Reggie Miller Hates Durant's Decision to Join the Warriors More Than Anyone Else

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Stars in small markets have a greater obligation to their fans.

People always ask, "What made you stay in Indiana for all those years?"

This is the best way I can answer that question: Your checkout teller at the grocery store, the attendant at the gas station, the ushers, the waiters, the waitresses—all these fans laughed and cheered with me, and they cried with me after the losses to Shaq, MJ and the Knicks.

We were in it together.

I could not look at those fans had I gone somewhere else. I could not win a championship in Miami like LeBron, popping bubbly and all that, knowing there's a group in Indiana that stayed with me when I wasn't able to win a title. I couldn't turn my back on that fanbase and say, "Yay, I got a ring!"

That's why I believe Durant took an unnecessary shortcut by joining the Warriors. Fans in smaller markets live and die with their teams. Going to playoff games and driving through the neighborhood, almost every house has signs and banners from kids.

It gives me chills thinking about those experiences in Indiana. And that's not to say Durant won't encounter this with Golden State. He might. But he's in someone else's kingdom now.

People will read this and say, "This is coming from a guy who never won a championship." That's fine with me. And again, I get Durant's decision. I understand that temptation.

The Celtics wanted me to come out of retirement in 2007-08, when they won a title with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. I couldn't do it. There was an opportunity to join the Lakers at one point. I couldn't do that, either. And maybe I should have.

But to me, a king should never leave his kingdom.

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