In a revealing interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kevin Durant said he never felt fully accepted by his teammates during his time in Golden State.
“As time went on, I started to realize I’m just different from the rest of the guys,” Durant said. “It’s not a bad thing. Just my circumstances and how I came up in the league. And on top of that, the media always looked at it like KD and the Warriors. So it’s like nobody could get a full acceptance of me there.”
In an interview with Rachel Nichols on ESPN, Stephen Curry responded to that claim.
“I mean, that’s tough,” Curry said. “There’s so many narratives that go on, especially when you’re at the top of the league. No matter how, you know, the full transition happens to Brooklyn, him separating himself from the Warriors — that’s gonna happen. I think he knows, you know, what we were about as teammates, what we were about as friends on and off the court. And again, nobody is gonna take away the accomplishments we had. But at the end of the day, whatever he, you know, needed to do to make that decision and however he wants to explain that — that’s just what’s gonna happen.
“At the end of the day, we live in an age where choice at the forefront, and K, you know, made a decision for himself and you can’t argue that,” Curry said. “I wish we could still play with K. He’s an unbelievable talent, unbelievable person. We accomplished a lot together. But — you know, things have changed a little bit. So you obviously wish him the best, obviously with his recovery first and foremost and things on and off the court. But we’re gonna have to battle down the road. So this should be a fun, new experience on that front, too.”
Curry also had a revelation of his own in the interview, telling ESPN that he is planning to join Team USA for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Curry has never played on an Olympic team before, and would be a welcome addition to a USA team that finished in seventh-place in the FIBA World Cup just last week.
“That is the plan, for sure. You know, obviously knock on wood, you don’t want any injuries or things like that to interfere.
“Definitely wanna go. I’ve never been on the Olympic team. I’ve been on two World Cup championship gold-medal teams. But the Olympics is the experience that I want. And next year will hopefully be it.”
