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Hate it or love it, Kevin Durant is, at last, an NBA champion.
After 10 NBA seasons, eight all-star selections, four scoring championships and an MVP award, Durant finally captured the only remaining elusive feat in his career – a ring.
Not only is Durant now an NBA champion, but after churning out 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists on upwards of 55 percent shooting from the field against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Durant also adds NBA Finals MVP hardware to his lofty collection.
It was a storybook ending for the former Texas Longhorns star, who controversially departed from the Oklahoma City Thunder and headed west in pursuit his first ever NBA championship.
Debate This. @KDTrey5 is now a world champion. #NikeBasketball pic.twitter.com/ZCb7PwHGcM
— Nike (@Nike) June 13, 2017
Golden State already looked the part of a dynasty in the making after back-to-back NBA Finals appearances, a championship in 2015 and a record-breaking 73-win regular season effort the following season.
The addition of arguably the most lethal scorer in NBA history then made Golden State nothing short of a superteam on paper and after a 83-16 record throughout the 2016-17 season, including a nearly perfect 16-1 effort in the playoffs, the Warriors proved to be just that.
While Golden State was certainly Stephen Curry’s team after back-to-back MVP campaigns, Durant now appears to be the engineer of a freight train that’s far from slowing down and he’s unquestionably the heir to the throne James has occupied for so many years.
The timing of the latter is certainly up for debate and Durant may still be a season or two from finally eclipsing James as the best player on the planet, but whether or not Durant will conclude his career as one of the greatest players to never win a championship is a conversation of the past.
Hate it or love it, after falling short for nearly a decade falling short and electing to trade in his Oklahoma City jersey for one of the golden variety, Kevin Durant is finally an NBA champion.
Get used to hearing that because Durant and the Warriors are just getting started.