Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry isn’t holding any ill will toward Kevin Durant. Not for his decision to walk away from the Warriors and sign with the Brooklyn Nets in free agency this summer, or for the comments that he made recently to the Wall Street Journal regarding his tenure with the Warriors. In an interview with the WSJ, Durant stated that he never felt like he fully fit in with the Warriors, and that he had some issues with the team’s motion-heavy offense under head coach Steve Kerr.
“I mean, that’s tough,” Curry said of Durant’s comments in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. “There’s so many narratives that go on, especially when you’re at the top of the league. No matter how, you know, the full transition happens to Brooklyn, him separating himself from the Warriors — that’s gonna happen. I think he knows, you know, what we were about as teammates, what we were about as friends on and off the court. And again, nobody is gonna take away the accomplishments we had. But at the end of the day, whatever he, you know, needed to do to make that decision and however he wants to explain that — that’s just what’s gonna happen.”
Curry also responded to Durant’s criticism of the Warriors’ motion offense, citing the two titles that the team won with Durant as proof that it is effective.
“At the end of the day, we had [a lot of] talent and there was an expectation of us figuring out how to balance all that,” Curry said. “And we talked a lot about it throughout the three-year run. It wasn’t always perfect, but I think in terms of, you know, the results and what we were able to do on the floor, that kinda speaks for itself. We all wanna play iso-ball at the end of the day in some way, shape or form. But I’d rather have some championships, too.”
You can hear Curry’s full comments below:
Curry has previously stated that he is proud of what the Warriors were able to accomplish — two titles in three years — during Durant’s time with the team.
“The three years that we had were special,” Curry said. “With KD, we had three straight Finals appearances. We won two of them. And we accomplished a lot as a group. Everybody talks about the amount of time we had on that team, but that doesn’t mean you can figure it out on the court and that you put all the pieces together to be successful. I’m really proud of what we accomplished.
“The beauty of free agency is everybody has a decision, everybody has a choice, and you want to find your happiness where ever that is. Being in the NBA, everybody has that decision at some point, especially guys that deserve it like KD and the other top free agents … Again, I like to look at what we accomplished and focus on that. And be extremely proud of this run that we had. And now we’re going to have to recreate it in terms of what it means going forward.”
Curry and Durant had some serious success during their three years together, but that success clearly wasn’t enough to keep Durant on the West Coast. Now, Curry will look to continue Golden State’s recent run of Finals appearances, while Durant will look to recreate the success that he had in Golden State in Brooklyn when he returns from the Achilles injury that he suffered in the Finals.
