Source: MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images / Getty
but if you ask one ’90s legend,
Kevin Durant was a huge catalyst.
Isiah Thomas recently sat down with Draymond Green on his
The Draymond Green Show to discuss the Warriors’ rivalry with the
LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in the mid-2010s.
The teams split their first two Finals appearances, and Thomas says Durant helped the Bay Area team assert dominance, especially after that embarrassing end to their 73-9 season.
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“Let me make a bold statement here, and I hope this don’t upset you,” Thomas begins. “Before Kevin Durant arrived in Golden State, y’all were on the verge of being remembered as the team that went 73-9 and lost to a Cleveland Cavaliers team in the Finals up 3-1 and probably one of the biggest collapses in NBA Finals history – from a 73-9 historical team.”
He continues, explaining how Durant’s arrival changed the tune.
“Kevin Durant comes that summer and really saves y’all basketball legacies, and you win two championships after that. And now the Golden State Warriors dynasty that you’re going to go in the Hall of Fame on and everything else is cemented because if Durant doesn’t come that summer and you guys are remembered as the 73-9 team that lost 3-1 in the NBA Finals, all of your legacies are different,” Thomas said.
Green doesn’t wholly disagree with Thomas, saying he and Curry had a lethal pick-and-roll they ran for several seasons, but once teams figured out how to defend it, they needed Durant. It became increasingly more complicated to throw a double team on anyone when you had Durant, Curry,
Klay Thompson, and Green on the floor at the same time.
While Durant certainly helped them win two championships — don’t forget he also won both Finals MVPs — Green says it’s also the reason the Slim Reaper has any hardware.
“He never gets a championship if he doesn’t come here because I don’t foresee it happening anywhere else, or else we would have seen it happen somewhere else,” Green said.
Green calls linking up with Durant a “match made in heaven” and thanks Curry’s egoless style of leadership as a key component of their winning years.
As for Thomas throwing salt in that 73-9 wound, Green snaps back about his suspension for a Game 5, which he thinks changed the series momentum, which would have ended in a gentleman’s sweep.
See social media’s reaction to the conversation below.
