Burning question remains hot topic
Durant has ‘fun’ with talk if team is better without him
OAKLAND >> Are the Warriors better without Kevin Durant?
It did not take long for Durant to address the question on Twitter and Instagram. So when he met with the media Friday for the first time in more than two weeks, he seemed eager to address it in voice.
Are the Warriors better without Durant?
“I think about that and know it’s not true. It’s not facts when it comes from a basketball perspective,” Durant said Friday. “But the competitive side of me also likes to talk basketball as well. If you want to say something like that, I’m engaged with it. It’s all fun and it’s all cool. But I know what’s real.”
What is real? The Warriors and Durant are both mindful of two indisputable realities. The Warriors won two consecutive NBA championships partly thanks to Durant, who collected two Finals MVPs. The Warriors are also making their fifth consecutive NBA Finals appearance, partly because of Durant’s league-leading 34.2 points per game in the playoffs before injuring his right calf in Game 5 against Houston. And even if Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and a handful of reserves have elevated their play during Durant’s absence, they said that has happened because they no longer have the luxury of handing the ball off to Durant to score.
Publicly and privately, the Warriors say they don’t think they’re better without Durant. They are concerned about his uncertain status for the NBA Finals, which
begin May 30 against the winner of the Toronto-Milwaukee series. A week out, the Warriors already are saying it’s unlikely Durant will be ready for Game 1.
“Nobody can be happy when people are playing well. That’s the part to me that’s the most surprising,” Curry said. “Whether it’s KD playing well, it’s, ‘Oh they’re playing a different style and it’s not as fun to watch.’ Or if it’s when he’s out and we’re winning games, it’s, ‘Are we better or more fun?’ Whatever the question is, we hear it all the time. We’re a great team because everybody goes out and competes at a high level. We look out for each other. There’s a little bit of sacrifice. But at the end of the day, it’s all about winning.”
At the same time, the Warriors aren’t surprised by any of this swirl. They are 5-0 since Durant went down, and he has been a big target since leaving a contending team to join a championship team after the 2015-16 season. His impending free agency, and the constant rumors that he’s leaving the Warriors, has kept the heat on high all season.
So when a reporter asked Durant what he thinks of “their play” without him, Durant corrected him and said, “our play.”
“For the last three years, everybody has taken their shots in trying to nitpick or break us down or drive a wedge in our team chemistry.
This year, it’s been amplified even more with his free agency stuff,” Curry said. “At the end of the day, we’re one group until we’re not. We’re not going to let any noise around us affect us. As frustrating or entertaining whatever you want to call it is, we’re not going to let it break us down or distracting us from our goal.”
As the Warriors seek their third NBA title in a row with Durant, he has noticed the narrative rarely centers on the Warriors possibly becoming only the sixth team in league history to threepeat. Instead, Durant has noticed the ongoing fascination with how Durant fits in and whether he will stay.
“It’s been that way since I got here — it’s the Warriors and KD. I understand that,” Durant said. “I felt like my teammates and the organization know exactly what I’ve done on and off the court to be a part of this culture. What I’ve done these last two years, I’ve pretty much done everything they ask me to do from a player, ambassador of the organization in the community, to working hard every day and what I bring to the team. But I know there’s a lot of people on the outside that don’t like to see us together. I get it.”
Why do fans and media criticize him for defending himself on Twitter and Instagram?
“I have social media. I’m a human being with a social media account,” Durant said. “I can see if I ventured off into politics or culinary arts or music and give you my input. But I’m sticking
to something that I know. That’s all I know. I’m actually talking about something I know. I’m qualified to talk about basketball.”
Durant argued with Fox Sports’ NBA reporter Chris Broussard on Twitter about the nature of their professional working relationship. Durant delivered a sarcastic response to a fan that claimed he’s sensitive. Durant wrote “Hell no,” on an Instagram comment that highlighted Portland guard Seth Curry describing the Warriors this way: “They move around faster when (KD’s) not out there. They’re definitely not a better team, but they’re harder to guard.”
“I don’t talk to people because I’m worried about what they’re saying,” Durant said. “I’m talking to them because I’m interested. So if you’re talking about any game or the NBA Finals, it’s the same to me.”
It also appears to be the same to the Warriors. Curry maintained “it’ll be easy” to integrate Durant back into the lineup. Curry considered it just as easy not to allow those issues to fester into the locker room. Sure, Durant and Draymond Green had a well documented argument on Nov. 12. Since then? Both parties mended fences well enough to maintain their effective on-court play. Same thing with the Warriors.
“What do you care about? Do you care about winning? Do you care about putting up banners?” Curry said. “You don’t have to say much when you show up every day.”
Hence, Curry said that
Green observed the Warriors’ quiet locker room prior to Game 6 against Houston “meant we were locked in and ready to go for that challenge.” Curry, in an amused tone, added, there wasn’t anybody having to go in and make a speech before practice or before a game saying, ‘All right let’s block out the noise guys! We’re not listening to anybody.”
Even when accounting for each other’s varying personal lives, Curry believes the team enjoys being around each other.
“We just show up and play basketball. You deal with what it means to be a great championship winning team because people care about what’s going on and they want to cover us the way the do,” Curry said. “That’s cool. That’s part of the territory. If we can play basketball and enjoy what we do, we can keep it simply for ourselves.”
Does Durant think the same way about the team?
“It depends on who you’re talking to. Some people use it for fuel to make them stronger. Some guys don’t look at it at all because it’s distracting,” Durant said. “Some guys like indulging in it. It depends on who you talk to. One thing it doesn’t change is the common goal. I don’t think anything will get in the way of that.”
It appears Durant uses it for fuel to make him stronger. It appears Durant indulges in it. And he has not hesitated in responding, even if that just invites more criticism.