Warriors' Stephen Curry Discusses Winning NBA Title Without Kevin Durant

Throughout Kevin Durant's three-year run in Golden State, Stephen Curry heard how he wouldn't have been able to win more titles had Durant chosen a different free-agent destination in 2016.

In the aftermath of winning his fourth NBA championship and first of the post-Durant era, Curry said this title felt a little sweeter.

“For sure. You bookend it,” Curry told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “That’s part of it. But nobody in October thought we’d be here. Now we are. With this group. Not compared to any group before it, so it’s pretty dope.”

Curry won his first Finals MVP in six tries against the Celtics, finishing with averages of 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists over the six-game series. Several times during the trophy presentation, Curry said the championship run "hit different."

“Just combining our championship pedigree and our experience with some fresh energy, some guys that are really hungry to take that next step,” Curry told ESPN's Lisa Salters. “But, we built this for 10, 11 years. And, that means a whole lot when you get to this stage because you know how to win, and everybody who’s been a part of that knows what it’s about. This one hits different. This one hits different for sure.”

Durant signed with the Warriors in the summer of 2016, less than a month after Golden State became the first team to blow a 3-1 Finals lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors would win the title against LeBron James' Cavs each of the next two seasons, but Durant took home both MVP awards and was widely viewed as the best player on those teams—even if he was never embraced as much as Curry.

When Durant left the Warriors in 2019 to form another "super" team in Brooklyn, it looked like the dynasty left with him. Golden State failed to make the playoffs each of the last two seasons with Thompson, Curry and Green all battling through various injuries.

Even as the respect between Curry and Durant remains, there was likely a little internal competition between the two as to who could win a championship first after their separation.