Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant said he really doesn’t care about the Kyrie Irving situation but he’s hoping that the point guard will find happiness whether with the Cleveland Cavaliers or with any other team. "I just want guys in the league to be happy where they're playing and have some fun playing ball,”Durant said during a press conference at the NBA Academy in Noida, India when asked about Irving’s trade demand.
On July 7, Irving asked the Cavaliers for a trade, saying he wanted to become the first option on a team and he’s tired of playing under LeBron James’ enormous shadow.
However, Durant defended James, describing him as a “phenomenal player”, adding that he learned a lot from the Cavaliers superstar when he played in the Olympics in 2012.
Durant sets new world record in India
Durant is currently in India to promote the growth of the league in that country. He also made it to the Guinness World Record for leading the world's largest basketball lesson with 3,459 Indian children in different sites via satellite such as Noida, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata.
Weeks ago, Durant agreed to a two-year contract worth $53 million to stay with the Warriors after winning his first NBA championship. The deal was $9 million less to what he can demand from the Warriors.
Durant can ask for a maximum $32.5 million but he settled for a $25 million salary in the first year with a player option for the second year.
Warriors now complete with McGee signing
Durant’s generosity allowed the Warriors to keep several key players, including Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and David West. The Warriors signed Iguodala to a three-year, $48 million deal, Shaun Livingston agreed to a three-year, $24 million contract, starting center Zaza Pachulia returned on a $3.5 million pact while David West signed one-year contract with a veteran’s minimum salary of $2.3 million.
Recently, the Warriors added free-agent shooting guard Nick Young to their fold by using their $5.2 million exception and convinced backup center JaVale McGee to return for another title run, signing him to a one-year contract with a veteran’s minimum salary. With McGee’s signing, the Warriors roster is now complete with 15 signed players.
Most importantly, the Warriors signed point guard Stephen Curry to the league’s first supermax contract – a five-year, $201 million deal that makes him the highest-paid player in the NBA. The supermax deal gave Curry a huge salary increase after earning just $44 million in the past four seasons.
