Kevin Durant rocked the NBA world by making the decision to join the Warriors this past offseason, giving a Warriors team who won an NBA-record 73 games last year another All-NBA caliber player. Durant has proven himself to be especially valuable to the Warriors in the playoffs, putting up career highs in offensive plus/minus (6.4) and true shooting percentage (.651). Durant has also performed well on the boards this postseason, pulling down down a career high 12.1 percent of the Warrior’s total rebounds when he is on the court.
Former NBA champion with the Spurs and current SiriusXM NBA Host Antonio Daniels, told The Audible Monday that Durant has provided a spark for the Warriors that may be unprecedented in the NBA.
“Kevin Durant is the best X-factor in NBA history,” Daniels said. “You think about game one…if this is a year ago and Steph Curry has 40 Draymond Green has 4 and Klay Thompson has 3, they lose that game. But now a year later you have Kevin Durant who can offset what they’re doing with [scoring] 35. Realistically Durant has changed the entire landscape of the NBA because now nobody in the Western Conference is going to be able to compete with Golden State unless they add another star.”
With the amount of weapons that Golden State already has, Daniels said having a former 4-time scoring champ in the lineup makes the Warriors almost unbeatable, especially with the kind of chemistry that Durant has formed with his teammates.
“In this league star power and firepower are going to win you a majority of your basketball games,” Daniels aid. “Along with a team that has a ton of chemistry.”
Listen to the full interview below. To listen to Daniels’ comments on Durant skip to the 3:334 mark.