The Golden State Warriors provided Kevin Durant three All-Stars and a Finals MVP to play with.
But they also provided him with the thing he needed most: validation.
Durant discussed what led to his decision to sign with the Warriors as part of an oral history of the 2016 meeting in the Hamptons, per Tim Kawakami of The Athletic.
At that time in my career, I didn't know how other people felt about my game. And I knew that I was pretty damn good and I knew I worked extremely hard, but I needed that validation from my peers and teams and GMs, people that are really into the game, to really help me feel good about myself and help me feel confident and let me know that what I was doing was working.