June 4, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) controls the basketball against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert (4) during the second quarter in game two of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 132-113. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
June 4, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) controls the basketball against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert (4) during the second quarter in game two of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 132-113. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Iman Shumpert called out Kevin Durant after receiving a new deal to appear on the ‘Gil’s Arena’ show for the 2026-27 season. In just his second episode, the former NBA champion blamed Durant for costing him two NBA rings when he joined the Warriors in free agency in 2016.
“You’re the reason I missed out on two rings, dog. It was your fault how you went and joined some n—-s that didn’t need you. You know what I’m saying? They didn’t need you,” Shumpert said on the show.
Kevin Durant took issue with the comment and responded to Shumpert on Instagram Threads.
“Toughen up, shorty. Thanks for taking care of that, man, Gil; he was dead in the water,” Durant wrote in a comment he subsequently deleted.
Credits: Social media NBA aggregator ‘Oh No He Didn’t/ @ohnohedidnt24’ on X.
Kevin Durant doesn’t usually stay quiet about criticism directed at him, especially from players he’s faced. These two have faced off 20 times in their careers. Durant leads 14-6 in those games, which include the playoffs.
The Rockets superstar has averaged 33.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 51.2% from the field and 42.6% from the three-point line against Shumpert in his career.
But surprisingly, he later deleted the comment from Threads. It seems even he felt his response was a bit disproportionate, since Shumpert only spoke about the impact of Durant’s move on his own career, while Durant aimed at his personal life.
So it is clear that even a decade after Durant’s move to the Warriors, some NBA players are still sour about hypotheticals about what the league would have been like if the Warriors’ superteam had never formed.
Notably, in the 2018 NBA Finals, Shumpert wasn’t even in the player rotation. So it is bold of him to say he would still have contributed to winning two championships if Durant hadn’t joined the Warriors.
But to Shumpert’s credit, one must acknowledge that the Warriors recruiting Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016 was a reactionary move to the Cavaliers defeating them in the NBA Finals.
So one could argue that the Cavaliers had found the key to defeating the Warriors and would have won in their two subsequent visits to the NBA Finals, if not for Durant.
Even if Shumpert’s remarks were lighthearted, Durant’s reaction suggests the Warriors’ 2016 decision is still a touchy subject for some NBA players.
Although it is impossible to know whether Cleveland would have won more titles if Durant hadn’t moved to Golden State, his influence in those Finals was clear: he was named Finals MVP both times.
Ten years later, the question of what could have been is still being debated, and Shumpert’s remarks have opened a new chapter in the ongoing conversation about Durant’s choice.
Do you think the Cavaliers would have won two more rings if Durant never joined the Warriors? Let us know what you think in the comments section.