So, the rumors were true.
As crazy as it seemed initially, Stephen Curry confirmed in an interview with “Rolling Stone” magazine that the Warriors considered a reunion with Kevin Durant this offseason and that he would love play with his former teammate again.
DID STEPHEN CURRY and the Golden State Warriors actually consider the idea of a blockbuster trade to bring their former superstar teammate Kevin Durant back to the Bay Area?
“Hell, yeah!” Curry tells Rolling Stone.
“I was never hesitant,” Curry continued. “The idea of playing with KD and knowing who he is as a person, from our history in those three years, I think KD’s a really good dude. I think he is misunderstood. I think he has had certain things happen in his life that hurt his ability to trust people around him, in a sense of making him feel safe at all times. So all of those things, I understand, having played with him and gotten to know him. I love that dude.”
Curry says that after the initial excitement about the prospect of KD coming back, he weighed the realization of what that would mean for the rest of the team.
“And if you said, ‘Oh, KD’s coming back, and we’re gonna play with him,’ I had so much fun playing with him those three years, I’d be like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ Then you have to think: What does that actually mean? What does it look like? You tell me I’m playing with [current Warriors teammates Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Draymond Green], I’m like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ There’s all types of emotion and things that happen to the league. And if anybody’s saying that you wouldn’t entertain that conversation — no disrespect to anybody on our team — but you don’t know how things work. But you also understand, like, if we run this thing back, I’ve got complete confidence in my team that we can win it again, as constructed.
“So, all those things were true. And it started with me wanting to play with KD at the beginning. Yeah, it’s about winning, it’s about having fun, playing the game of basketball. And that was part of the reaction of, like, ‘Yeah, it’d be amazing.’ What does that actually mean?”
Ultimately, the Warriors and Nets were unable to work out a deal, which was the case for every team that wanted Durant this offseason. As Durant’s trade request stalled, he reportedly provided the Brooklyn Nets with an ultimatum, that they needed to choose between him or coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks.
That demand also didn’t work, and Durant ultimately decided to stay in Brooklyn along with Kyrie Irving, who himself reportedly explored leaving this offseason as well.