Kevin Durant graces latest Sports Illustrated cover

Kevin Durant appears on the latest Sports Illustrated cover and fans get to find out the story of how he landed in Golden State.

Kevin Durant took heat all year from the majority of NBA fans. But he had the last laugh on Monday night, capturing his first NBA championship and taking home Finals MVP as the Golden State Warriors closed out the Cleveland Cavaliers with 129-120 Game 5 victory.

Durant is now on top of the NBA world and on the cover of the latest edition of Sports Illustrated. The feature story was done by Lee Jenkins, so you know it’s awesome. Unless you’re an Oklahoma City Thunder fan. If you’re a Thunder fan, turn away.

Jenkins recounts the story of when Durant decided to join the Warriors, which happened to be weeks before his July 4 announcement. In fact, the season had barely ended.

"And so, at that locker, in that uniform, less than an hour after the most excruciating loss of his life, Green punched up Kevin Durant’s number. “See what we’re missing,” Green says, recounting the text message he sent Durant."

While we were making “blew a 3-1 lead” jokes, Draymond was making sure he’d win a title this year.

"The Warriors would have to endure a summer’s worth of mortifying memes—punishment for squandering a 3–1 Finals lead—but by the time Green peeled off his home whites and hit the showers, he could sense that his squad would laugh last. Durant’s response flashed across the screen: “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”"

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And there you have it. Hours after losing in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Warriors added the second best player in the league and the difference maker in the 2017 NBA Finals. Suddenly, those 3-1 jokes don’t seem as funny anymore. Blowing that lead led KD to Golden State and ensured that the NBA would be his playground for the foreseeable future.