Warriors Coaches Wondered If Kevin Durant Was Unhappy This Season
The Golden State Warriors road to a third championship in four seasons didn't come easy, as they dealt with inconsistent play, injuries and with any title team, a sense of complacency.
That bothered All-NBA forward Kevin Durant, who started to speak up more about his frustrations.
It got to the point where Golden State coaches were worried if Durant was unhappy with the situation.
In a Lee Jenkins profile for Sports Illustrated, Durant explains where his fire this season came from.
"They saw my edge for the first time,” Durant says. “I go, ‘What the f--- are we doing’? and they go, ‘Whoa, we didn’t know you were like that.’ Well, I grew up in a s--- talking household, insults thrown across the room from uncles to aunts to cousins to brothers. That’s how I do it.”
But Durant suddenly changed when playoff time arrived, going back to the quiet person that people had seen before.
“I wasn’t good every day. I wasn’t on every day. I felt like we were dragging and I was down, too," Durant said. "I internalized it a little bit. I wanted some meaningful basketball."
He saved his best for last, averaging nearly 29 points in the a Finals sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers, including recording a triple-double in the clinching game to earn Finals MVP honors for the second straight year.
