Kevin Durant ruined basketball. At least, that was the loudest scream on Twitter in July 2016. When he jumped from a 73-win-losing Thunder team to the Golden State Warriors, the 2016 17 season nba was basically decided before a single ball was bounced in training camp. It felt unfair. It felt like a video game cheat code. But if you actually look back at what happened over those nine months, the "predictability" of the Warriors winning it all was just a backdrop for some of the most insane individual statistical seasons we've ever seen.
The league was vibrating.
Steph Curry was coming off the only unanimous MVP in history. LeBron James was fresh off the "3-1 comeback" that cemented his legacy in Cleveland. And then, Durant happened. It changed the math. Suddenly, the Golden State Warriors weren't just a great team; they were a geopolitical superpower in sneakers. Everyone else was playing for second place, or so it seemed.
The Triple-Double War Nobody Expected
While the Bay Area was assembling a Monstars lineup, Russell Westbrook was busy losing his mind in Oklahoma City. Honestly, the 2016 17 season nba will always be defined by Russ vs. James Harden.
Westbrook was playing with a level of rage that felt personal. With Durant gone, Russ had the ultimate green light. He became the first human being since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to average a triple-double for an entire season. 42 triple-doubles in one year. Just think about that. He finished with averages of 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists. It was exhausting just to watch him. Every night was a full-speed sprint into the chest of a seven-footer.
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Then you had James Harden in Houston. Mike D'Antoni moved him to full-time point guard, and the "Seven Seconds or Less" offense was reborn in a lab. Harden was arguably more efficient than Russ, leading the league in assists (11.2) while scoring nearly 30 a game. The MVP debate that year was toxic. Do you reward the historic round numbers of Westbrook, or the winning and efficiency of Harden? Russ took the trophy home, but the debate still lingers in sports bars today.
Golden State and the "Death Lineup" 2.0
Let’s be real: the Warriors were terrifying. They went 67-15. They had a point differential of +11.6, which is basically basketball's version of a repetitive stress injury for the rest of the league. Adding a 7-foot sniper like Durant to a team that already had the greatest backcourt in history was just mean.
The chemistry wasn't instant, though. People forget they lost their opening night game to the Spurs by 29 points. There were "is there only one ball?" takes for about three weeks. Then they figured it out. Draymond Green became the Defensive Player of the Year, anchoring a unit that could switch everything. Klay Thompson scored 60 points on only 11 dribbles against Indiana. 11 dribbles. That shouldn't be physically possible.
They weren't just winning; they were demoralizing people. The 2016 17 season nba playoffs were a total bloodbath. The Warriors went 12-0 through the Western Conference. They didn't lose a single game until the Finals. It was the most dominant postseason run we’ve ever seen, ending in a 16-1 record.
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The King and the King-Killer
LeBron James was 32 and arguably at his absolute physical peak. He was coming off the high of the 2016 title and actually had a better statistical regular season in 2017 than he did the year before. He averaged 26, 8, and 8. The Cavs were a juggernaut in the East, mostly because Kyrie Irving was hitting shots that defied physics and Kevin Love was finally comfortable in his role.
But they had no defense.
The Cavs spent the regular season coasting, figuring they could just "flip the switch." They did flip it in the East playoffs, sweeping the Pacers and Raptors, then crushing the Celtics. But the Warriors were a different species. The 2017 Finals gave us that iconic Durant pull-up three over LeBron in Game 3. That shot symbolized the shift in power. LeBron had a triple-double average in the Finals—the first time anyone had ever done that—and he still lost in five games.
The Weird, Fun Stuff We Forgot
Basketball wasn't just about the top two teams. Remember Isaiah Thomas? "The King in the Fourth." The 5'9" guard for the Boston Celtics put up 28.9 points per game and led them to the #1 seed in the East. His 53-point performance against the Wizards in the playoffs, played on what would have been his late sister's birthday, remains one of the most emotional moments in NBA history. It’s tragic how his hip injury in those playoffs basically ended his prime, but for that one year, he was a giant.
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Kawhi Leonard also ascended to "Best Player on Earth" conversations. Before Zaza Pachulia stepped under his foot in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Kawhi was dismantling the Warriors single-handedly. The Spurs were up by 25 points in Oracle Arena. Then the injury happened, the Warriors came back, and the series was effectively over. It’s one of the biggest "What Ifs" in the history of the sport.
- The Process was working: Joel Embiid finally played. He only suited up for 31 games, but in those minutes, he looked like Hakeem Olajuwon with a Twitter account.
- The Giannis Leap: This was the year Giannis Antetokounmpo won Most Improved Player. He led the Bucks in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. All five categories.
- The Kobe-less Era: This was the first season since 1995 without Kobe Bryant. The league felt different, younger, and much more focused on the three-point line.
Why 2016-17 Changed the League Forever
We’re still living in the shadow of this season. It was the birth of the "Superteam" era on steroids. It forced teams like the Rockets to trade for Chris Paul because they realized "normal" roster building couldn't beat Golden State. It changed how we value the triple-double; once Russ made it look easy, the magic of the stat started to fade.
It also solidified the "Efficiency vs. Volume" debate. The league started shooting more threes than ever before. If you weren't launching 30+ treys a game, you were a dinosaur. The mid-range jumper started to go extinct, except for specialists like DeMar DeRozan and Kawhi.
How to Study This Era Today
If you’re trying to understand how the modern NBA reached its current "positionless" state, you have to go back to the 2016 17 season nba tapes. Don't just watch the highlights. Watch how the Warriors moved off the ball.
- Watch the 2017 Finals Game 3: It’s the highest level of basketball ever played. The speed, the spacing, and the talent on the floor are peak NBA.
- Analyze the "Harden-D'Antoni" shift: Look at how Houston used the high P&R to create open corner threes. This became the blueprint for the entire league.
- Respect the Isaiah Thomas run: Go find his 4th quarter splits. Being that small and that dominant in a league of giants is a feat we might not see again for decades.
The season wasn't "ruined" by Durant. It was just elevated to a level of talent that was impossible to sustain. It was the year the NBA became a global soap opera, where the drama off the court was just as loud as the sneakers on the hardwood. Whether you loved the Warriors' dominance or hated the lack of parity, you couldn't look away.
For fans today, the lesson is clear: parity is great, but sometimes, seeing a perfect team play perfect basketball is worth the lack of suspense. The 2017 Warriors were the closest thing to basketball perfection we’ve ever seen.