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Golden State Warriors: Kevin Durant’s days of being a “snake” are over

By Steffen Pedersen

OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 4: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors handles the ball during a Golden State Warriors Open Practice on October 4, 2018 at the Rakuten Performance Center in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 4: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors handles the ball during a Golden State Warriors Open Practice on October 4, 2018 at the Rakuten Performance Center in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Kevin Durant is no longer the serpent of the NBA. The hatred for the Golden State Warriors superstar has seemed to dissolve, but what caused it to go away?

People may disagree with me, but the hate is gone! Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors is no longer a player under attack. He seems once again to be well respected and liked all the way around.

The last couple of years has been a storm for the Washington kid. Leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors – the team that just beat them in a tremendous seven-game series – was too much. Not only for Thunder fans – but NBA fans in general.

Making Golden State a four All Star-team was simply too extreme for the average fan. According to many, the Warriors and especially Kevin Durant had ruined the league!

The situation was almost similar to LeBron James leaving Cleveland. James took a lot of heat for his Miami adventure, but he gained his strength and popularity back when he delivered a miraculous comeback in the 2016 finals against Warriors.

James didn’t leave for his superiors, but still, it seems like KD made the sun break through the clouds a lot quicker.

But why? How was KD let of the hook so easy?

Maybe it is a personality issue. Durant has always been liked as an easy going figure in the league. LeBron, on the other hand, has always been a polarizing personality since the Miami-incident. Simply because he chose to fight back. During the Charles Barkley feud last year before All-Star break, James launched a rant on Barkley, telling him that “there was a new sheriff in town”.

On numerous other occasions, LeBron chose to be offended by people who criticized him, and it created a gap between the lovers and the haters.

KD never went there. He never destroyed a single cupcake sign or lost his head at anybody. Well, there was the multiple-twitter-account-thing, but he solved that with a sense of humor about it.

He also embraced the idea of him being a snake by creating shoes with the serpent-symbol on it. And…he generally took his foot of the gas pedal. He didn’t address the issue all the time, and when he was confronted with it, he was able to joke around.

But will KD just cruise through this year without any kind of trouble, or will his personal storm arrive again when the playoff is due?

Fans, in general, seem to have forgiven him for now, but signing with Warriors is something that they can always go back to if Warriors once again will smash the league. A third KD trophy can go either way.

dark. Next. Golden State Warriors: Kevin Durant is excited about a future he won't commit to

Maybe it’ll generate a common respect, or maybe it won’t. But the snake days are over. People have started considering this as a Warriors issue, and then irritation will be at the team and not KD-related.

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