving, trusting him to concentrate on basketball. Although it was a risky and controversial decision, according to Windhorst, KD should not be treated like he is now.  

Related: “It’s great for the league,” Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving defend trade requests from players

Analyzing Kevin Durant’s career since Golden State Warriors 

Before even Durant joined the Phoenix Suns, he has become perhaps the most hated villain in the NBA community. Given the trajectory of his career after OKC, his moves to different teams have come under severe criticism. When KD joined the Warriors, it was considered one of the weakest moves by a superstar.

In the previous season, he was eliminated by the Warriors and previously defeated by LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA finals. Many blamed the superstar for joining a championship team to beat the four-time MVP. He again joined the Brooklyn Nets which was stacked with the league’s most gifted offensive players. Among all the moves, one narrative continued about Durant, he can’t lead a mediocre team to a championship. 

While Windhorst made some reasonable points about the Suns’ superstar, it is almost impossible to change the narrative surrounding him. Everything that has gone down in his career, one fact remains the same, it was his decision. He had a chance to reverse the narrative when he played Boston last year in the playoffs. The Nets lost the playoffs without winning any games against the Celtics. Even more glaring was the fact that he had an absolutely stinking performance throughout the playoffs.

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