Ever since Kevin Durant joined the Warriors in free agency during the summer of 2016, his decision has been mocked and bemoaned by basketball fans around the world, especially those in Oklahoma City who Durant left behind.
One tidbit that detractors of Durant’s decision to go to Golden State often latch onto is that Durant moving from the Thunder to the Warriors destroyed the competitive balance of the NBA, making it impossible for other teams to compete with the Warriors and foster an intriguing amount of competition in the playoffs.
With the fourth straight Finals matchup between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers looming, Klay Thompson had some thoughts on the NBA’s perceived lack of parity during Finals media day Wednesday at Oracle Arena, according to Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News.
#Warriors and #Cavs again!?? ‘The rest of the NBA has to get better,’ Klay Thompson says. ‘It’s not our fault.’
— Daniel Brown (@mercbrownie) May 30, 2018
Thompson has a point, as the Warriors winning the 2017 championship in dominant fashion spurred several teams to make big moves in attempts to compete with the Warriors, to varying degrees of success. Paul George and Carmelo Anthony joined Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, but flamed out in the first round against the Utah Jazz. Jimmy Butler joined the Timberwolves’ young core in Minnesota, only to fall to the Houston Rockets in the first round. The Rockets, meanwhile, added Chris Paul and P.J. Tucker and just finished pushing the Warriors to seven games in the Western Conference Finals.