How Kevin Durant Sold His Basketball Soul | The Curse of KD

[Applause] there it is Redemption for gold state the Warriors areba chions again you did it Kevin Durant you've become a champion with the Golden State Warriors you stuck it to your rival LeBron James not once but two years in a row you've ended all of the memes calling you ringless on NBA Twitter well I hope it was worth it because by joining the Warriors in 2016 Kevin Durant made a deal with the basketball devil and placed an irreversible curse on his career July 4th 2016 is a day that will live on in NBA lore forever it was the day where Kevin Durant a beloved Superstar for the OKC Thunder chose to sign with the Golden State Warriors in free agency Katie knew that by doing this he'd be ruffling a few feathers and become quite disliked around many NBA circles but to him the reward of seemingly endless championships appeared worth it and perhaps it was Kevin Durant way outside delivers how are you viewing this move from Durant well I'm viewing it as the weakest move I've ever seen from a superstar if you ain't driving the bus don't walk around talk about you're a champion he went to the team that beat him that fans will always hold against him what Durant didn't know though was that the moment the pen touched the paper in July 2016 a spell of unluckiness was cast upon Him Kevin Durant became cursed and he sold his basketball soul for rings but what happened on the court and in the psyche of Kevin Durant that prompted him to make such a controversial decision to begin with winning a championship in the NBA isn't easy it doesn't just take a well- constructed roster and a competent coaching staff it also takes proper execution and good fortune in his 9-year OKC Thunder tenure KD had a handful of shots at a championship that were derailed by either poor play or just playing bad luck 2013 and 2015 were two seasons where the Thunder had High Hopes only for a allall come crashing down due to untimely family injuries 2012 2014 and 2016 though were El's suffered less because of bad luck and more because the lights were too bright in 2012 his Thunder met the big three Miami Heat in the finals the Thunder who were favored by many sports media Outlets to win were outplayed by the heat losing 4-1 Durant did well averaging 306 but LeBron james' Stellar two-way play was more dominant OKC's lack of success here wasn't necessarily Durant's fault his co-star as Russell Westbrook played okay while James Harden played horribly what really hurt for Durant wasn't just the finals elf but the fact that he had lost at the hands of LeBron James a big factor that went into Durant's decision to join Golden State had to do with him constantly being number two he was second in the draft behind Greg Odin he was second in MVP voting three times he came in second place in the 2012 season he was always ranked second behind LeBron James in the best player in the league lists he he was tired of it and consistently made his frustrations known to the public damn the solution in his mind to this issue was for him to win a ring and establish himself as number one but once it became clear doing so and OKC was becoming a challenge he desired a more sure path in 2014 the Thunder lost in the Conference Finals to the eventual Champion San Antonio Spurs the Spurs were starving for a ring after losing in the finals of the previous year and the Thunders most important defensive piece in sergy Baka dealt with nagging injuries in the closeout game six San Antonio showed just how dialed in they were by scraping by in overtime to advance to the finals in this OT period Russell Westbrook shot one of seven while Durant shot 03 with a bit of bad luck in the sergy Baka injury and less than perfect play from KD and Russ another opportunity had been missed by the Thunder once 2015 came and went with no postseason pressure was mounting on all sides to get the job done in 2016 to add gasoline to the fire KD was set to be a free agent following this critical 2016 season Durant could have either stepped up to the challenge and achieved the inconceivable where he could succumb to the high expectations but instead of seizing the moment he crumbled and the most agonizing part is he came so close to accomplishing something special and becoming number one in the 2016 team playoffs Durant and the Thunder had to go through two historically great teams to win the Western Conference one was the 67 win St Antonio Spurs and the other was the 73- win Golden State Warriors the Thunder shockingly beat the Spurs in the conference semis in six with Durant taking control and evolving into the best player on the floor San Antonio was 40 And1 at home in the regular season but the Thunder managed to beat them twice on their Turf in this series it was a remarkably impressive achievement Durant was in the process of writing a dirk ninski like playoff run where he beat a handful of legendary squads on his way to the Ultimate Prize once his team faced the Warriors in the Conference Finals and jumped out to a 3-1 lead the story of a heroic playoff run led by KD seemed to be becoming a reality but we all know what happened next the Warriors woke up from their Slumber won the next three games and clinched a finals trip Durant and Westbrook were humiliated while Oklahoma City fans were left stunned in the last three games of this series KD and Russ looked like me when I try to hoop in my local YMCA they stunk up the gym shooting a combined 60 of 157 or 38% from the floor it was a choke job plain and simple Katie and his teammates had squandered a chance at history funnily enough though even the staunchest of Duran haters tend to forget about how poorly he played to end this series this is because just a few weeks later all the attention went away from him and instead towards the team that beat him the Warriors shockingly overcame a 3-1 deficit in the Conference Finals only to ironically blow a 3-1 lead in the finals instead of Durant being clowned on Steph Curry was now the target for ridicule KD who had now become obsessed with the idea of a championship saw the Warriors stumbling as an opportunity he sent a DM to the basketball devil and the two soon made a deal Durant would receive championships in exchange for curse that would be placed on his career it seemed like a fair exchange at the time especially for someone like KD who was starving for Success the aforementioned curse ah well Durant figured some curse would be worth the incredible thrill of rings he wouldn't have joined the Warriors if they had won the finals but since they lost all bets were off Durant choosing to sign with the Warriors in 2016 was seen as problematic for a myriad of reasons first he would be joining a team that had just won 73 games in the 20156 season the most in NBA history secondly he'd be joining a squad with three Allstars one of which was the reigning two-time MVP who had just won the award unanimously third and most importantly Durant would be teaming up with the group that had just beaten him in the Conference Finals and not only did they beat him they overcame a 3-1 deficit to do so and came just one win shy of repeating as Champions Durant being on the roster tipped them from near best in the league talent to a god Squad that looks straight out of NBA 2K KD knew that his decision would be incredibly polarizing and tarnish his positive Public Image he had cultivated over the last near decade but not even he was ready for the backlash that would come with joining Golden State you went to the team who beat you that's my problem rib trash trash trash it's all it's all trash you're all trash you're all trash overnight Durant went from a popular esteemed figure in basketball to a villain and it got to him immediately following the announcement that he had joined the Warriors and the hate that followed Durant was quickly regretful he called up his agent and asked him why the did you let me do this to my life he was human and like many humans he had his insecurities so much so to the point where he was caught tweeting from various burner accounts on Twitter in an attempt to defend his name anonymously damn of course KD soon calmed down and reminded himself of why he joined the team in the first place championships sweet sweet championships it was all he could think about and boy oh boy did he get them in 2017 and 2018 the Warriors beat the Caps twice in the finals once in five and the other in a sweep both winds came in mostly blowout fashion Durant's Warrior signing reflected an obsession from KD on what many fans dubbed ring culture which was the concept that a star player's career was meaningless if they couldn't capture a ring perhaps his breaking point was the blown 3-1 lead in the 2016 Conference Finals he could taste a championship but it was taken away from him in heartbreaking fashion following this he needed a ring more than ever and was willing to temporarily hurt his legacy to do so that's right in KD's mind he felt that this move would only temporarily hurt his reputation according to the athletic in 2019 Katie believed that he'd be viewed as better than LeBron James games after the 2017 finals apparently him not being widely looked at is best in the world after his Rings bothered him KD soon realized that a ring wasn't all it was cracked up to be he thought a championship would fill a certain void but to his surprise it didn't the validation he was seeking was not granted to him following the 2018 finals which was a relatively effortless 40 sweep against the Cavs the warriors were back-to-back Champions KD was Crown Finals MVP for the second year in a row so at the very least if he wasn't going to be considered the best in the world he could at least be considered better than Steph Curry right this was the peak of the Kevin Durant era in Golden State the basketball devil had granted KD His Wish of ultimate success and now it was time for him to pay up for the two rings the curse was officially in full effect and it first reared its ugly head following the second ring golden state was favored by a wide margin to three reped in 2019 but instead of more winning the 201819 season for Golden State saw drama and anxiety pour out of every corner of the locker room it was all spearheaded by the impending free agency of Durant in the summer of 2019 y'all come here every day ask me about free agency ask my teammates my coaches you R up the fans about it go let us play basketball that's all I'm saying and now when I don't want to talk to y'all is a problem with me come on man grow up grow up he now had the chance to leave the warrior so any negative event with them would be under an immense microscope immediately into the opening weeks of the new season Kevin Durant and Draymond Green got into a war of words that would change Katie's entire basketball mindset after Draymond refused to pass the ball to Durant in the closing seconds of a tight game against the Clippers Katie yelled at him for the mistake Draymond who hates to hold himself accountable for anything responded by unloading incredibly harsh words on his teammate we don't need you Draymond said we won without you leave Durant was stunned how could his teammate who he trusted say something like that it was at this moment that Durant realized he couldn't stay with the Warriors he needed to show the world that he could win without them this argument was one of the deciding moments that pushed KD out of Golden State to make matters worse this beef between these two was never formally addressed by The Warriors being swept under the rug green was suspended for a game after refusing to apologize to KD and the two never fully reconciled iled still the Warriors as a team managed to put this incident behind them winning 57 games and advancing to the finals they lost in six though and the deciding factor for the Ra was Kevin Durant's absence he first hurt his calf in game five against the rockets in round two and returned in game five of the finals a few weeks later upon coming back with his team down 3-1 to the Raptors there were a few Whispers of concern that KD had rushed back from injury to try and save his team Durant's return could have led to an incredible comeback that stamped him as the Undisputed most important piece on the team he could have proven to people like Draymond Green that the Warriors did in fact need him rather than living out this fairy tale story though the devil came knocking on his door he had to pay up for his P deal after one quarter of play Durant TOS Achilles it was a heartbreaking stroke of bad luck and the worst injury of his career now he had to sit back and watch as his Warriors lost in the finals this Achilles Terror would force him on the sidelines for all of the 201920 season after the Raptor's Championship the clock began ticking on free agency for KD in his mind it was clear that he was done with golden state he came to this conclusion a long time ago he knew it when the void wasn't filled after ring number one he knew it upon his realization that fans didn't consider him the best in the world after he won his championships he especially knew it when Draymond trash talked to him he felt like an CER as a warrior he wanted meaningful impactful rings that would give him the respect he felt he deserved what better way to achieve that than by showing the world you could win outside of Golden State he chose Brooklyn as his destination teaming up with his good pal Kyrie Irving what could go wrong well while it seemed like a good move on paper to join the Nets Katie failed to realize that his deal with the devil had yet to be fully paid off oh you thought one emotional year with the Warriors and an unfortunate Achilles injur inury would pay off the Bounty sorry but no the basketball Gods required more if there's one word I can use to summarize Kevin Durant's Brooklyn Nets tenure it would be disastrous after missing the entire 201920 season due to the Achilles injury ktie returned in December 2020 soon after Brooklyn acquired James Harden forming a formidable big three of superstars but not every super team was built the same the Warriors God Squad had two things the Nets God Squad didn't self L nness and good health KD harshly learned of this truth things were smooth sailing for the Nets big three at first they even won a playoff series together against the Celtics in round one of the 2021 postseason then the curse struck once more James Harden strained his hamstring just one possession into round two against the Bucks Kyrie Irving horribly sprained his ankle in game four in the matter of days Durant's star studded Supporting Cast had crumbled leaving him all by himself instead of backing down though Durant faced this challenge head on he played his heart out and battled with the Bucks all the way into the closing minutes of game seven he even hit what appeared to be the game-winning shot over PJ [Applause] Tucker this was finally Katie's moment of redemption but don't you remember that deal you made Kevin look a little closer at that shot it was a two-pointer not a three Durant's foot was just barely on the three-point line simply losing to the bucks in game seven didn't fully satisfy the basketball devil it wanted to twist the knife even further by making Durant and the Net's fan base think they had won only to find out later it was still tied soon after the Nets lost an overtime and their season was over but the nightmare didn't end here immediately once the 2021-22 season started it became apparent that the on feared big three had some issues James Harden was not nearly the MVP Talent he was before due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the 2021 playoffs while Kyrie Irving was threatening to sit out indefinitely due to his reluctance to take a vaccine Durant went from being surrounded by a disciplined healthy Supporting Cast in Golden state to one that was frequently injured and just flat out unserious in Brooklyn after opening up with high expectations the Nets had a disaster 2021-22 campaign Harden requested a trade Midway into the season and was sent to Philly the other star Kyrie missed 65% of the season because he refused to get the shot it's hard to control what happens around you though at least Duran himself had a relatively chaos free year right wrong he got hit the hardest suffering a horrible mcl's brain all because his teammate Bruce Brown accidentally fell on his knee in game this was a freak accident and one that kept Duran out for nearly 2 months killing the team's momentum the Nets who had a ridiculous amount of turmoil could never gain chemistry they barely scrape by in the regular season and earn the seven seed being swept in round one to the Celtics in this series Kyrie and KD were embarrassed on National Television Duran had one of the worst series in his career shooting 38% from the field on 21 shot attempts a game now the once Rosy promising future of Brooklyn was falling apart to top it off KD had to watch as his former star teammate Steph Curry won the championship acquiring his first ever Finals MVP in the process this was a huge gut punch to Durant one of the few things he could take sess in from his Warriors days was that at the very least he was the best player on that two-time championship team but now the public opinion had shifted Steph was considered the most integral piece to those title teams not Durant prominent media figures like Charles Barkley began calling Katie out claiming he was a bus rider not a bus driver all these bus riders they don't mean nothing to me if you ain't driving the bus don't walk around and talk about you a champion if you riding the bus I want to hear Katie wasn't too happy about these comments but what could he say the argument was quite Fair before KD arrived the warriors were champions in 2015 and won 73 games in 2016 while he was with the team they won two rings and after he left they still won without him it was a bad look for the Warriors to be so dominant in his absence and it killed the narrative that he was the most important player on the team Durant was no stranger to the step versus KD argument in fact he was called liking a tweet in early 2021 that said Curry was trash and that he was better than Steph in those Championship runs the criticism that came his way after the Warriors 2022 title bothered him it's like all of the hard work he did with them was being erased in retrospect unfair maybe but it was simply the price he had to pay for his curse things didn't get any better in Brooklyn following their exit to the Celtics KD requested a trade then rended it remained with the team played well and got hurt once more the injury was yet another unlucky MCL sprain in January 2023 this time it was Jimmy Butler who accidentally fell on his knee one time this happens and it can be written off as an unlucky tragedy but 2 years in a row of this was shocking levels of Misfortune the Cur struck again and this game against Miami would be the last time Durant played for the Nets KD went from a player who was known throughout the league for his availability to one who seemed like he was plagued by injuries every season he was sent to Phoenix after requesting a trade in February 2023 marking the end of an era 3 and 1/2 years in Brooklyn incredible expectations but nothing to show for it besides misery maybe you thought his payment would be finished here but no his Misfortune would wouldn't change when he became a son the irreversible curse of unluckiness followed him through the east coast and into the Southwest he played a few games with Phoenix then got hit with more bad luck right before his home debut was set to tip off in warm-ups Durant slipped and fell rolling his left ankle in an injury that would sideline him for 3 and 1/2 Weeks any chances of him gaining chemistry with his new Squad before the postseason were ruined all because of a routine move in pregame warm-ups when he did return the 2023 playoffs didn't go as planned the suns were sapped with injuries to DeAndre Aon and Chris Paul but still managed to advance past round one against the Clippers and tie the following series at two with the Denver Nuggets the hype was Rising heading into games five and six against Denver but Durant played on impressive ball the Suns got destroyed by 16 and 25 in these two games to get eliminated with Durant shooting just 18 to 43 combined he didn't leave much of a mark on the series as a whole and was overshadowed by nicolea yic this 2023 playoff loss marked the fourth year in a row that KD failed to make it past the second round yo my guy's trying to beat Joel embiid out [Music] [Music] here since Durant left Golden State his achievements have been few and far in between he never put together a full 82 game campaign in which he was clearly the best player in the league he has no First Team all NBA appearances since 2018 and zero top 10 finishes in the MVP votings in 2019 he thought winning a ring would make him the Undisputed top player in the league but now most are left wondering if he was ever better than Steph Curry in Phoenix he's become a part of yet another dominant Trio with Bradley Beal and Devin Booker but injuries sabotaged those three immediately Beal has had a myriad of back issues and Booker can't consistently stay on the floor KD's past teammates rarely had such severe health issues it was only once he made the deal with the basketball devil that his teammates started becoming so injury-prone it seems like since ktie left the Warriors no matter who he plays with and where he goes success is unattainable so why is this it's because he is not a leader the bus rider CP that Charles Barkley coined isn't just some funny sounding catchphrase it's a valid point for 9 years ktie failed to lead the Thunder to any sort of major success so he joined the Warriors in the bay Steph Curry was the heart and soul of that franchise he was the leader and he was the most impactful player on the court Durant was riding the bus not leading it once he hopped off and tried to drive his own bus things didn't work out out to well this was only solidified when Steph won another ring in 2022 without him if you don't agree with this point then the only other Fair explanation for his recent failure is Misfortune to which in that case it's all part of The Pact he signed on July 4th 2016 joining the Warriors came out a cost and it wasn't just damage to his reputation he got his shiny rings that he had been faing over all for the major price of a permanent curse from the basketball devil untimely in Ries drama surrounding his co-stars a shoe half a size big playoff woes and more the fact is Kevin Durant sold his basketball soul for two controversial championships a few days after signing with the Warriors Katie was quoted as saying that the move itself was him taking the hardest Road maybe he said this because he knew the nightmarish deal he had agreed to perhaps it was worth it but man has he gone through a lots of since 2018 and the scariest part is who knows what Misfortune lies for him [Music] next

Channel: dylandoesbasketball

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Length: 24min 22sec (1462 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 23 2024