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Kevin Durant on whether he took the easy way out by joining Warriors: 'No ... I earned that'

Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant has zero regrets about his decision to join the Golden State Warriors in 2016. Why would he? Durant helped the powerhouse Warriors win two championships during his time with the team. While Durant left for Brooklyn following the 2019 season, he has every reason to be happy about what he accomplished with Golden State.

But there are still some who question whether Durant took the easy way out. Joining the Warriors — a team that won the championship in 2015 — was a frontrunner move.

Durant doesn’t see it that way, though. While the Warriors were already stacked without Durant, he doesn’t think he took the easy way out by signing with the team in 2016. Durant made those comments on the “The Old Man and the Three” podcast with J.J. Redick.

When asked whether he took the easy way out, Durant said he still worked just as hard with the Warriors and came up big when the team needed him.

“No. What does that even mean?” Durant said. “I just never understood what that means. Cause I still come to work every day. I go through every rep at 100 percent speed. I just don’t understand that. I played at an elite level in the Finals at all the biggest moments. And I can understand if I didn’t play well at all, but I played the best that I could in both Finals for that team. I felt like I got up every day and held myself to a championship, elite player standard and I reached it pretty much 95 percent of the time. Well, 98 percent of the time in practice and games and shootarounds. So, yeah, of course I earned that.”

Durant isn’t wrong. He won Finals MVP for the Warriors in both 2017 and 2018.

Kevin Durant looking for similar success with the Nets

After leaving the Warriors following the 2019 season, Durant is hoping for similar success with the Nets. Durant did not play for the team this season after suffering an Achilles injury during the 2019 NBA Finals. He’s expected to return next season, where he’ll team up with Kyrie Irving to give the Nets two superstar players.

With Irving in tow, Durant isn’t exactly joining a talentless franchise in the Nets. But winning a championship with Brooklyn would go a long way toward Durant’s shutting up critics who believe he’s a frontrunner for joining the Warriors in 2016.

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