Kevin Durant's long-awaited return could have a series of history-defying repercussions, if he happens to come back in time for Monday's Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Not only would it give the Golden State Warriors an unmatched talent to add to their injury-calloused lineup, but also give a team that is down 3-1 at this stage a game-changing weapon of nuclear effect.
However, turning this series on its head can do much more than simply add another piece of jewelry to Durant's already shiny trophy room, but cement him as more than just a piece that turned a superb team into an unbeatable juggernaut.
Should Durant help the Warriors overcome this 3-1 deficit, he would take this team from merely being one of the NBA's most recent dynasties to the stuff immortal legends are made of.
Not only would Durant have erased talk of the Warriors being better off without him, but also brought the script full circle, bringing this Warriors team back from the brink of elimination — a team that once saw defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers after being up 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals. It was that painful loss that ultimately spearheaded the steadfast pursuit for his services as a free agent and consequently instituted this iteration of the Warriors.
Durant would not only have the chance to make the Warriors the second team to overcome such a deficit at this stage and put Golden State on the right side of history, but also amend some of his own fate — as it was his Oklahoma City Thunder who had blown a 3-1 lead of their own in the Western Conference Finals, only a win away from returning to the NBA Finals.
Helping the Warriors win a third straight championship would also catapult Durant above some of the great stories told about the game, lifting him above the tale about Willis Reed, who took the floor in a crucial Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals after suffering a significant thigh injury that deemed him unlikely to play the rest of the way.
Reed was initially hurt in Game 5 and was ruled out of Game 6. Yet he took the court for warmups and scored the New York Knicks' first two baskets, his only contributions of the game.
Reed had been named the 1970 regular-season MVP, All-Star Game MVP and would become the NBA Finals MVP after his 23 points and 10.5 rebounds per game helped topple a Wilt Chamberlain-led Los Angeles Lakers in a highly contested 4-3 series win.
The legendary tale of Reed's resurrection is still told to this day, nearly 50 years since it took place.
Yet Durant has a chance to make his own legend by putting the Warriors on his back and being the key piece in what would be considered one of the biggest flips of the odds in NBA history.
To do so, Golden State must survive two raucous games at Scotiabank Arena, a venue that has proved just as loud as the record-high Oracle Arena was during its earsplitting heyday.
The task isn't easy by any means, but nothing worthy of being legendary ever is, making this the type of ending that most couldn't dream of writing.
Kevin Durant's tale would be one that not only rivals those of prior legends, but one that could endear him to this fan base much more than he has during the past three years, a conclusion that could maybe change his expected departure from the Bay Area and hail him as one of the all-time greats to etch his name among the pantheon of legends of the sport.
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