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The Golden State Warriors have successfully won their first title since Kevin Durant's departure in 2019. The argument was always that the Warriors needed KD, but analyst Shannon Sharpe believes it was a marriage.
The Warriors suffered a horrendous defeat in the 2016 finals against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. They gave up a 3-1 lead, making them the first team in league history to lose the title with such a lead.
To give themselves an edge in the future, they acquired Durant. Oklahoma City Thunder fans still see it as the biggest betrayal in NBA history, but it greatly benefited the two parties involved.
On "Undisputed: Skip and Shannon," the cast were asked what the Warriors' series win would say about KD. Sharpe responded:
"That Kevin Durant needed Golden State as much the Warriors needed him. Both of them benefited. It was like a marriage. I think both parties should get something out of the marriage. You might have gotten into the marriage for very totally different reasons, but both parties should get something out of the marriage."
He added:
"And I believe both parties got something out of the marriage. Kevin Durant needed championships, the Warriors wanted to get more championships. You see they got in there for totally different reasons, but they both got something out of this marriage."
After highlighting the struggles Durant faced, relating to acceptance by fans in Golden State, Sharpe continued:
"It’s easy to say ‘you know I’m going, I want to look LeBron in his eye’ when you got the U.S. military behind you. They needed each other."
With KD, the Warriors had an easy run against James and the Cavs. In the 2017 and 2018 finals combined, Cleveland only won one game.
Kevin Durant has not reached the NBA Finals since leaving the Warriors
Since departing the Warriors in 2019, Durant has not featured in an NBA Finals series. He has had two failed attempts at that in the postseason.
Durant left the Warriors with an Achilles injury he sustained in the 2019 finals against the Toronto Raptors. As a result, he was not fit to play throughout the 2019-20 season.
However, he got back into action in the 2020-21 season and led the Brooklyn Nets to the playoffs. The Nets were the favorites to win it all, but they failed to get past the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals.
Injuries to Kyrie Irving and James Harden left all of the heavy lifting to KD. Unfortunately, his efforts alone were not enough to lead the Nets to victory.
Things got worse in 2022 as Durant suffered the worst series defeat of his career. He and the Nets were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round.
Although Durant has failed to reach the heights he did while with the Warriors, he is still an elite talent. He remains one of the most effective scorers in the league and even averaged 29.9 points per game in the 2021-22 season.
