Nowitzki: Pressure to win title may have pushed Durant to Warriors
At just 27 years old, Kevin Durant has already made seven All-Star teams, captured four scoring championships, earned five nods on the All-NBA First Team, and been voted Most Valuable Player. What he doesn't have, though, is an NBA title, and, according to another NBA superstar, his desire to become a champion might have pushed him toward joining the Golden State Warriors.
Dirk Nowitzki competed for 13 years before hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy with the Dallas Mavericks, so he can certainly sympathize with Durant's struggle. Nonetheless, the sharpshooting German acknowledges that his addition to a roster already featuring three of the top players in the Association is something NBA officials had been hoping to avoid.
"Every player has to know for himself, what he wants to do," Nowitzki told Omnisport's Gabrielle McMillen at a charity event in Germany on Tuesday. "Of course the NBA wanted to prevent this with the salary cap and the strike a couple of years ago. They wanted to prevent a team gathering three, four, or even five star players and get an easy road to the finals ... But Kevin is all about winning. He was close a couple of times, but maybe he feels the pressure to win a championship."
Nowitzki was linked to the 73-win Warriors himself, which would have been a surprising move considering how adamant he's been in the past that he wants to end his career wearing Mavs colors.
"I don't really know where the rumor originated from," he said. "But some GM of the Warriors said that they will be very aggressive in the free-agent market. That's where my name dropped somewhere. It was not like I said, 'I want to be with the Golden State Warriors.' ... I always said that I want to end my career with Dallas. I (will) play my 18th season there and it would be great if I could reach 20."
Nowitzki recently agreed to remain a member of the Mavericks on a new two-year, $40-million contract. He averaged 18.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.7 steals on 44.8 percent shooting from the field and 36.8 percent from deep in 75 appearances last season.