Kevin Durant Signs With Golden State Warriors

Photo Credit: Jae C. Hong/ AP Photo

The wait is finally over! Kevin Durant has announced who he will be signing with. Durant has decided to take his talents to the bay area and join the Golden State Warriors. The news was revealed yesterday via a Player’s Tribune article written by Durant. You can check it out here.

Appropriately titled ‘My Next Chapter’, Durant breaks down exactly what went into choosing Golden State over Oklahoma City. While many have already chastised Durant and his choice, it takes a lot of guts to move to a new team especially in Durant’s case. Durant was one of the “founding fathers” of the Oklahoma City Thunder.  When he was drafted in 2007, the team was still the Seattle SuperSonics. Durant has been named MVP of the league once in his career in 2014. The last two years were won by Durant’s new teammate, Stephen Curry.

Durant’s move will be great for the Warriors. They already have a stacked team and adding Durant to their roster will only make their team better. Durant is great at putting up points and finishing which is something that the Warriors really struggled with during the finals. Over time, Durant has become one of the most consistent players in the league and as the scoring leader almost every year, that holds true.

I think we all know the main reason why Durant went to the Warriors, though. He wants the best chance to win a championship and this year’s Thunder team was likely his best chance at advancing to the NBA Finals for the second time in his career. However, we all saw how that went after the team blew a 3-1 series lead to the Warriors during the Western Conference Finals.  Durant wants a ring and signing with the Warriors is a great way for him to get that.

Oklahoma City Thunder chairman Clay Bennett and GM Sam Presti have both released statements on Durant’s departure.

“Kevin’s contributions to our organization during his nine years were profound, on and off the court. He helped the Thunder grow and succeed in immeasurable ways and impacted the community just the same. We thank him for his leadership, his play, and how he represented Oklahoma City and the entire state of Oklahoma,” Clay Bennett’s statement.

“Kevin made an indelible mark on the Thunder organization and the state of Oklahoma as a founding father of this franchise. We can’t adequately articulate what he meant to the foundation of this franchise and our success. While clearly disappointing that he has chosen to move on, the core values that he helped establish only lead to us thanking him for the many tangible and intangible ways that he helped our program,”  Sam Presti’s statement.

Best of luck to Kevin Durant on his new team, the Golden State Warriors!