"You don't wanna make an enemy out of me."
ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith said that about former Warriors star Kevin Durant in 2015 on "First Take" after the forward was vocal about not speaking to Smith.
Smith recently joined Bill Simmons on "The Bill Simmons Podcast" and talked about, among other things, Kevin Durant.
While many around the league speculated throughout last season whether Durant would leave the Warriors in free agency, Smith says that he never saw Durant's move to Golden State as a permanent endeavor.
"When Kevin Durant went to Golden State, I never bought the Steph Curry thing because Kevin Durant always knew it was going to be Steph Curry's town," Smith told Simmons. "He went there to - he never ever ever intended to stay more .. longer than he stayed."
Much was made of Durant wanting to have his own team where he was the star, after spending nearly a decade sharing the spotlight with MVP Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.
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It would be unfair to say Durant was overshadowed during his time in Golden State, however, as KD captured two championships and a pair of Finals MVP trophies during his time with the Warriors.
"He wanted to go there, win a couple of rings at the very least, and then move on. Because then when he moved on, he would be moving on as a champion."
Durant left the Warriors to team up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn with the Nets, and now Smith is unsure when Durant will be on a team where he is the guy.
"Golden State was never a permanent situation for him from my understanding. And that was never going to be the case. He always had intentions to leave. Because he knew that would never be HIS. The question now is, what could possibly be HIS?"
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Steph Curry, meanwhile, is left to pick up the pieces and do everything he can to keep the momentum rolling for the Warriors as they begin a new era of uncertainty in their new San Francisco home.
KD and Stephen A. now work in the same town, so hopefully Durant doesn't try to pick any more battles with ESPN's most prominent talent.
