Kevin Durant joined Warriors because they blew 3-1 NBA Finals lead

Do not ever forget that the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 NBA Finals lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. Free-agent acquisition Kevin Durant did not forget, in fact, it is why he joined the team.

After breaking the NBA’s regular-season wins record in their quest for back-to-back championships in 2015-16, the Warriors failed to close out the Finals against LeBron James and the Cavs.

Now officially part of the Warriors set up, Durant provided a backstory about watching the deciding game seven as a Oklahoma City Thunder player.

“[My agent] Rich [Kleiman], who’s here, we were watching game seven,” Durant said. “Well, as it started to unfold, it was, ‘No question, no way could you go to this team.’ And I was just like a kid, like, ‘I’d really like playing with these guys. I’d get wide-open threes, I could just run up and down the court, get wide-open layups.’ I was basically begging him. I was like, ‘Yo, this would be nice.'”

This part is curious, as Durant previously has said he does not watch the playoffs. In 2015, he famously said “hell no” when asked if he would watch. Maybe he changed his mind in 2016 because he was open to leaving.

Anyway, Durant continued to talk about game seven and how the Warriors’ collapse helped his decision.

“As they lost, it became more and more real every day,” Durant said. “You start to think about it even more. To see if I would fit.

“Then once I sat down with these guys, everything that I wanted to know about them, they kinda showed me. But we don’t have to talk about [what would have happened if the Warriors had won the title], because they didn’t get the job done, and they came after me.

“I guess you could say I’m glad that they lost.”