The Golden State Warriors went to five straight NBA Finals because they bought into coach Steve Kerr’s philosophies: “Strength in Numbers,” and sacrifice for the good of the team. Stephen Curry, the team’s franchise star, bought in so deeply to these ideals that he hasn’t won an individual award since his second consecutive league MVP trophy in 2016.
Additionally, the Warriors won three championships in five years, with Curry — one of the most prolific scorers in league history — never winning Finals MVP along the way.
Durant won those honors in 2017 and 2018.
And Andre Iguodala won Finals MVP too, in 2015, in large part due to his willingness sacrifice individual stats for the team by coming off the bench instead of starting, as he’d done his whole career.
Speaking with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols on “The Jump,” Curry responded to some of Durant’s criticisms of the Warriors in recent interviews. Curry’s answers to Nichols’ questions suggest Durant may have struggled to buy into the team’s philosophies about sacrificing self for the greater good.
Nichols asked Curry to respond to a quote from Durant in which he criticizes the Warriors’ offense.
Durant’s quote:
The motion offense we ran in Golden State, it only works to a certain point [and is ineffective past the first few rounds of the playoffs].
Curry’s response:
Well, I don’t care what plays we ran. We won two championships [with Durant]. We talked about it [with Durant] during the three-year run — the world “sacrifice,” and playing a little differently, that we all have been accustomed to over the years.
We all wanna play iso ball at the end of the day, at some point, in some way, shape or form. But I’d rather win some championships.
To glimpse the irony of Durant struggling to buy into a share-the-ball offense, one only needs to look back to his days with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and his boiling frustration over Russell Westbrook’s ball-hog heroics that imperiled the team.
