Kevin Durant's career path, explained in musical terms

Many Warriors fans, myself included, have a hard time understanding why Kevin Durant would leave such a sweet situation with the Warriors to forge into the greater unknown with the Brooklyn Nets. But KD has always been intentionally transparent about his feelings; at least to the point he can articulate them.

I've come up with an analogy from the music world that fits like a glove, and oddly enough, is easier to relate to.

Kevin Durant = Neil Young.

Let's look at 1969. Crosby, Stills, and Nash (alias Klay, Steph, and Draymond) had all come from different backgrounds and groups, but they figured out that together, these three stars (on their way to superstardom together), could come up with the most beautiful three part harmony ever heard. They released their first album together, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and it stunned the world with its success, peaking at #6 on Billboard and eventually going quadruple platinum (2015 ring).

Meanwhile, Neil Young has his own pretty good career going. His second album also does well, going platinum but doesn't quite reach the heights of CSN, as "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" doesn't even crack the Billboard top 30 (Thunder 2012 finals). To the shock of many, he joins CSN and expands the already-supergroup. They were looking for someone great to fill in perceived gaps (keyboard playing), and even though it meant two lead guitarists in the group with Stills and Young (MVP's Curry and Durant), they were intent on figuring out how to play together.

Neil is perfectly happy to try to blend with these beautiful voices (game) and also to be just one of the Beatles - people know who they are individually, but they are all for one and one for all. They come out of the gate with a splash by playing Woodstock together (2017 ring) and then release the band's most successful album, "Déjà Vu" (2018 ring). The album was killing it in the charts and then, in reaction to the tragedy at Kent State (Dray's blowup), Neil writes "Ohio." In an unprecedentedly unselfish move, Graham Nash pulls "Teach Your Children" off the shelves as a single (Steph flying to the Hamptons himself to attract the MVP and then sacrifice his game for him), allowing "Ohio" to get the attention and crack the top 20 (KD's stellar runs with 40 point games when Steph was out).

This entire time, the members of CSNY continued to strike independent deals and release their own solo albums (shoe deals). This was not divisive... it's just the way things work. But however much Neil wanted to be just one of the guys and no matter how much they wanted him to be, many fans and critics complained that his fourth voice never really found an equal and balanced part. To them, "Déjà Vu" didn't really seem like a true CSNY album, it seemed like CSN songs ("Carry On," "Woodstock," "Our House", "Almost Cut My Hair") alternating with obvious Neil Young songs ("Helpless"). Neil started to realize that some people were never going to accept him as just one of the guys... it'll always be "CSN plus Young" and compared (sometimes unfavorably) to the greatness that was CSN without him.

Sadly, the band's attempt to follow up "Déjà Vu" with their next album "Human Highway" only got partially finished before bickering sank the band and Neil left (2019 Finals).

So to return back to my premise that we can understand KD better via Neil Young, let's imagine the conversation at the point Neil announces he's leaving.

Neil: Guys, I gotta leave the group.

CSN: But Neil, it's going great! Look at what we've accomplished together!

Neil: Yeah, it's been great, and I got the experience of having chart-topping singles with a band, but I think I'm ready to try something else.

CSN: Why would you try something else? What kind of person doesn't want to keep having septuple platinum albums like Déjà Vu? We can do this for years, man!

Neil: Don't get me wrong, I loved it. I just think more of it is just going to be more of the same. I want to have a different experience. Hell, I might write "Comes a Time."

CSN: Yeah, and you might write "Trans." Stick with a sure thing.

Neil: Sorry, dudes. I still love you and our time together, but I gotta do me.

What happens next? Neil goes on to have great albums ("Ragged Glory," "Harvest Moon," "Rust Never Sleeps") but also disaster albums ("Hawks and Doves," "Everybody's Rockin'", "Old Ways"). So there's highs and lows, but he gets to play with other people (fronting bands featuring Booker T and the MG's as well as Pearl Jam), and he still ends up going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, both with CSN and as a solo artist. CSN goes on to more success, but never the same level of success. They pretty much all pegged the meter with "Déjà Vu."

But there is one light further down the tunnel. In 1988, Neil agrees to reunite CSNY after he promises David Crosby he'll do it if Crosby cleans up his drug problem. True to his word, he comes back to the team for a few more albums. Still not the group's highlight, but frankly, that moment I spent right in front of them at the second Bridge Benefit in Oakland is one of my most treasured live musical moments ever.

I mean, it was breathtakingly awesome. So I got that going for me. And that's good.