Kevin Durant accepted a paycut of nearly $10 million to re-sign with Golden State this summer, and his sacrifice reminds Warriors head coach Steve Kerr of former Spurs teammate Tim Duncan.
Chat with Steve Kerr last night on free agency, KD's paycut, the Nick Young/Casspi signings, more https://t.co/uTa4hv0OAM
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) July 11, 2017
Durant re-upped with the NBA champs on a two-year, $53 million deal, and was reportedly willing to accept even less money if it helped the Dubs sign more free agents.
Kerr called it a “remarkable gesture.”
Per the Mercury News:
The decision by Kevin to take the huge paycut of nearly $9.5 million. Sounded like that surprised Bob (Myers). How surprised were you and what were your thoughts on it?
Kerr:: “I knew he was going to give up enough money to allow us to keep Andre [Iguodala] and Shaun [Livingston]. I didn’t know he was going to go beyond that. A remarkable gesture. I told him it reminded me a little bit of Tim Duncan and his time with the Spurs. He made max money and then at key times in his career he took a little less so they could add a player here and there. The way the league works, the way the CBA works, it really kind of is up to the star player at key times to take a little haircut here and there. Whether that’s fair or not, I don’t know. But I do know that Tim knew it was dramatically helping his own career and KD understands the same thing. In the end, he’s going to make a fortune in his career. Already has and he hopefully is going to win more titles and that’s what he cares about.”
