Subscribe
Follow Us
Since the Golden State Warriors landed Kevin Durant in free agency last offseason, both have caught plenty of flak in and around the league for the move.
Beyond the initial reaction of it creating an even more dominant team, it's one that often overlooks the step back that Stephen Curry took on the court from being the top scoring option to help bring in Durant. It's something that the two-time league MVP has no issue with and still strongly believes was the right route to take, according to Marcus Thompson of The Mercury News.
Article Continues Below“I’m still not convinced …,” Curry said before pausing with squinted stare as he wrestled with how to verbalize his point. “Being the man, the star, the clear-cut one, stuff like that — it’s overrated if you’re not winning.
“Last summer we had a decision. But in that moment, in the summer of 2016, we had the opportunity to go that way or this way. I felt like this way was the best opportunity for us as a team to win. I can live with that all day long. Yeah, I don’t get to shoot 25 shots a game. I don’t get to run 800 pick-and-rolls a game. Yeah, that’s a sacrifice, if you want to call it that. The point is to win a bunch of championships and whatever the narrative is it doesn’t really matter.”
Curry's approach to the entire situation was one of the key selling points that got Durant to commit to making the major move to the Warriors. His personal sacrifice to take a backseat to the eight-time All-Star also helped make the transition this season quite smooth.
Although there were some minor rough patches, the two learned to play cohesively with each other as the year has worn on and that has been a key part of their unblemished 12-0 record heading into the NBA Finals. Curry is averaging a team-high 28.6 points while Durant isn't far behind at 25.2 points.
These two former league MVPs will have to continue their strong play in the NBA Finals if they hope to get past the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. This will be the ultimate litmus test to see if Curry made the right decision last July.
