Kevin Durant is no stranger to drama, but he's insisting that his departure from the Golden State Warriors was anything but tumultuous, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Durant, who signed a four-year, $164 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets, will move from California to New York to start the next phase of his career as he recovers from a devastating Achilles injury in last season's NBA Finals between the Warriors and the eventual champion Toronto Raptors. Durant says his decision to leave Golden State after just three seasons was simply because Brooklyn was the right fit for him, on and off the court — when he's finally healthy, he'll get to play alongside the Nets other new acquisition, Kyrie Irving, who is reportedly Durant's closest friend in the league.
But despite a confrontation with his old teammate Draymond Green last year, Durant does not appear to be harbor any ill will toward Golden State, where he won two NBA titles. In fact, he said he and Green got over their issues pretty quickly. He did, however, admit that he never really felt quite in sync with his teammates. "I came in there wanting to be part of a group, wanting to be part of a family, and definitely felt accepted," he said. "But I'll never be one of those guys."
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Durant explained he realized he was "just different" from his teammates like Green, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson, all of whom were drafted by the Bay Area franchise. Even the other players who joined the club later in life were there under different circumstances, as they were often focused on rehabilitating their stalled careers. "How can you alter anything in my basketball life?," Durant said, pointing to the MVP trophy and scoring titles he carried with him from his days playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
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