Olympic success proves Kevin Durant made massive mistake

At 35-years-old Kevin Durant is riding the crest of a wave right now. Not only is he the only four-time gold medal winner in men's Olympic Games history - there's no catching you Diana Taurasi - but he got to win another one with his good friend LeBron James, plus Phoenix Suns' teammate Devin Booker.

Durant is also able to enjoy victory without the snide comments online that followed both of his NBA championship wins with the Golden State Warriors. Back then he was criticized for joining a contender to get over the hump, and it is a fact that he will seemingly never be able to escape either.

But his play next to Curry at the Olympics only proves Durant should have just stuck it out in The Bay.

That's not what Suns' fans want to hear of course, and there is no doubt that they are only a contender themselves right now because he is in The Valley. But two things were very clear to anybody who watched Team USA's run to the gold medal. The first is that Durant and Curry on the court together is as unstoppable as it always was.

When the pair were together with the Warriors, it was like a kind of basketball nirvana on the offensive end. This is to take nothing away from Durant and Booker - who although different in how their partnership works in Phoenix - are an absolute joy to watch when they've got it figured out. They just haven't figured it out as often, and nobody can shoot the ball like Curry can.

Watching France desperately try to contain Curry during the gold medal game - to some success in the early goings - only meant open looks for Durant. It is no surprise that he is the all-time leading scorer in Team USA basketball at the Olympics, but the addition of Curry this time around made it truly unfair for everybody else.

In walking away from the Warriors back in 2019, Durant turned his back on the chance to team up with Curry and surely win even more championships. To those who say they also would have been thought of as "fake titles" - which they most certainly would have - what do you think is going to happen if the Suns ever win a championship?

Booker was just out there in crunch time for Team USA, and he's one of the 10 best players in the league. A championship with the Suns might be great as it would be the first in franchise history, but the criticism of Durant will remain the same. He couldn't get it done with a super team in Brooklyn with the Nets, so he teamed up with Booker and Bradley Beal in the desert to win one more instead.

Which brings us back to the second point on the Durant and Curry relationship, which is that they are very good friends. Again we need to preface this by saying so too are Durant and Booker, they appear to get along really well both on and off the court. But it was telling that Durant and Curry were the first to really embrace each other after beating France.

On an anecdotal level, this writer was also courtside at the women's warmup game between Team USA and Germany in London prior to the Olympics starting. Four men's players showed up, Durant, Curry, Bam Adebayo and Tyrese Haliburton. Yet it was Durant and Curry who sat together, laughed and joked around, and left together as well.

Durant clearly loves the game of basketball in a way few others do. Seriously, go back and watch those four 3-pointers Curry made to break French hearts and watch Durant's reaction to each one. He is in the moment and genuinely enjoying watching one of the best to ever do it just go out there and do their thing.

But now that the 2024 version of Team USA will never play together again - and both Durant and Curry enter the twilight of their careers - could the feelings of "what if" begin to emerge. Durant is going to get slated no matter what he does, so why didn't he just stay where the fit was never better for him on a professional level? Stephen Curry looks like a pretty close friend of his too.