Photo: Ben Margot, AP

Kevin Durant Doesn’t Want To Be Blamed For NBA’s Parity Problems: “Am I The Reason Brooklyn Gave All Their Picks To Boston?”

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress declared the thirteen American colonies as a new nation–the United States of America–and no longer part of the British Empire. The day would become an American holiday; a day of pride, remembrance, and celebration across the great nation. Fireworks bursting in front of the night sky while sparklers are glaring in front of a young child’s immense grin are common images thought upon for the Fourth of July. But, in 2016, it was way different. An Independence Day decision made by one of the NBA’s greatest players would send thousands of Oklahoma City Thunder fans–as well as NBA fans in general–into a tizzy, upsettingly remembering the news they heard that morning.

This was almost a year ago. Now we have two superteams, who seem unbeatable for all the other remainig 28 teams. The Warriors went 12-0 against the Western Conference in this year’s playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers won 12 of 13 games, leading to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors facing off in the NBA Finals for a third consecutive year – A first in NBA history. But Kevin Durant doesn’t think his decision to join the Warriors is the reason for this, or the parity concerns in the NBA in general.

 

“Like I’m the reason why Orlando couldn’t make the playoffs for five, six years in a row? Am I the reason that Brooklyn gave all their picks to Boston? Like, am I the reason that they’re not that good? I can’t play for every team, so the truth of the matter is I left one team. It’s one more team that you probably would’ve thought would’ve been a contender. One more team. I couldn’t have made the entire East better. I couldn’t have made everybody else in the West better.”