“The Golden State Warriors didn’t need Kevin Durant.” Detractors outside of the Bay Area shouted this at the top of their lungs after the superstar forward announced his decision on July 4, 2016. It never stopped.
Even when Durant won the NBA Finals, the same haters that argued that Stephen Curry and the Warriors couldn’t beat LeBron James without Durant continued to try to tear him down. His greatness was being disregarded due to an unpopular free agency move. He had one of the best years of his career, but his team’s success seemed to diminish that, in the eyes of many.