We wrote about Kevin Durant sacrificing money so that the Golden State Warriors could retain their championship core. Read about it here. It turns out KD was willing to sacrifice even more. The Dubs re-signed Andre Iguodala thanks to KD taking less. According to USA Today’s Sam Amick, KD would’ve taken even less money to sign Rudy Gay if Iggy left via free agency.
Side story about Durant: If Andre Iguodala had left, I’m told Durant was going to give even more than this back to make room for Rudy Gay.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) July 3, 2017
Since the KD contract numbers have been released there have been two distinct takes regarding the Finals MVP. Most either praise KD universally for taking less money and valuing winning, the other is that he’s a snake and afraid to compete so he’s just stacking the deck. Both of these takes lack nuance and perspective.
How much is peace of mind worth to you? What value do you place on a work environment that allows you to showcase your best talents? KD taking less money is not a huge sacrifice. A sacrifice for sure, but not huge. Remaining in Golden State with this team in tact was a move predicated on self interest. By all accounts KD loves living in the Bay Area and his first year culminated in a title and Finals MVP. Why wouldn’t he want to try and do that again next season? In terms of the lost money, KD can make that up with the various endorsement and business ventures he’s added to his already sizable portfolio since moving to the Bay. Universal praise is not necessary. He made a work decision a year ago and it worked out and he wants to continue that work situation. It benefits him.
As it relates to winning more titles and being afraid to compete so he’s stacking the deck. Why wouldn’t you do anything available to increase your chances of success? Somehow we’ve decided in sports that it’s more noble, or a title means more if you have to struggle to get it. More specifically, struggle in a specific kind of way. KD did struggle. His original franchise drafted a superteam and blew it up over $5M. He suffered through injuries, teammate injuries, and a style of play that throughout the majority of his tenure at OKC was problematic.
Despite popular opinion the Warriors are not guaranteed to win the next 5 NBA titles. In the modern NBA (post 1980), how many teams completed a 4-peat or a 5-peat? None. There is no guarantee this continues. Injuries, free agency, and random luck play a huge role in league dominance. Are the Warriors better prepared than most to dominate? Sure. But past performance does not guarantee future results.