NBA: Why Kevin Durant Left The Golden State Warriors, Explained

Kevin Durant's departure from Oklahoma City to signing with the Golden State Warriors was one of the wildest moments in NBA history. Overnight, the league was turned on its head, as arguably the best player in the league left his longtime team to join arguably the greatest team in the league.

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While his arrival brought a lot of noise, Durant's departure from Golden State is mostly overlooked. On the surface, it's a bit strange to see the superstar leave the team he had been to three straight NBA Finals with. However, when looking beyond the surface, it's not hard to see why he decided to leave the Warriors.

7 Kevin Durant Signs With Golden State

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July 4th, 2016 is a day that will live in NBA infamy. Then-free agent Kevin Durant signed with the defending Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors. The move was blasted by the entire NBA world, as the optics were a little bad, to say the least.

Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder were fresh off a loss to the Warriors in the playoffs, but that didn't stop the former MVP from signing a deal with the team. In order to make the deal work, Durant had to take a big pay cut, but it was all good, he wanted a championship.

6 2017 Season

The 2017 NBA season went about as everyone had expected. While some hopeful fans had hoped that the Cleveland Cavaliers would be able to repeat behind the strength of their big three compromising of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, it wasn't enough.

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It would've never been enough, quite frankly. The Golden State Warriors easily made their way to the NBA Finals without dropping a single game. While the Cavs were able to steal a game and keep some of them close, they wound up losing in five games. With that, Kevin Durant had his first ring.

5 2018 Season

Following the season, Kevin Durant decided to renegotiate his deal with the Warriors. He once again took a pay cut in order to keep the big four together, comprising of himself, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson together. While the team went on to win their second straight ring by sweeping the Cavaliers, the cracks began to show.

Prior to making the NBA Finals, the team went down 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals against the Houston Rockets. There, Durant faced criticism because of his poor performance, and locker room rumors stated that the team also blamed him for struggling and playing too much "hero ball". They eventually went on to win the series in seven games, but the beginning of the downfall was underway in 2018.

4 Rivalry With Draymond Green

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It's difficult to keep winning games when two of your best players have beef. However, that didn't stop the Golden State Warriors from going back to back in 2017 and 2018. However, in 2019, the beef between superstars Kevin Durant and Draymond Green hit a boiling point.

The two began having arguments out on the court on a near-weekly basis. Much of the rivalry between Green and Durant revolved around the latter's impending free agency. Green was even suspended for a game in November due to him cussing out the superstar. With Durant's free agency quickly incoming, the team was going to have to pick between one or the other soon.

3 2019 NBA Finals

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The Golden State Warriors made the NBA Finals for the fifth year in a row in 2019, and this time was matched up with the Toronto Raptors. Durant suffered a calf injury previously in the playoffs but was able to return for game five of the series. Down 3-1, the team needed a miracle.

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Instead of a miracle, they had a catastrophe. In the second quarter, Durant tore his Achilles tendon, and his season was over. Not only was his season over, but he was also now on the wrong side of 30, and had an injury that most NBA players can't recover properly. He was also now a free agent. To top it off, the Warriors were upset by the Toronto Raptors, losing their chance at a three peat.

2 Kevin Durant Signs With Brooklyn

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Following Kevin Durant's devastating injury, it was clear that he wasn't going to return to Golden State. With the injury, his beef with Green, plus his age, and how he actually wanted to be paid for the years that he was underpaid during their dynasty, the organization made it clear that they weren't going to pay him as much as he wanted.

With that, Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets for a massive contract. Despite being out for a year, he had a new home where he would be teamed with fellow superstar Kyrie Irving for the foreseeable future. There's no way those two don't win a ring, right?

1 Legacy

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So, yeah, the Brooklyn Nets superteam built around Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and eventually James Harden, didn't win a ring. The team has now been bounced from the playoffs in three straight years. With Harden now in Philadelphia and Irving now unlikely to be signed by the Nets, Durant's decision to leave Golden State will likely be reexamined.

While it was hard to gauge if it was the right decision at the moment, it's hard to deny where both Golden State and Durant are right now. His former team is currently in the Finals, while he's currently waiting to see who he'll play with in Brooklyn next year.