Golden State Warriors: LeBron James’ Lakers’ chaos should be cautionary tale for Kevin Durant

Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant should look at the chaos that has defined LeBron James’ first season with the Los Angeles Lakers when he makes his own free agency decision.

With another championship this season, the Golden State Warriors will cement themselves as one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history. Featuring a core of stars entering their respective primes, the team could contend for several years as they go across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco and usher in a new age of Warriors basketball at the Chase Center. On paper, it seems like the type of situation that no one would ever reasonably want to leave.

And, yet, two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant might do just that. Durant will be the NBA’s most sought-after free agent this summer and, unlike the last two offseasons, his return to Golden State no longer feels like a foregone conclusion. His departure feels more imminent by the day as one sign piles on top of another to create a giant neon billboard that’s just waiting for July to come around so someone can plug it in and showcase the bright “see you later” note emblazoned across it.

Durant has been linked to the New York Knicks and, as much as he would like to dismiss reports or analysis, these rumors haven’t been pulled out of thin air.

His silence after the Knicks traded away Kristaps Porzingis coupled with his close relationship with Kyrie Irving, another seemingly-disgruntled star who looks to have his sights set on the Big Apple has raised some flags. His media company, Thirty5 Ventures, is based out of New York. A little over a year ago, Rich Kleiman, Durant’s manager and business partner, tweeted about how he’s going to “run the Knicks one day.”

While the hot take-driven sports talk shows have flooded the market with their regular shouting matches about Durant, there are a lot of great reporters doing responsible, well-sourced work that has shown that these rumors are more than just speculation. He’s, likely, far from a decision and won’t really delve into it until the summer, but it’s clear that he’s, at least, considering his options.

Durant’s legacy, for better or worse, is partly tied to LeBron James. For much of his career, Durant has come in second to James. In 2011, the then-Oklahoma City Thunder superstar fell to James’ Miami Heat in the NBA Finals in what would be his first championship.

Since ascending to the top of the NBA ranks, Durant hasn’t been able to steal the consensus “best player in the world” title away from James. Not when he won his MVP after one of the most impressive runs in league history. Not when he won all of his scoring titles. And not even after he bested James twice in consecutive NBA Finals, with two iconic shots (one right in the King’s face) and a pair of Finals MVPs to go with it.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

No matter what he does, it seems as if he can’t get out of James’ shadow. At first, it was because he couldn’t beat him. Now, it’s because he beat him too easily due to the quality of the team around him.

While the pros of staying in the Bay Area certainly seem to certainly outweigh the cons, the Warriors don’t offer him a chance to re-write his story in the way that he might like. His decision to join a team fresh off a 73-win regular season was controversial and many claimed that it disqualified him from having a seat next to the greats before him, despite the fact that he is, arguably, the most talented player in the league.

Taking his talents to New York gives him the chance to grow his business in one of the world’s biggest markets and allows him to shed any unfair labels about his desire to work hard. If he were to bring the Knicks a championship, it could change a lot for how Twitter trolls–who have Durant’s ear–speak about him. With Irving by his side in a tougher-yet-still-inferior Eastern Conference, he should be able to lead his team to the Finals and, at that point, anything can happen.

That all sounds like it could work out, but things don’t always go as smoothly as planned. Durant is going to take a lot of factors into consideration when making his decision and he should take a look at James and his first year with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Last year, he was untouchable. With All-Star level forward Kevin Love by his side, he made it to his fourth straight NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers (and eighth overall, dating back to his days with the Heat). James was an automatic lock for the Finals and, even when he lost, he seemed to have a different energy.

His season has been absolute chaos. Despite adding the future Hall of Famer, the Lakers could miss the postseason. The Lakers, like the Knicks, don’t have a lot of talent outside of the superstar and James’ groin injury sidelined him for longer than Los Angeles could handle. Even with him, the losses continue to pile up.

James and his agent Rich Paul, who also represents Anthony Davis, tried to orchestrate a deal that sent the Brow to Hollywood. It was a public disaster that continues to test the Lakers’ young core who were, essentially, thrown under the bus. Additionally, James’ displeasure with head coach Luke Walton‘s work has also become public and a source of tension in the organization.

Despite the basketball mess, his off-court brand continues to grow. He’s involved with music projects and announced the highly-anticipated Space Jam 2. As a celebrity, he’s living his best life, but his legacy is taking major hits and, if he continues to lose in embarrassing fashion, it’s going to be hard to place him above Michael Jordan, fair or not.

So Durant needs to ask himself if it would be worth it. Championship windows are constantly shrinking. There’s no guarantee that he could build a winner in New York, like how James has struggled to build one in Los Angeles, especially with the Knicks’ front office’s incompetence. So is pleasing Twitter trolls worth giving up a spot on the most talented team ever?

Will Durant’s beef with the media–a gripe that, at times, is fair and, at others, seems like a deflection–be fixed in the Big Apple under the biggest microscope the country has? James, who is a seasoned vet as a media puppetmaster, has shown cracks under the pressure of the LA lights, passively aggressively projecting onto teammates in post-game comments and self-indulging on social media after losing. Though Durant is generally very open with the media, could his displeasure during one of the greatest runs in NBA history grow if he were to be criticized if his Knicks struggle?

In an effort to bolster his legacy and build his media empire, James has shown his first signs of breaking down, both as a basketball player and a legend. Though Durant is in a different stage of his career, his pursuit of validation could come back to haunt him, especially when he’d be leaving Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to do so.

Leaving for the Knicks could work out for Durant. He could win a championship, establish a media empire, and earn adulation that would ascend his legacy to legendary Mount Rushmore status. But he runs to the risk of a James-like circus that could prove to be counterproductive.

The Warriors are the best basketball option for him, but, ultimately, Durant has to decide on how he can find the most happiness.