The Warriors Aren't Better Without Kevin Durant, But it Has Got to Be Way Too Close For His Comfort5/21/2019 Three overwhelmingly accomplished seasons. Two postseasons that culminated in championships with a third that, prior to a non-contact leg injury, was perhaps even more impressive than those that eventually earned him back-to-back Finals MVP honors. That's how much time and effort Kevin Durant has put into crafting the thesis that he is an absolutely necessary part of the dynasty he attached himself to. Yet somehow, in approximately five and one quarter games, it got all-but-erased as if it were unsuccessfully saved on the at-risk Hewlett-Packard of a graduate student with a porn addiction. To be clear, Golden State is a better team with a much higher margin for error when the most unstoppable offensive player on the planet is healthy. What they aren't, however, is a team that's anywhere close to a full Kevin Durant better when they have the services of Kevin Durant, as evidenced by their increased execution and flawless playoff record without him. They definitely took advantage of a Rockets' team that has the tendency to cough up its own Kool-Aid when it matters most and a Blazers' team whose roster was as depleted as it was banged up. However, you wouldn't have to sell yourself too hard to buy the idea of the KD-less iteration of the Warriors beating the impending Eastern Conference champion with him watching from the sidelines. Of course, chances are they won't have to, as it certainly sounds like he'll be back for the Finals. However, there's no way the last week and a half hasn't felt like a gut punch to the ego of someone whose insecurities have made for no shortage of social media stupidity. "Worst nightmare" might be a stretch as we're talking about a guy that could have three rings in as many seasons in short order, but what's played out since his injury is undeniably an unideal endorsement of the same opinion that had him anonymously talking shit with teenage trolls on Twitter...
Steph Curry and Draymond Green have looked happier than pigs in shit while living their best basketball lives without Kevin Durant taking away touches. That would probably bother me if I were in his shoes, and I'm not the guy who has found himself bothered by absolutely everything over the last couple years. If he didn't spend the last season whining about every little bump on the easy road then I might even feel bad for him, and that's not something I ever envisioned myself saying about someone who made comical the competitive balance of the NBA while not even significantly improving the roster he joined because he couldn't beat. KD has done everything in his transcendentally talented power to silence the critics he brought on himself, but in what's basically guaranteed to be his final chapter in the book on the Warriors' dynasty it has proven too self-sustaining to truly let him.
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