Kevin Durant has had a turbulent journey since leaving the Warriors in 2019, yearning to experience the same postseason triumph he helped lead the team to during his three seasons there.
The Phoenix Suns opted to fire coach Frank Vogel following his team’s rout by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round of the 2023–24 NBA playoffs.
After Vogel’s exit, Durant has now played for six different head coaches in the five seasons since leaving Golden State, and he has only won two playoff series. (Source: StatMuse)
When Durant made the decision to sign with the Brooklyn Nets in July 2019, it shocked the basketball world as the current assistant coach of the Warriors, Kenny Atkinson, was the team’s head coach. In March 2020, Atkinson submitted his resignation, and Jacque Vaughn took over as temporary leader.
After that, Brooklyn signed Steve Nash, a former employee of the Warriors who had coached the Nets for three seasons. In 2021, Brooklyn defeated the Boston Celtics in a first-round series before losing in seven games to the Milwaukee Bucks, who went on to win the NBA championship.
In Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Durant heroically scored 48 points and made the game-tying (and, at one point, game-winning) basket on a difficult turnaround shot to force overtime in Brooklyn’s 115-11 overtime defeat to Milwaukee.
In October 2022, following Nash’s dismissal, Jacque Vaughn returned to lead the Nets. After that, in February 2023, Durant was moved to the Suns, where he played for Monty Williams in his debut season. The Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in a first-round series before losing to the Denver Nuggets, the defending NBA champions, in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals. May 2023 saw Williams fired, and Vogel only lasted one season after being taken in.
Even though the Warriors have missed the playoffs in three of the last five seasons, they have still outperformed Durant in the postseason since his departure. During that time, Golden State has emerged victorious in five playoff series, four of which were won during the Warriors’ historic 2022 NBA championship run.
Since the 14-time All-Star teamed up with the formidable Golden State Warriors to create a force that may never be seen in the NBA again, Durant and the Warriors will always be associated with their mutual excellence.
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