14-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant had an incredible three seasons with the Golden State Warriors.
Winning back-to-back NBA championships in 2017 and 2018, Golden State made the NBA Finals again in 2019. Losing to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals, Golden State had a strong chance to win three-straight titles had Durant and Klay Thompson not gone down with injuries.
Durant’s decision to leave Golden State and join the Brooklyn Nets has received a lot of attention over the years. This has been magnified due to Durant’s lack of team success since leaving the Warriors, as he has yet to get back to the Conference Finals.
There was a well-documented issue between Durant and Draymond Green during their last season as teammates which many believe led to his departure.
During a recent appearance on the LeBatardShow, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Durant was visibly wanting to move one throughout that 2018-19 season.
“Those years were incredible,” Kerr said of his time with Durant. “I loved coaching Kevin. I think that last year that he was here, he was visibly wanting to move on. We could feel it, and that was his choice as a free agent. Everything that he gave to us and brought to us. We will be thankful for that forever.”
On how he could sense Durant wanting to move on, Kerr said, “You can tell when somebody is happy or not… It was obvious to everyone that Kevin just needed a new challenge. He was looking to move on.”
While the incident with Green may have contributed to Durant’s departure, Kerr said the two-time Finals MVP was looking to move on throughout that season.
