Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors were already a great team before Kevin Durant joined. Adding KD to a team that broke the all-time NBA regular season record was unimaginable. Many felt that it was one of the best teams ever assembled when Durant joined. However, he was not the only addition to that team. NBA veteran JaVale McGee also joined them after the Dallas Mavericks waived him. McGee recently talked about the confidence Durant brought to the team and how “disrespectful” they were to their opponents.
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McGee recently made an appearance on the ‘Tidal League.’?During the podcast, he talked about a variety of things from growing up to winning titles, and so forth. He also talked about his successful stint with the Warriors. The host asked him about the instant impact of Durant when he joined the team.
Durant’s impact on Stephen Curry’s Warriors
JaVale McGee stated that he did not know what things were like in the previous season when they lost to the Cavaliers. However, he added, Kevin Durant brought a belief to the team that they are winning every game.
McGee said, “We’re gonna win like, every game we’re in there like we about to bust y’all a***s. It’s nothing y’all can do about it.”
Also, he talked about how “disrespectful” they were to their opponents. While most teams come out to warm up 20 minutes before the game, the Warriors only came out with eight or nine minutes left to warm up. When the host recounted this practice of the Warriors, McGee replied, “Disrespectful. Really disrespectful. It was really disrespectful the way we come out for warmups.”
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Well, that is one way to intimidate your opponents. Not that they needed any more. Their roster was intimidating enough to most teams. McGee won two titles with the Warriors and then won another with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
The revenge of the Warriors
With the likes of Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green, alongside Stephen Curry, and under the tutelage of Steve Kerr, they had already won a title in 2015. Then in 2016, they broke the regular season win record set by the iconic Chicago Bulls team. However, they lost the title to the Cleveland Cavaliers in dramatic fashion despite leading 3-1 in the series.
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So the Warriors went out and added superstar Kevin Durant to their roster. This took the league by storm. With Durant in their lineup, the Warriors again reached the Finals. This time, they got their revenge by winning the title 4-1 against LeBron James and the Cavaliers. They made it sweeter the next year by sweeping the Cavs in the Finals.