Obviously there would be some knock-on effects of this, who knows where Kyrie and eventually Harden would go instead of Brooklyn if KD wasn’t there and how that would’ve changed the NBA. But looking at just KD himself, he had led Golden State to back to back championships, and he was injured in 2019 so that loss was not on him. He would’ve been out for all of 2019-20, but in 2021 and especially in 2022 he could’ve won another championship(s) in Golden State instead of dealing with the dysfunction in Brooklyn. While the circumstances surrounding his departure from OKC would still hurt his legacy, he would likely be viewed as just as big a part of the Warriors dynasty as Steph, Klay, and Draymond if he stuck around for longer and they won another title or two together. Instead he’s saddled with the perception that he simply hitched his wagon to a team that would have succeeded with or without him, and has won a title without him while KD has not won without them. What do y’all think?
Vintage Harden