On July 4, 2016, Kevin Durant signed a contract worth 54.3 million USD for 2 years with the Golden State Warriors – the team that was dominating the NBA at that time. He officially became the most hated player in basketball history.

Because of this decision, Durant’s talent and success have always been overlooked for many years. Fans, colleagues and the media have always had a negative view of Durant since that time.

Durant, from a “basketball angel”, quickly became a “devil”.

Kevin Durant became a thorn in the side of most fans after leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder. Photo: Getty Images.

Why is Kevin Durant so hated?

First, Durant joining the Golden State Warriors made the league seriously unbalanced. In a league with so many examples of loyalty and struggle throughout their careers without winning a championship, the path Durant chose made many people feel unhappy.

Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) is inherently very strong with the frame of Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Andre Roberson and Steven Adams. They nearly defeated the Warriors in the Western Conference finals in 2016. Joining the team that defeated OKC made Durant always get teased by fans. “If you can’t beat your opponents, become part of them” is a saying that fans have repeated over the years when talking about Durant.

On February 12, 2017, Durant returned to the Chesapeake Energy Arena for the first time to reunite with OKC, where he had been for 8 years. He immediately received loud “boos” from OKC fans throughout the stands as soon as he stepped onto the field.

Durant constantly has conflicts and arguments with former teammates such as Westbrook, Robertson and Enes Kanter. The image that Durant built in 8 years in OKC quickly collapsed in an unexpected way. Durant was once the symbol of the team and received great love from fans. He became the number one enemy of anyone who loves OKC to this day.

Basketball legend Magic Johnson once sarcastically told Durant on ESPN ‘s First Take: “Kevin Durant, I hope he finds happiness. If you don’t feel happy at the Golden State Warriors, then you will.” Where to find it?”.

Many people believe that Durant chose too easy a path to achieve glory. That is the biggest reason why Durant has never been taken seriously for his achievements with the Warriors.

In addition, the way Durant uses social networks to respond to fans or make statements makes his image even uglier. While big stars choose to stay silent in the face of criticism or scandals, Durant confronts strongly and frankly in a way no one dares to do.

The close friendship between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook also broke down after the match on February 12, 2017. Photo: Getty Images.

Durant was once discovered using a virtual account to argue with fans on social networks. There is a whole list of fake accounts that fans suspect are Durant’s. Those things make fans hate Durant even more.

Not only did Durant make a bad impression on fans, he also criticized the media many times. “I don’t understand why these things are still happening. I think many media feel happy bullying me. They want to bully me and feel happy about it. They are against me by bringing up old stories and talking about old things,” Durant shared on the All The Smoke program.

There is a very different Durant than what fans have known. In 2013, Bleacher Report had an article praising Durant with the title: “Why should every new NBA star follow Kevin Durant’s example?”.

“Sportsmanship, humility, unselfishness and the like. Look no further than Kevin Durant, who has developed elite talent in the league for several years while cultivating a contrarian personality with the most aggressive players ever”, Bleacher Report wrote.

How strong are the Golden State Warriors with Durant?

The Golden State Warriors are very strong right now with the trio of stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. They also have super-sub Andre Iguodala, a veteran who is good at defense and has more than enough to shoulder the responsibility of avoiding scoring points every time Curry or Thompson leaves the field.

Meanwhile, Durant is a big star and can lead a team to success, similar to LeBron James and Curry. The addition named Durant makes the Warriors stronger than the rest of the tournament.

The Warriors’ counterpart at that time, the Cleveland Cavaliers, also became powerless. Under LeBron’s reign, the Cavaliers failed twice in a row when facing the Warriors with Durant in the NBA Finals (final series).

Kevin Durant reaped all the honors when joining the Golden State Warriors, something he had never done in 8 years at the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Curry still exerts a huge influence on the Warriors, but Durant makes things simpler. Durant easily scores more than 30 points in every game against every team in the NBA.

Durant is a unique player in basketball history when he has a height of 2.08 m, but can still score comprehensively in every position. If Giannis Antetokounmpo or Ben Simmons both have limitations in scoring points from afar, Durant is the tournament’s best shooter.

Good in attack, Durant is also excellent in defense. These are the reasons why the Warriors are destined to win the NBA championship even before the season starts.

Warriors won 2 championships in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons quite easily. Durant played great to help the Warriors defeat the Cavaliers in two encounters in the NBA Finals. Excellent performance helped Durant be awarded the Finals MVP title (best player in the final series) both times.

The Warriors only accepted to become former kings when they were ravaged by a storm of injuries and collapsed after 6 games against Kawhi Leonard’s Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals in 2019. It is impossible to deny the excellence of Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet or Kyle Lowry, but the Warriors at that time were without Durant for most of the finals series due to injury.

On June 30, 2019, Durant announced he signed a contract with the Brooklyn Nets, thereby ending a successful and turbulent period with the Warriors. Warriors CEO Joe Lacob announced that the team will permanently keep the number 35 shirt to pay tribute to Durant’s contributions.

Durant chose the most cruel and cold way to achieve career success. The Brooklyn Nets star now has all the titles and glory at no small price. Durant has never expressed regret after all because the NBA championship, season MVP title and Finals MVP title are things every basketball player aspires to have.