It appears that Kevin Durant made his free agency decision earlier than he needed to. According to Durant, he knew he was leaving the Golden State Warriors midway through the past NBA season.
Durant, who is currently recovering from an Achilles injury, discussed his free agency decision during his recent appearance on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s All the Smoke podcast.
“I knew just about the halfway point through the year,” Durant admitted. “I could feel, you know, the separation between the two. Everybody was just waiting on me to make a decision on free agency — coaches, to my teammates, to the media — it’s like January, and I’m like, ‘Yo, I’m just trying to hoop.”
Still, despite his decision, Durant didn’t change his approach and was hoping he could help Golden State win another championship.
“But I was really focused on the end goal, which was to win the third championship in a row,” he added.
Kevin Durant didn’t manage to reach this goal, as he suffered an Achilles tear in the playoffs, which sidelined him for this season. Despite this, Durant got a max-contract offer from the Brooklyn Nets, where he teamed up with Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan.
Durant won two consecutive NBA titles with the Warriors, while also being the NBA Finals MVP both times. He averaged 26.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game last season.