Jerry West Blasts the Kevin Durant Haters: ‘It's Disgusting'

People from all over the sports world have criticized Kevin Durant for joining the Warriors.

Jerry West has a message for those people.

"The owners make the rules," the Hall of Famer recently said to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski. "There are so many players that get traded against their wishes. There are so many players that get told you're not good enough to play in this league ... the owners made the rules. They made the rules. They sat in a room together. They sat with the Commissioner and they agreed to these rules.

"I do not know how you could ever look at Kevin Durant or any potential free agent that comes along the way, that wants to leave a market and go with another team that they feel would be a better fit for them than where they are ... there were all kinds of players that signed contracts, and we were the ones who got criticized for it when I thought it was justly unfair not only to the Warriors, but more importantly to Kevin.

[RELATED: Durant: If Warriors beat Cavs in Finals, 'I damn sure wasn't going there']

"To hear some of these things that some of these basketball experts, to hear ex-players say things about it -- it's disgusting. I wish I had a chance to be a free agent because I probably wouldn't have finished my career in Los Angeles."

West played his entire career -- 14 seasons from 1960 to 1974 -- with the Los Angeles Lakers.

He won one title and lost in the Finals eight times.

"The most important thing I think for anyone to understand about this game is again, the players don't make the rules," West added. "When I was playing, we had no ability to move, period. We were slaves ... when we played, you had to work in the summer because you didn't make enough money to support a family...

"To see the players today where they have a choice what they want to do -- if they're good enough they have a choice."
 

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