Why Joe Lacob isn't stressed about Kevin Durant maybe leaving Warriors

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Last summer, Warriors superstar Kevin Durant elected to sign another "one plus one" contract to give him the option to become a free agent in the summer of 2019 again.

"We would have liked to have had him -- been here longer; sign a long-term deal," Golden State owner and CEO Joe Lacob said back in September.

But the two-time Finals MVP didn't want to commit long-term because he wanted to maintain ultimate flexibility. As a result, that has led to rampant speculation about his future, with the majority of the basketball world believing he will sign with the Knicks this summer.

So, how much is Lacob stressing about KD's future?

“I honestly don’t even think about it,” Lacob told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic on Sunday. “I don’t. Because there’s nothing I can do about it. Zero. He has earned the right to be a free agent. He’s going to make the choice that feels best for him. And it’s our job to, when the season’s over, convince him that the right decision is to be a Warrior for life.

“Look, we can pay him the most money. We have a great team. We have great coaching. We have great fans. I don’t think anyone can match us, when you take everything into consideration, if that’s the way you’re thinking about it.

"And he has a chance to win — and let’ s hope it goes well this year — a chance to win more championships. I mean, it could be legendary. If he stays here … I don’t know that you get this kind of opportunity very often. So I would hope that he thinks that and accepts that and decides he wants to stay."

Lacob is right that KD's decision is out of the Warriors' control. The 10-time All-Star has said that he doesn't need the franchise to re-recruit him in free agency because he already knows what the organization is all about.

If he ultimately decides to leave, it won't be because Golden State did anything wrong or pushed him out the door. It will be because he wants to experience something new and/or different.

Lacob, of course, will be disappointed if Durant signs elsewhere in July. He would like nothing more than to raise another championship banner at Chase Center in October, and then watch KD take the floor in a Warriors uniform.

But if KD goes in a different direction, "I’m not going to be mad at him," Lacob told The Athletic. "Whatever he decides to do, he decides to do. And I’ll probably be a Kevin Durant fan no matter what. I’m not going to be emotional about it. There’s no point.”

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