Kevin Durant Says Leaving OKC For Warriors Was A Basketball Decision

Kevin Durant has no interest in recasting his 2016 move from Oklahoma City to Golden State as something complicated.

Draymond Green asked him whether leaving OKC for the Warriors was strictly a basketball decision or whether part of it was Durant deciding he did not care what critics would say. Durant answered by putting basketball first, but he did not pretend the public reaction was separate from the choice.

"It was a basketball decision," Durant said. He added that he also knocked down the "not giving a fuck" ladder with it, saying the move handled "two birds with one stone."

Durant's explanation was built around fit. He said he felt like "the absolute perfect fit" for what the Warriors were doing on both ends of the ball, and that his own game had reached a point where he needed to see what that looked like.

The strongest part of the answer was the least cautious. "I thought that was just a no-brainer," Durant said. "I would do that shit a million times."

Durant also said he did not second-guess the decision and knew what he wanted before the formal meetings. From watching Golden State's games and interviews, he believed their style matched the way he wanted to play and the way he needed to keep developing.

The context is why the quote will keep traveling. Durant left an Oklahoma City team that had pushed Golden State to seven games in the 2016 Western Conference finals. He joined a Warriors team coming off a 73-win season and a Finals loss to Cleveland.

For Durant, that does not seem to change the personal math. He viewed Golden State as the right basketball place, understood the backlash was waiting and still calls the result exactly what he wanted.