The Golden State Warriors are a juggernaut.
They've been a juggernaut for years now, both with and without Kevin Durant. We all remember when the Warriors won 73 games and almost won a title. That was without Durant.
But with Durant, the Warriors are something else entirely (super juggernauts?), and he probably doesn't take a leap of faith and join this team without Stephen Curry spending time building what the Warriors are all about.
Several of the Warriors brass mused recently about how Golden State could fare without Curry in the lineup due to an ankle injury. General manager Bob Myers said he's intrigued to see what Golden State will look like without Curry, per Zach Lowe of ESPN.
In his piece, Lowe broke down what Curry's shooting has meant to the Warriors over the years, and how dynamic of a team that makes them. In his view, Durant does not sign with the Warriors without being attracted to the way Curry plays, and how his play dictates everything else that happens on the basketball floor.
Myers seemed to agree with Lowe on that point.
“I don't know the answer to whether we get Durant without that,” Myers said. “But the brilliance of Steph is that as great as he is, he never really bought into the idea that it should be about him. And that carries value beyond him. Some guys would say, ‘I'm the point guard, and I need to be on the ball.' He didn't, and he doesn't.”
Head coach Steve Kerr seemed to make a stronger statement on the subject.
“He's the engine. Everything starts with Steph,” said Kerr.
“What we built was initiated by Steph,” Myers added. “The offense starts with him.”
Durant has come out on multiple occasions and said what led him to signing with the Warriors, but it never seemed to be about Xs and Os on the basketball court. While Warriors executives aren't saying directly that Curry's brand of basketball was a deciding factor for Durant, it appears that they think it could have.
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