The Golden State Warriors have been the latest dynasty in the NBA over the last decade, winning four championships while making the Finals on a further two occasions.

However, their era of dominance can often be defined by one big, near seven-foot marker — the team’s success with Kevin Durant, and their success either side of his three-year tenure with Golden State.

Isiah Thomas may believe Kevin Durant cemented the Golden State Warriors dynasty, but that’s far from the real truth

Durant’s arrival to the Warriors in 2016 was laced with controversy, with many fans believing the 2014 MVP had taken the easy route in forming the league’s latest super-team. Golden State had just won a record 73 regular season games, but fell in the NBA Finals after taking a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Unsurprisingly, the Warriors were nearly unstoppable in winning the next two championships, with Durant winning Finals MVP in both years. They likely would have won three-straight titles if not for serious leg injuries to Durant and Klay Thompson, leading to a 4-2 defeat to the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

Speaking with veteran Warrior forward Draymond Green on a recent podcast, NBA Legend Isiah Thomas boldly claimed that Durant’s arrival cemented the Golden State dynasty, and saved the basketball legacies of fellow stars in Green, Thompson and Stephen Curry.

“Kevin Durant comes that summer and really saved ya’ll basketball legacy, and you win two championships after that, and now the Golden State Warriors dynasty and going into the Hall of Fame legacy, it is cemented.”

– Isiah Thomas

Thomas’ comments on the Warriors’ dynasty is obviously subjective, largely because that word in itself is up for debate. What exactly makes a sporting dynasty? At which championship did it become that?

But in the case of individual players and their legacy, Thomas is blatantly wrong. Perhaps he’s right to a degree — maybe there was a notion that Durant came and saved the Warriors’ core after one of NBA history’s biggest meltdowns.

Yet any notion of that was wiped away two years ago when Golden State, three years removed from Durant, lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy again. The legacy of Stephen Curry was cemented with that elusive Finals MVP, rather than during the Durant era for which Thomas claims.

That championship altered the perspective of every major player across this dynasty, most notably Curry and Durant. No longer is it about Durant saving Curry and the Warriors, but perhaps Curry and the Warriors saving him. The 35-year-old hasn’t been back to even the Conference Finals since, despite star-studded teams in Brooklyn and now Phoenix.

Durant was one of the key pillars in building an NBA dynasty that will forever be remembered. He didn’t cement it. Nor did he cement the legacies of Curry, Green and Thompson, each of whom will tell you that 2022 was their favorite championship. Why? Because that’s the one that was most validating…that’s the one that forever disproved the idea that “Durant saved them.”