The 2017 NBA champion Golden State Warriors have one of the greatest rosters ever assembled, but one of their star players doesn’t believe they should be considered a superteam.
Despite being on a squad alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, Kevin Durant believes several Warriors’ road to the league should be considered before casting them as a juggernaut.
“First of all, if everybody wanted Steph, he would have been the No. 1 pick,” Durant said, as transcribed by FOX Sports. “A lot of people passed on him. A lot of people doubted Steph, saying he wasn’t going to be this good. Klay Thompson, he was just supposed to be this OK shooter in the league, like that’s what you thought of Klay Thompson when he came in. Draymond, nobody wanted him. He was a 6-5 power forward. (They said) he couldn’t play in the league, he couldn’t start in the NBA. Shaun Livingston had a crazy knee injury.
“Nobody wanted him. Nobody thought that he would get back to being Shaun Livingston. Andre Iguodala, he got traded a couple of times. Nobody wanted him. A lot of people didn’t expect these guys to be where they are today. Superteam? No, we just work extremely well together. Coach puts us in position to maximize our strengths.”
Nothing Durant said inherently is wrong, but Golden State’s star power is unlike anything the league has ever seen. That manifested itself in the playoffs, as the Dubs went a remarkable 16-1 in the postseason en route to their second title in the last three years.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
