Written by Ethan Sherwood Strauss at ESPN.com
After the Golden State Warriors fended off the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 116-108 win, Ron Adams, Golden State’s assistant coach and defensive guru shrugged, “I don’t know how to stop him. I coached him and I don’t know how to stop him.”
Adams was referring to Kevin Durant, whom he worked with as an assistant in Oklahoma City from 2008 to 2010. That’s quite a concession from Adams, known to be one of if not the top defensive assistant in basketball. The admiration is mutual. Before the game, the two warmly greeted each other. The 27-year-old Durant said of the 68-year-old Adams, “We always had a great relationship. He was hard on me. He expected a lot out of me and that’s the type of coaching I like and he never shied away from how he thought.” Durant continued, “Always spoke his mind to me so I’m always going to respect him, always going to be family to me. Whatever team he goes to man, he imposes his will and just changed the whole thought process of the team. He’s a great assistant.”
Adams is famously hard-driving, exacting in his teaching. He’s perpetually concerned about improvement, shaking his head throughout a preseason in which the Warriors went half speed. His impact could be seen in the Warriors holding the Thunder to 42 percent shooting. His impact was less visible in anything Durant was doing Saturday night. Durant, who has traditionally bedeviled Golden State’s array of rangy wings, again went off, this time for 40 points on 25 shots.
As speculation swirls as to Durant’s 2016 free agency predilections, this game was a reminder of the objective fact that Durant is incredible, and the objective fact that Golden State won’t have to face him if they sign him. It’s an open question as to whether the Warriors should pursue Durant, if he’s so inclined to join. Right now Golden State’s playing some of the best basketball we’ve ever seen and dramatic changes carry risk. At the same time, getting Durant might be wise just for sake of no one else having him.
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