LeBron James Defends Kevin Durant's Decision To Join Warriors But Denies It's Similar To His Own Career Path

LeBron James obviously isn’t incredibly happy about the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ 0-3 deficit to the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals, but he doesn’t seem to harbor any resentment toward Kevin Durant for joining the juggernaut in Oakland.

On Thursday, James spoke to reporters and was asked a number of questions about the series.

One reporter asked if the addition of Durant was “fair.”

From ESPN:

“Is it fair? I don’t care,” James said Thursday, the day after the Cleveland Cavaliers fell behind 3-0 in the Finals to Durant and the Warriors. “I mean, I think it’s great. It’s great for our league. Right now, look at our TV ratings, look at the money our league is pouring in. I mean, guys are loving the game, our fans love the game.

“I mean, who am I to say if it’s fair or not? No matter who I’m going against, if I’m going against four Hall of Famers, like I said before the series started with Draymond (Green), Klay (Thompson), Steph (Curry), and K.D., or if I’m going against two or whatever the case may be, I’m always excited to play the game.

“And I’m not one to judge and say if it’s fair or not if guys are adding players to their team. So that’s what you want to do. Is it fair that the New York Yankees in the ’90s was adding piece after piece after piece after piece? I mean, if you have the opportunity to do that — is it fair that the (Dallas) Cowboys added Deion Sanders? I mean, listen. It happens. It’s sports. You have an opportunity to sign one of the best players, and you can do it, go ahead and do it. Why not? If I become an owner, I’m going to try to sign everybody.”

However, ‘King James’ was a tad defensive when asked if Durant’s choice mirrored his own move to the Miami Heat and ultimately back to Cleveland.

LeBron explains the difference between him signing with Miami and KD signing with the Warriors.

A post shared by Sports Videos (@houseofhighlights) on Jun 8, 2017 at 11:46am PDT

I don’t think that our careers are the same as far as changing teams. Their team was already kinda put together, and you just implement a guy that’s ready to sacrifice … a great talent a guy that’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win.

For me, when I left here to go to Miami, we had to build something.

Although many will argue James and Durant’s moves are the same since both were trying to take the easy route to championship glory, there’s simply no comparison.

The Warriors were already the best regular season team in NBA history when they added another all-time great, future first-ballot Hall of Famer.