Going into the season, I said that Golden State may not be able to make it back to the finals.
I believed, like many before, this team would suffer from having too many superstars and too much publicity during the year.
They definitely had their days with the media, but I didn't expect this team to click as well as they did. Over the course of the season, they proved their togetherness, kept each other competing and healthy, and sought redemption from last years finals.
It is safe to say, they were the best team I have seen during the playoffs.
The Warriors proved me wrong when they hoisted that trophy Monday night. They proved that they can and will be successful together.
It really humbled me to watch Durant finally win his Championship.
One of the most disturbing moments of the night was when I started checking social media. People all over the place were talking about Durant and how he "didn't earn his ring" or "he took the easy way out."
My goal is to quiet all of that talk. Despite him leaving OKC to play with the 73-9 Warriors, Durant is really the only one who really deserves that championship.
In the 2007-2008 season, the 19-year-old Durant was drafted by the Seattle Supersonic. Durant finished his rookie season with 20 ppg, something only Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James had done at that young of an age.
After his first season, the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City where the Thunder were born. Within three years of his rookie season, Durant improved the Thunder's record by 27 games and took his team to the playoffs.
During this time, he was a two-time NBA scoring leader, averaging 30.1 points per game in the 2009-2010 season and 27.7 points per game in the 2010-2011 season.
In 2011, Durant went to his first conference finals, losing in five games to the Dallas Mavericks (who went on to beat the Heat in six). The next year, Durant again defended his scoring title with 28.1 ppg leading the Thunder to the Finals.
Durant led all players in scoring in the Finals against the Heat, with 30.6 ppg and a 54.8 shooting rate. Although they lost the Finals, Durant bounced back the next season becoming the youngest player to join the 50-40-90 club (50+ field goal percentage, 40+ three point percentage, and 90+ free throw percentage).
The next year, he won the NBA MVP award, but lost to the Spurs in the Conference Finals. Over the course of the next year, he faced injuries but still maintained his status as an elite scoring threat.
This all leads to last season, one where Durant and the Thunder were only one game away from winning the series, but lost to the Golden State Warriors who overcame a 3-1 lead.
I hope you read all of that. That is not a record of someone who is undeserving.
That is a short run through of a man who has dedicated his whole life to winning a championship, to only coming moments away each time. Also noted, the Thunder organization never really helped him put together a championship group.
After James Harden left, there was no one who could come off the bench when KD and Westbrook had to rest. Other than Durant and Westbrook, The Thunder's starting line up for most of Kevin's time there was average or below.
Think what you want, but Durant played his heart out, only to be disappointed every single year, often in different ways.
At some point in all of our lives, we have to start taking what we know we deserve.
This process is never pretty. We lose friends. We lose respect from those that trusted us. We stop giving ourselves to others, but most importantly, we fulfill our goals and gain pride in our accomplishments.
When we devote our life to the service of others we find that we lose some of our self pride and happiness. It is not until we have achieved self happiness that we are fully able to serve others in the best way possible.
This life is too short to not take what you deserve, and Durant taught me this lesson by taking what he deserved.
It may be unfair. We may think it is bad for the league. We may even feel as though Durant doesn't deserve his ring. However I promise you this, Kevin Durant took what he deserved, and at the end of the day, I can't hate on a man following his dream.
