Kevin Durant Defends Move To Warriors: 'Easy' Being Best Without Other Stars

Kevin Durant defended his move to the Golden State Warriors by claiming it's harder to stand out in a team full of All-Stars.

The 29-year-old helped the Warriors win a second consecutive championship and their third in four years when they swept the Cleveland Cavaliers last week. In addition, he was awarded the NBA Finals MVP for the second year in a row after averaging 28.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 7.5 assists in the four-game series.

Durant received plenty of flak and criticism for moving to the Warriors from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016 as he was not only joining a rival side who he was unable to triumph over in the Western Conference, but was also joining a super team who had finished the regular season with an astonishing 73 wins.

And given how uncompetitive the last two playoffs have been, many believe he "ruined" the NBA but he feels differently.

"My responsibility is to my skills. My responsibility is to myself," Durant told Yahoo Sports. "I’m not worried about the NBA. That’s their job. They make too much money. They ain’t paying me enough to dictate the NBA. I should be making more money if all that’s on me. My responsibility is to whatever team I play for. All that other stuff, that’s on y’all."

While Durant was playing with three other All-Stars in the form of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, LeBron James was playing in one of the weakest Cavs teams in recent history as even he was unable to make the Finals competitive.

But Durant, who many believe is the best player in the NBA after James, added an interesting perspective by stating it's easier to stand out in a weaker team as he prides himself on being the best player in a team with multiple stars.

"I feel like it’s easy to be the best player when you don’t have good players around you. I feel like it’s harder to stand out when you have great players around you," Durant added. "I pride myself on standing out wherever I am. I pride myself on working hard wherever I go. And I feel like these guys embraced me and I feel like I’m a Warrior."

Durant is set to remain with the Warriors as it was reported in April that he would decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. However, it was with the intention of restructuring his current deal as he accepted $10 million less in a two-year deal in 2017 which allowed the Bay Area side to retain the likes of forward Andre Iguodala and backup point guard Shaun Livingston.

The three potential options he could take in a new deal, according to ESPN Front Office Insider Bobby Marks, are a two-year deal with a 2019-2020 player option, a four-year max contract valued at around $158 million or a three-year deal with a player option after the second season.