"I don't think that would have continued on without Kevin" - Draymond Green believes the Golden State Warriors would have struggled to dominate the NBA without Kevin Durant

The Golden State Warriors are right back at the top of the NBA hierarchy after the two down years since Kevin Durant left for the Brooklyn Nets. This year's Warriors team has reminded fans of the pre-Durant Warriors and many have wondered, if Durant never joined the team, would they have stayed at the same level after back-to-back NBA Finals?

Draymond Green answered that question with a resounding no. In a new ESPN article, Kevin Arnovitz wrote about how the pre-Durant Warriors have compared to this Warriors team. In his featured article, he interviewed Green and asked him how necessary the Durant era was. Green responded by saying,

"I don't think that would have continued on without Kevin. Everybody started defending us a certain way, and it got a lot tougher…So I think as a great as it was — and I have no doubt in my mind we would have been right there again —I do also think it was getting way tougher for us to figure out. And then we added Kevin and it wasn’t.”

When Durant joined the Golden State Warriors, it created a massive imbalance in the NBA, as the Warriors went to three more NBA Finals in a row, after already being to the previous two Finals before that. Durant left the Warriors with his first two NBA championships and two Finals MVPs.

How did Kevin Durant bring the Warriors to another level?

Kevin Durant (left) on the Golden State Warriors with Draymond Green (right)

Golden State was clearly already a great team, winning 73 games the season before Kevin Durant joined them. Durant was also already an all-time great with four scoring titles and an MVP award. The combination of the two was a match made in heaven that pretty much put the NBA in a straight jacket for three years.

The Warriors were known for their San Antonio Spurs-like basketball play, with movement, smarts, passing, and versatility. Head coach Steve Kerr learned it from Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, and it was a style of play Durant had never played in. When KD was still with the Oklahoma City Thunder, a lot of the offense went through him and Russell Westbrook.

Stephen Curry could create his own offense, and along with Klay Thompson, there was so much space on the court which Durant never really saw while with the Thunder. Playing alongside Curry and Green allowed Durant to play freely, letting them run the offense and become the best cog in the machine. When Durant was called upon to be the best scorer in the league, he rose to the occasion, averaging 29.6 points over his three playoff runs with the Warriors.

Along with his scoring abilities, Durant was the mobile rim protector the team never had. Before Durant arrived, the Warriors' best rim protector was Andrew Bogut. He got the job done, but did not allow the Warriors to play with the speed that they had with Durant. The death lineup of Curry, Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Durant, and Green could arguably be one of the best lineups in NBA history.

Even though Kevin Durant joined a team that did not need much to win an NBA Finals, he offered them something that made the Warriors a real-life cheat code. His choice to join the Warriors was controversial, but it turned out to be the best for both Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors.

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