Kevin Durant has long been hated by several NBA fans for denying Steph Curry his shot at NBA Finals MVP. KD's stay with the Warriors resulted in two NBA championships (2017, 2018) and both times, the current Houston Rockets star bagged the Finals MVP.
After the 2017 NBA Finals MVP went to Durant, the 15-time NBA All-Star was determined for Curry to win the honor in the 2018 NBA Finals. Former Warriors teammate Quinn Cook revealed this interesting detail during his appearance on The Player's Choice podcast.
"To be honest, Kevin wanted Steph to get that Finals MVP the next year so bad,” Cook said. “That’s all he was talking about all season, like I can’t wait until Steph gets his Finals MVP so he can shut up everybody, the naysayers."
However, despite Curry's historic performance in Game 2, where he made nine 3-pointers, he struggled in Game 3 (11 points on 3-16 shooting, including 1-10 from deep). Accidentally, in the same game, Durant dropped 43 points.
“But I think in Game 2 [of the Finals], that’s when Steph broke the record, he had nine 3s," Cook added. "And then Game 3, we were struggling, Steph was struggling, and Kevin just accidentally walked into 40 [points]. And then you just look at the numbers statistically, I think Kevin had a triple-double in Game 4. He wasn’t even as aggressive; that’s just how good he is. He just accidentally got the Finals MVP back-to-back.”
Steph Curry would eventually win his NBA Finals MVP in 2022 after he led the Warriors to an NBA title against the Celtics. Meanwhile, Durant is yet to make an appearance in the NBA Finals following his departure from the Warriors after three seasons.