Kevin Durant: Chemistry, culture were huge factors in choosing Warriors
OAKLAND — Six days before, inside that rented mansion in the Hamptons where the NBA landscape was forever changed, the notion of Kevin Durant joining the Golden State Warriors was nothing more than a virtual reality.
In a meeting between the former MVP and one of his six suitors, one that lasted more than two hours and ultimately sealed the deal, Durant looked through a pair of virtual reality goggles and saw his next step.
There were shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, footage from the Warriors practice facility, of coach Steve Kerr talking to his team inside the Oracle Arena locker room and even a courtside view inside the building where there had been so much basketball bliss. There was music in the NextVR production, too, a song that had long since become a favorite in the Warriors’ circles and, in the end, was quite perfect for the moment.
“I got a really big team, and they need some really big rings,” the lyrics by renowned rapper, Drake, played. “Man, what a time to be alive ... Oh you switchin’ sides? Wanna come with me?”
Durant officially switched sides on Thursday, when he was formally introduced at the Warriors practice facility that is more than 1,600 miles away from the Oklahoma City Thunder arena that he called home the past eight years. With the Warriors looking to regain their place atop the league’s throne, after being knocked off by LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers just weeks after downing Durant’s Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, Durant arrives as a most unexpected savior of sorts.
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Kevin Durant: "I plan on being here"
This frightening formation, with Durant joining the likes of back-to-back MVP Stephen Curry and fellow former All Stars like Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, is reality now. Strange though it did seem.
Even Durant acknowledged the surreal nature of it all. The banner behind him looked out of place, with Durant flanked by coach Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers and the room seemingly suspended in disbelief. Before taking center stage, Durant – who had made it clear in that Hamptons meeting that he was concerned with being painted as some sort of hoops villain – admitted to his new co-workers that he was nervous.
With the hordes of fans in the back of the news conference trying to help, clapping at almost everything he had to say, there was a foreign feeling to it. The question of why he was here was still looming large, and so Durant did his best to explain.
“We live in this superhero comic book world where either you’re a villain or you’re a superhero if you’re in this position, and I know that,” Durant said. “And I know I haven’t changed as a person. I don’t treat people any differently because I made the decision to play basketball in another city. I understand the fans in Oklahoma City and basketball fans around the world are, I guess, upset, but like I said, I made the decision based upon what I wanted to do and how I felt.”
Kevin Durant says Russell Westbrook 'respected' decision to leave Thunder
For all the talk of the various different X-factors, from his Saturday phone call with Warriors executive Jerry West to the Russell Westbrook component, those who know Durant best say this never would have happened if not for the amazing performance that was put on by the Warriors players in that Hamptons meeting. One wrong comment from Curry, Green, Iguodala or Thompson, or one uncomfortable vibe, and this may have all ended differently.
Durant had dreamed of playing a more free-flowing brand of basketball for quite some time, and his attraction to the Warriors as a free agency option grew as the season wore on. They played with joy. They played with a genuine love for one another. On most nights, they had fun. And he wanted that.
But Durant didn’t believe that they wanted him until they sat face to face in that meeting. As several attendees remember it, his agent from Roc Nation Sports, Rich Kleiman, asked tough questions that Durant had to have answered. The last thing they wanted was to find out after the fact that there was even an ounce of resentment inside whichever locker room he would choose.
“Why the hell would you guys want Kevin?” Kleiman asked the players. “Why would you be OK with it?”
With Kleiman pressing, Thompson joked that Durant’s agent was, in fact, his defense attorney. But Green, who one attendee joked could have gotten this deal done by himself, was extremely convincing. Iguodala made his mark, too.
And Durant, who joked that they all “walked in and it looked like they were holding hands,” walked away knowing what he wanted. The only question was whether he was willing to deal with the backlash that would come from the choice.
“A lot of people talk about how tight they are, and how much they enjoy each other … but to see them together – you could tell that it was true,” Durant said. “I asked them, ‘How is it? How is it there? How is the culture? How do guys work? How is film session? How is being on the plane? That stuff, stuff that you don’t really see that goes into the product you put on the court.
“I try to look at this as a game. It’s not life or death. We play basketball for a living. We get to take care of our families. I want to enjoy every day. That’s all it is.”
Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.