It was the "Hamptons Five" moment that changed everything. Most people remember the July 4th Players' Tribune article, but the real shift happened in a house in New York when Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala sat across from Kevin Durant. They didn't beg. They basically told him he was the missing piece to a dynasty that could break basketball.
And they were right.
The Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant era was arguably the highest level of basketball ever played. Seriously. Forget the 90s Bulls or the Showtime Lakers for a second. Between 2016 and 2019, the Warriors weren't just winning games; they were deleting the competition. But even now, years later, the conversation around KD's time in the Bay is messy. People call it a "weak move." They say the rings don't count.
Honestly? That’s mostly noise. If you actually look at the tape and the numbers, the reality is much more complicated—and a lot more impressive—than the Twitter debates suggest.
The Myth of the "Easy" Ring
The loudest criticism is that Durant took the "hardest road" (his words, unfortunately) to an easy championship. Sure, he joined a 73-win team. That’s a fact. But the idea that he just stood in the corner while Steph did the work is total nonsense.
In the 2017 NBA Finals, Durant averaged 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. He did this while shooting 55.6% from the field and 47.4% from deep. That isn't "riding coattails." That’s a hostile takeover.
People forget how close that 2017 Cavs team was to being an all-time great squad themselves. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were at the absolute peak of their powers. Without Durant, that series is a coin flip. With him? It was a five-game demolition. Durant hit the go-ahead three in LeBron’s face in Game 3, a shot that basically signaled the end of the "LeBron owns the East" era.
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Why the System Actually Challenged Him
You’ve probably heard that the Warriors' motion offense made life easy for KD. Sorta. While he got more open looks than he ever did in Oklahoma City, he also had to completely rewire how he played.
In OKC, it was "your turn, my turn" with Russell Westbrook. In Golden State, Steve Kerr demanded constant movement. Durant had to learn to set screens, cut without the ball, and—most importantly—defend at an elite level.
The Defensive Transformation
This is the part nobody talks about enough. In Golden State, Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant became a rim protector.
- He averaged 1.6 blocks per game in 2017-18.
- He often played the "free safety" role in the Warriors' switching scheme.
- During the 2017 Finals, his defensive rating was a staggering 114, often guarding LeBron James for stretches to give Andre Iguodala a breather.
He wasn't just a scorer anymore. He was a seven-foot Swiss Army knife.
The Draymond Green Incident and the Slow Burn
Everything was perfect until it wasn't. The 2018-19 season felt different. You could feel the tension through the TV screen. Then came the blow-up at Staples Center.
Draymond Green famously told Durant, "We don't need you. We won without you. Leave."
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It was harsh. It was also the beginning of the end. Even though they made it back to the Finals in 2019, the "family" vibe Durant sought was gone. He later admitted in interviews, including a sit-down with Draymond himself years later, that it wasn't just the fight—it was how the front office handled it. He felt like an outsider.
"I'll never be one of those guys," Durant told the Wall Street Journal. He meant the homegrown guys. Steph, Klay, and Draymond were the "Core Three." No matter how many Finals MVPs Durant won (he won two, by the way), he felt the media and the fans viewed him as a hired mercenary.
The Final Sacrifice in 2019
If you still think Durant didn't care about that team, watch the 2019 Finals. He shouldn't have played. He had a strained calf that kept him out for weeks. The Warriors were down 3-1 to the Toronto Raptors and looked finished.
Durant practiced once. Then he started Game 5.
He scored 11 points in 12 minutes, looking like the best player on Earth again, before his Achilles snapped. It was one of the most somber moments in modern sports history. He gave his career-altering injury to a team he was already planning to leave. That’s not the move of a guy who took the "easy way out."
Statistical Reality vs. Public Perception
To understand the impact of Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant, you have to look at the "Net Rating" when he and Steph played together.
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From 2016 to 2019, when Curry and Durant were both on the floor, the Warriors' offensive rating was roughly 122.4. To put that in perspective, that’s significantly better than almost any offense in league history. They were a mathematical problem that had no solution. If you doubled Steph, KD got a dunk. If you stayed home on KD, Steph hit a 30-footer.
What the Numbers Say
- Efficiency: Durant’s True Shooting percentage in the 2017 playoffs was .690. That is absurd for a high-volume scorer.
- Clutch Performance: In the 2017 and 2018 Finals, Durant’s fourth-quarter scoring was among the highest in NBA history for a series winner.
- The "Steph Effect": While people argue over who was better, the stats show they made each other better. Durant’s presence allowed Steph to play with more space, and Steph’s gravity gave Durant the easiest lanes of his life.
Is the Legacy Tainted?
In 2026, we look back at this era with a bit more nuance. The "Superteam" era started with LeBron in Miami, but Durant perfected it. Did it ruin the league's parity for three years? Yeah, probably. But we also got to witness the highest level of offensive coordination ever seen.
The misconception is that Durant "needed" the Warriors to be great. He was already an MVP. The reality is that the Warriors needed Durant to become "The Greatest Team Ever." Without him, they are a legendary team that might have won one more. With him, they were an inevitable force of nature.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Analysts
If you're debating the Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant legacy today, keep these points in mind to stay grounded in fact:
- Evaluate the Defense: Don't just look at his ppg. Watch his 2017 defensive rotations. He was a legitimate All-Defensive candidate that year.
- Contextualize the 2016 Loss: The Warriors lost the 2016 Finals because they lacked a secondary creator when Steph was trapped and Bogut was injured. Durant solved that specific structural flaw.
- Separate Personality from Play: You can dislike the "burner account" drama or the move itself, but don't let it blind you to the fact that he was the best player on the floor in two straight Finals against Prime LeBron.
- Study the 2019 Finals: Use it as the ultimate counter-argument to the "lack of heart" narrative. He risked it all for a third ring he didn't even "need" for his personal validation.
The Warriors years were a three-year lightning strike. It was beautiful, it was controversial, and we'll probably never see a talent accumulation like that again.