Superteam is a word that has been thrown around ad nauseam when describing the 2016-17 Warriors. That’s what happens when you win 73 games and then add arguably the second best player in the NBA.
That player, Kevin Durant, largely rejects that title, however, and told reporters on Thursday that the superteam monicker ignores all the work the Golden State Warriors did in building their juggernaut. Durant pointed to the fact that the Warriors largely constructed their team with draft picks and journeymen, and for that reason should not be considered a super team.
“First of all, if everybody wanted Steph, he would have been the No. 1 pick,” Durant said. “A lot of people passed on him. A lot of people doubted Steph, saying he wasn’t going to be this good. Klay Thompson, he was just supposed to be this OK shooter in the league, like that’s what you thought of Klay Thompson when he came in. Draymond, nobody wanted him. He was a 6-5 power forward. [They said] he couldn’t play in the league, he couldn’t start in the NBA. Shaun Livingston had a crazy knee injury.
“Nobody wanted him. Nobody thought that he would get back to being Shaun Livingston. Andre Iguodala, he got traded a couple of times. Nobody wanted him. A lot of people didn’t expect these guys to be where they are today. Superteam? No, we just work extremely well together. Coach puts us in position to maximize our strengths.”
Despite the fact that the Warriors have gone 207-39 in the past three regular seasons, Durant pointed to the team’s cohesiveness and selflessness as two things that have been integral to their success.
“We make each other better and it’s not about who gets the credit,” Durant said. “It’s like, really just about having fun playing ball and let’s see how we can win together and that alone just helps the ego. So, sorry I went on a little rant, but that’s how I feel about the team. A lot of these guys beat the odds and came out and played a great brand of basketball and put the team first. That should be rewarded, and it did get rewarded with a championship.”