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Steve Nash: Durant's move to GSW 'the same thing LeBron did'

Brian Spurlock / USA Today Sports

Amid all of the belly aching Kevin Durant experienced this past offseason regarding his free-agency decision, the 2014 MVP had the support of another former MVP: Steve Nash.

Nash is a part-time consultant and trainer for the Golden State Warriors. He works with the whole team, but has been seen recently working exclusively with Durant on offensive moves off the dribble.

Following the former Thunder star's decision to leave the franchise he played with for nine seasons, the ex-Phoenix Suns point guard found parallels with another NBA MVP.

"I think from the outside, people look at it and go, 'He went to the best team available,'" Nash told Tim Kawakami of Mercury News. "But that's the same thing LeBron did as a free agent the last two times, he went to Miami and Cleveland to join two max players.

"When he was doing that, there didn't happen to be a team with three All-Stars, or maybe he would've gone to that one."

LeBron has three championships on his resume: two with Wade and Bosh in Miami, and one in Cleveland this past year with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. He accomplished his goal, and is now seen as a hero to many after being vilified following his move to Miami in 2010.

Durant seems to be on a similar path with the Dubs, who are first in the Western Conference with a league-best 31-5 record, due in large part to the ex-Thunder forward averaging 25.8 points and 8.6 rebounds on 54 percent shooting.

According to Nash, though, the move wasn't only based on Durant's goals on the basketball court.

"What I really started to realize as I talked through the process with him, it seemed like he wanted to take the next step as a man," he said. "It was less about winning a championship than being challenged in new ways and (gaining) as much as he could from that new experience."

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