Durant Left Thunder For Warriors Due To 'Pressure', Chris Bosh Explains

Kevin Durant continues to get criticized for leaving Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors in 2016. He has gone on to win two NBA championships since his arrival, something he did not achieve with his former team in their nine years together.

Before he decided to join the Warriors when he entered free agency in 2016 — much to everyone’s surprise — the small forward had spent his entire NBA career with Oklahoma, previously known as the Seattle Supersonics. The criticism was more because his team had just lost to the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.

Despite it being two years ago, Durant still receives plenty of criticism for his move to the Bay Area. He was accused of joining a winning team, and even more so, Stephen Curry’s bandwagon. He has played a key role in helping Steve Kerr’s side win back-to-back NBA championships, winning NBA Finals MVP on both occasions, but that still has not stopped the naysayers.

The Warriors are favored to win their third straight title in 2019, which will put Durant on par with LeBron James with three title wins. The best he had achieved with Thunder was a 2012 NBA Finals loss against the Miami Heat and a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2016.

Chris Bosh, a two-time NBA champion with Heat, has revealed it was James’ move to Miami in 2010 to team up with Dwayne Wade and him that “put pressure” on Durant to seek a move to a team where he knew the chances of him winning the title were much better.

James, along with Bosh and Wade, formed a super team in Miami and went on to appear in four straight NBA Finals, while they also influenced the current generation of players to take their futures in their own hands in order to better their prospects of winning championship rings.

"No," Bosh told NBC Sports NBA Insider Tom Haberstroh when asked if Durant would have joined the Warriors if the trio did not form a union in Miami. "That put pressure on him.”

"I think it's kind of like a catch-22 that the modern athlete has been put in. There's so much emphasis on championships, right? And now guys are like, 'OK, I'm gonna position myself to win a championship,' and then that's when people don't like it,” he added.

Durant is not the only player to engineer a move to a winning team as Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler forced trades from San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this season respectively. While Anthony Davis — through his agent Rich Paul — demanded a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans earlier this year in order to join a team that would allow him to consistently challenge for titles.

Bosh’s comments were part of an in-depth interview he did with Haberstroh ahead of March 26 when the Heat will officially retire his No.1 jersey.