In the world of the NBA, there are two ends of the spectrum according to which the fans and community assess their favorite athletes. On one end is the favored soldier and on the other end is the eternal villain. A very fine line separates the two. Just look at Kevin Durant and LeBron James. The King is grandly celebrated for his championships and accolades during his storied stint in Miami. But Durant, who also joined a loaded Warriors roster, is often demeaned for his success. Why the hypocrisy?

Media veteran Dan Le Batard thinks it’s because Durant didn’t analyze the situation well. James joined the Heat in the era of the Paul Pierce Celtics. Additionally, nobody saw them to be uncontested threats. It allowed the King to not only evolve into the decorated player he is but also have his efforts recognized. Durant though joined a record-breaking team without accounting for what his contract really delivers.

“You did the move to Golden State. You love basketball. Winning is fun. Basketball is fun. Competing is fun. You conquer everybody and it blows you out after four years when I don’t know what you thought you were signing up for but it probably wasn’t what you thought you were signing up for. You got the winning, but you still got the saying ‘You didn’t earn it’. But LeBron did get the credit. And LeBron seems like he enjoys the entirety of the experience,” Le Batard noted on the Dan Le Batard show.

When James joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, they were a fresh trio, not experienced playing beside one another. Being untested gave them some leeway to experiment with their synergy. After failing in the first year, instead of being viewed as the prime contender, massive pressure was applied. It would determine the legacy of LeBron James. The same unfolded for KD, but it tarnished his adorned resume.

Since KD joined in, no matter how strong the rivals were, experts couldn’t see anyone but the Warriors winning. And so they did. In two years, the Warriors won back-to-back championships with Durant as the backbone of the triumphs. But since it was always expected, the NBA community also labeled an asterisk on them.

It didn’t matter how Kevin Durant performed, which he did eloquently. What mattered, instead, was the circumstances he jumped into and how he left the uprising OKC isolated. Another factor was the Warriors using the historic salary cap rise to fit the contract size of the Slim Reaper. It corroded the championships for both the organization and Kevin Durant.

Then the next season, a major rift with Green and a lack of the feeling of belongingness forced the Reaper to leave. Yet that didn’t sway the NBA fraternity from villainizing KD. “Whatever he thought he was getting in that transaction, he only got the championships. And it’s obviously not enough,” Le Batard stated.

But what made them do it? Let’s take a flashback to the happenings of the iconic trade.

The Warriors had to get Kevin Durant to tackle LeBron James
The Golden State Warriors came into the 2016 playoffs as the defending champions. And James was back in the NBA Finals for a sixth straight season to fulfill his promise to Cleveland. NBA fans know what unraveled during the series. The Warriors with a 3-1 advantage collapsed to the prolific James-Irving trio.

It was a team that had won 73 games in the regular season but couldn’t beat the Akron Hammer four times in a series as they did just last season. That realization cultivated the urgency to make a big move. It’s hard to beat any team four times in a series. However, once James wins, history shows it’s hard to beat him again. The Warriors were the victims of that.

At the time, Durant had spent nine seasons with OKC, only getting to the finals once. His patience was running out, and at that moment, the opportunity to win came along. Likewise, the NBA’s inflated salary cap aligned perfectly with the Warriors’ intentions, and Bob Myers pulled the plug. In short, Durant was most likely the reason the Bay didn’t lose the next two finals to LeBron James again. He wasn’t just able to match the production, but his impact alongside Steph Curry and Klay Thompson was unbearable for the Cavaliers.

While the multidimensional scorer still receives a lot of flak for the move, one should also think about his desperate cravings as a professional. KD tried earnestly for nine years at OKC and when he had a direct ticket to where he wanted to be, how could he have refused the enticing offer?