After Kevin Durant joined the Warriors this summer, Steph Curry warned fans to not harp on the unrealistic expectation that they were capable of winning all 82 games during the regular season. After all, Golden State proved that last year when they had all but nine losses before the playoffs. But when you add a player to their roster who won an MVP award three seasons ago, and is the first player in NBA history since Michael Jordan (1997-1993) to win at least four scoring titles out of a five-year stretch, the bar is inevitably raised very high by the fans and the executives of the team.
Dwyane Wade knows this all too well from the moment LeBron James took his talents to South Beach in July 2010, along with Chris Bosh to join forces and become the greatest superteam since the 1995-1996 Bulls.
DWade spoke to Basketball Insiders' Moke Hamilton to give his two cents about the shock value of KD now being in Oakland. The new Chicago Bull said about KD signing with the Warriors: "I think it was surprising for everyone." He continued, "I don’t think nobody seen that; I mean, they had rumors about it but I think it was a little surprising for everyone."
But he said that he wasn't too alarmed because it's actually a blessing for NBA players to authorize their own careers for which teams they want to join.
"At the end of the day, from a player’s standpoint, I’m happy that we have the ability to make our own decisions. I know other people have their opinions on it, but at the end of the day, he made a decision for him and you can’t be mad at that at all."
When it comes to building chemistry and working out the kinks for elite players' egos and style of play on the court to mesh, he stated that it doesn't happen overnight to learn how to share the rock and stay atop the league standings with an all-star cast.
Wade recalled his time with the Heat and playing alongside King James, Bosh, and the rest of the team that won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. "It takes time. We had great players, but we had a lot of guys who already was used to something a certain way and it just took a little time."
He added about how they became the screaming target for other teams that tried to defeat the Heat during their four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals from 2011 to 2014. “Everybody wanted to beat us, so everybody was playing their tail off against us,” Wade said. “It took time for us to get to the game that we wanted to get to.”
As for sacrificing selfishness and other personal quirks to make it work, Wade advised KD and the Warriors about his past experience, “I think them [sic] guys understand what it takes I think the biggest thing is, what I say is just enjoy it. One thing we did wrong our first year was we played into the villain role because people was not liking that we was together and we tried to play into that role. That’s not why we started playing basketball – we started playing basketball because we enjoyed it and we loved it."
And they started playing together because they needed the help to get those rings they covet. That's no secret.
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