Kevin Durant stunned fans everywhere when he decided to leave Oklahoma City and the Thunder to join the Warriors. He had already been to the NBA Finals with OKC and came within one win of eliminating the same Warriors team he joined. It's hard to fault him these days now that he's won an NBA championship with Golden State, but he still takes a lot of flack for that decision to this day.
It wasn't long ago that Durant was thinking of staying in OKC forever, having his jersey retired there and becoming a local legend. People and dreams change. Right now, Durant sees plenty of similarities when it comes rising Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Via ESPN:
"I was at that point," Durant told ESPN. "I wanted the same things. ..."
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"What I would say to him, I would tell him to play for himself," Durant said. "Because he's the one out there putting in the work, he's the one out there getting up in the morning staying committed to the game. Obviously [the comments about staying put] sounds good to the fans in Milwaukee and to the ownership, because he cares so much about wanting to please them and play well for them, and I get it. But his career is about him; it's about whatever he wants to do and however he feels is right for him. And what type of basketball does he want to play? He's not going to stay in Milwaukee if he's not having fun playing the game."
On one hand, this kind of advice from Durant seems a bit unnecessary. Antetokounmpo is thrilled to be in Milwaukee and is having a blast on a playoff team. The organization is built completely around him and he was even featured on 60 Minutes to discuss his unorthodox journey to the NBA.
On the other hand, there is some truth in Durant's words. Players want to keep fans happy, but the truth is they can never make everybody happy. That's something Durant had to learn when he chose to leave Oklahoma City. Antetokounmpo, no matter what he wants to do with his career, needs to focus on himself before he thinks of the fans or the Bucks for that matter.
At the moment, Antetokounmpo can't be bothered with that. It's Milwaukee or bust for the 23-year-old, who could see himself finishing his career on one team.
"Definitely. That's one of my goals," Antetokounmpo told ESPN recently. "Kobe [Bryant] did it. Tim Duncan did it. Dirk Nowitzki did it. I just want to be one of those guys ... that stays for the city, play for the city for 20 years."
It's always awesome to see star players spend a full career on one franchise. They become their own kind of legend and endear themselves to fans in a special way. Right now, that's what Antetokounmpo wants, but maybe his goals change later in his life. What he decides to do with his life will be up to him and him alone.
