BROOKS: THUNDER WAS GOLDEN STATE BEFORE GOLDEN STATE
Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks is getting ready for his first season as coach of the Washington Wizards. Durant is getting ready for his first season leading the Golden State Warriors.
On The Vertical podcast with Chris Mannix, Brooks was asked if he was surprised by Durant going to the Warriors.
Brooks didn’t answer the question directly, but said Durant “earned that right.”
The conversation eventually turned nostalgic, with Mannix reminding Brooks about the collection of talent the Thunder once had and its potential to become a dynasty.
Brooks suggested that the Thunder was “Golden State before Golden State was Golden State.”
“What we had was hard to get back,” Brooks said. “We had a young, dynamic, athletic, long, defensive-minded team that could score. The chemistry that that group had was pretty remarkable. They were all trying to figure out how to play in the NBA, let alone play together in the NBA, but they did. I give a lot of credit to the staff that we had there. We worked on it. I wasn’t like an overnight success.
“I look back on the what ifs. It’s natural to do that. We had unfortunate bad luck. Russell ... the injury in the first playoff (series). The next year we get to the conference finals and Serge goes out. The following year, everybody. We had five broken bones in one season and in six seasons prior to that I think we had one. But that’s part of the game. I hate that part of the game. That being said, we never made an excuse. I never did and our team never did, and that makes me proud.”
It was speculated that the reason the Wizards went after Brooks to begin with was because of his relationship with Durant and the chance that he could factor in luring Durant to his hometown of Washington D.C. It wouldn’t have been quite the superteam that’s been assembled in Oakland, but a lineup of Durant,
John Wall and Bradley Beal would have been an immediate Eastern Conference playoff contender.
During his free agency, Durant and his team never took a meeting with the Wizards or Brooks.
“I would have loved to be in front of him and give him an opportunity to listen to what we have to offer, coming home and his hometown,” Brooks said. “… but he had that choice. I’m happy that he’s happy and he made a choice that’s best for him.”