Padecky: Kevin Durant's absence shows Warriors could be just fine without him

Kevin Durant may return to play in the NBA Finals next week.

I’m dreading it.

Three words I’d never thought I’d write. Three words that rain blasphemy on a team destined to be remembered forever with sonnets, hourlong biopics and - you can count on this - newborns named Draymond. Somewhere there’ll be Klay Boulevard and - given his penchant for community involvement - a Stephen Curry day care center. In the Bay Area, Steve Kerr will never have to pay for a meal for the rest of his life.

So why be poopy-pants about the greatest scorer since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Before Durant, Kareem and his Sky Hook was the last NBA player who could score whenever he wanted. “Kareem could score 100 every game if he wanted,” Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham once told me. Yes, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan were supreme talents, could bank 60 and no one would be surprised. But defensive swarm could slow them, inhibit them, frustrate them.

No such defense existed for Kareem, and no such defense exists for Durant. They get the ball when they want. They shoot the ball when they want. His Warriors teammates know that. That’s the problem. That’s what I’m dreading.

Pick a cliche. They all work. KD is their safety net, their ace in the hole, their escape valve, their binky when they get stressed (OK, maybe this last one wasn’t a cliche). But knowing they have the greatest point-maker in the last 30 years reduces the intensity, the intensity that we just saw in the last five playoff games.

That’s what I’m dreading. These five playoff games reminded me of what the Warriors once were. These five victories reminded me of 2014-15, when Golden State first burst on the scene with the most uncommon approaches, rarely seen in the NBA.

They played without ego. They passed the ball so often they damn near wore the cover off the thing. It was like playing a game of pinball - the ball would move so fast it almost seemed like it didn’t even touch hands. Their passes were crisp, quick, accurate. A guy would pass up a great shot for an even better one. Steph led the scoring, of course - at 23.8 points per game. Modest, as history has shown. And no one griped.

For those of us who grew tired of the Me First NBA player, it was a refreshing sight. It was stimulating to see the game played the way it was intended. Oh, that I wished John Wooden were alive to have seen it. He wouldn’t have believed what he saw - that indeed it was possible a superstar basketball player could play for the team, not himself.

While it was not their intent, the intense rivalry Magic Johnson and Larry Bird created in the ’80s evolved to the unholiest of holies - Anthony Davis announcing before the season was over that he was leaving New Orleans for a better team. A player, LeBron James, would decided who would be his coach. Every foul called now results in every player shaking his head, palms upward, faces contorted - he surely must have been stabbed.

“I’m thinking about the money I’m going to get,” said Durant to the Athletic, when asked what he was looking forward to this offseason.

Into this ego grab bag the Durant-less Warriors shut down the Rockets and James Harden’s tender ego. They swept Portland in four. Sure, Steph and Klay and Draymond made their buckets, but their postgame locker room practically became a shrine for Alfonzo McKinnie. Yes, don’t feel embarrassed if you think you saw a guy who looked like Alfonzo taking your drink order at Starbucks.

Three years ago McKinnie was a semi-pro player for a bottom-feeder, second-tier team in Luxembourg - which is somewhere in Europe. McKinnie was undrafted in 2015, which is how he ended up - I swear this is the correct name - with the East Side Pirates. In tiny Luxembourg, the East Side Pirates must have been right across the street from the West Side Pirates.

McKinnie scored 12 points Monday night and had two key offensive rebounds. Echoes are heard, echoes of Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights and Leandro Barbosa. Yep, you guessed it, this trio were key contributors in ’14-’15. And if you haven’t followed their careers since, Speights has become a bit of a star in China and I’m pretty sure the other two aren’t baristas at Starbucks, but I can’t help much beyond that.

I didn’t know how much I missed the first Warriors championship team until these last five games. These guys were active, exciting, selfless, and enjoying the fact that not even Russell Westbrook can keep up with the basketball if it was passed with aggressive, accurate intent.

No Kevin Durant? No DeMarcus Cousins? No Andre Iguodala? Oh my, what to do? Let’s play like a team. It worked five years ago. And Kerr, he’s still the coach.

Now he’s the true miracle. For my money, Kerr now has elevated himself into the pantheon of NBA coaches. Red Auerbach, Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson - Kerr now belongs among them. No question.

Kerr has sold his players on Team, not Self. To understand how tough that is, just remember what Durant said a few paragraphs ago. He’s looking forward to getting The Money, as if he only has a few silver dollars left in his checking account. Forbes Magazine estimates Durant in his career has made more than $400 million in salary and endorsements.

“But I never got that massive deal,” Durant told the Athletic. Shoot, one day Durant even might be able to afford a home in Sonoma County.

Durant is willing to leave a team that has reached the NBA Finals five straight seasons. The Bird Celtics, the Magic Lakers, the Jordan Bulls - they never did that. Durant is on a team that has a halo over it like any other. If Durant is really serious about winning, there’s only one team out there worthy of his talents.

Without Durant, the Warriors are more exciting, more fun to watch. Are they a better team without him? Of course not. They’ll need him if the Dubs face The Greek Freak.

That said, don’t stress when Durant leaves in the offseason to live on a street paved with gold. Don’t worry. The Warriors will be fine. Kerr is still the coach. Bob Myers is still the general manager. The Warriors still will shoot the eyes out of it. The players still will play with their hair on fire. And the best part, we’ll go back to the good ol’ days, when Steph and Klay and Draymond will hold the door open for the next Alfonzo. Welcome, bud, you’re gonna love it.

To comment, write bobpadecky@gmail.com.