NBA Rumors: Warriors Alarmed Kevin Durant Lacked Joy After Second Title

In three seasons with the Warriors, Kevin Durant won two championships and two NBA Finals MVPs.

If he didn't get hurt, it could have been 3-for-3 in both departments.

On June 30, KD announced that he was going to sign with the Brooklyn Nets in free agency. On Monday, Golden State general manager Bob Myers said he doesn't think there's anything the Warriors could have done differently to keep the 10-time All-Star with the franchise.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst agrees, and offered the following context Monday on The Jump:

"I think even if he doesn't get hurt, even if they win the title, I think there's a good chance he was leaving. You never know for sure. The thing about the Warriors, they were very alarmed after winning two titles that Durant didn't seem to have the joy.

"We knew he suffered the downsides of what it meant to come to the Warriors. When he took and raised that Bill Russell trophy twice -- and didn't have the joy -- they were worried last summer.

"Normally you would think, 'Oh my gosh, this guy just won two titles and two MVPs -- this guy is locked up with us for life.' And they were worried about it way back then, and as the season went along it only made it even worse."

Let's provide even more context.

In late March 2018 -- about nine months after the Dubs won the title -- KD revealed the following story on The Bill Simmons Podcast:

"People tell us we're superstars, and we really aren't ... after we won the championship, I had Taco Bell and it ran through me just like it would a normal person. I'm like, 'Oh sh--. I thought I had a golden stomach (joking). I thought I was immune to everything, but no.

"That's the perception of it all -- we're just immortal. We're normal fu**ing people who are really good at what we do. But at the end of the day, we go to sleep just like everybody else. We really put on our pants just like everybody else ... it made me realize that I am not king anything because we won a championship." 

A couple months later -- after the Dubs won back-to-back championships -- ESPN's Zach Lowe wrote the following:

Both [Steve] Kerr and [Steve] Nash saw the drifting start over the summer, after Durant realized his first championship would not complete his life -- or silence every critic. He didn't work as often with Nash, or as productively, as planned.

"He didn't have a great summer," Nash says. "He was searching for what it all meant. He thought a championship would change everything, and found out it doesn't. He was not fulfilled. He didn't work out as much as he normally does."

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For a multitude of reasons -- some of which have come to light -- KD felt like it was time to leave Golden State.

You can only hope he finds what he's looking for.

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