The Golden State Warriors had been a juggernaut for the past five years, but the reckoning stemming from Kevin Durant's departure was the day awaited by many, including Portland Trail Blazers wing Rodney Hood.

Hood admits the Warriors were good before Durant joined them, but once he did, he made them unstoppable.

“Obviously, they were good before KD, but once they got him, they took it to another level,” Hood told Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report. “But I know for a fact — particularly Draymond, who I have the utmost respect for — when they were on top, they let everybody know they were on top, and you felt their presence. But everything comes to an end at some point. Guys were looking forward to getting at them without that 7-foot monster [Durant], so now everybody feels it's an even playing field. Everybody is excited about that.”

A Pacific Division player agreed with Hood's sentiment, noting Durant was the piece that made the Warriors a literal cheat code on the court.

“Adding KD made it the cheat code,” the player said. “We respect the Warriors and their previous accomplishments, but when they added KD, no one looked at them the same. Even KD knew it was unfair. I never saw him celebrate the same way. It added to those other guys' legacy more than his.”

There's a long line of resentment for how the Warriors took over the NBA landscape in record-breaking fashion. The Warriors didn't feel sorry for their opponents, and it's hard to blame them. Who would after a long history of being the laughing stock of the NBA for so many years?

Yet the higher the climb, the steeper the fall — and the Warriors will feel every bit of that precipitous descent into the lottery.