People are missing out on the real story behind the Kevin Durant deal.

It's not about legacy or championships or "cheating for rings" or dynasties or being an evil empire or anything like that. Kevin Durant joining the Warriors about something else entirely and it’s actually inspiring and rather beautiful. And what he's done is a brilliant example for all of us as we make our own decisions around work, community, vocation, etc.

Kevin Durant is choosing something that I hope we will all choose in our lives at some point: passion, joy, fraternity, beauty, risk, challenge, people, growth, learning, fidelity to what makes us happy. And he’s not concerning himself with the following: legacy, ego, other people’s opinions, etc. To me, his decision says “life is precious let’s do something real.”

Like many young people his age, Durant is packing up and moving to a place where people deeply believe that if they work hard they can do extraordinary things; just like Steph Curry on the basketball court, the young entrepreneurs in the tech world, medical residents coming to UCSF, writers like Dave Eggers, and the countless number starting and working for Bay Area non-profits. I’m excited for him to be here; I think he'll grow a lot.

He’s not just choosing a city though; he's also choosing an organization. Yes, the Warriors are already a historically great team without him. But the Warriors are also historically great off the court. Steve Kerr has created a culture of fun and joy that is the envy of not only basketball teams, but organizations everywhere. Who wouldn't want to go to work in an atmosphere that was humorous, empowering, joyful, honest, disciplined, etc.?

On court success part is only a small part of a bigger story. Kerr's Warriors have their priorities straight. It is the only team where assistant coaches are encouraged to go play golf once a week, where practices start with drop kicking half court shots to blaring music. Kerr wants to make sure that they are actively enjoying their lives and not taking work too seriously. Let's not forget that Durant is choosing all of that.

Durant is also choosing the Silicon Valley opportunities that come after basketball. Iguodala has taken full advantage and I expect Durant to as well. He is setting himself up to learn a ton and to grow after his basketball career.

Then there is the work itself. A good friend of mine and I often talk about the importance of doing good work. It’s worth sacrificing quite a bit in order to do good work.

Durant obviously loves basketball; you can tell he absolutely adores it. He is choosing basketball that is poised to be breathtakingly beautiful. It already is. But can you imagine what the spacing is going to look like next season? May we all choose to ignore pundits in order to do beautiful work in our lives.

Durant is also choosing friendship, fraternity, working with great people. According to Ethan Sherwood Strauss, Andre Iguodala reminded Durant that one's basketball career is short. What matters is that you go to work with people you love and you create memories with people you love. Durant is choosing to play with guys who are selfless, low key, and fun. He's choosing guys that share his faith and values. These are reasons enough alone to justify the move. Would that we all are able to make a choice to surround ourselves with people that we love on a daily basis.

Durant is rejecting the chorus of pundits who will say that he’s taking a cowardly route who haven’t given any consideration to the above factors. He’s appreciating that life is short, and doing what feels right to him right now. He is making a choice for himself and his future growth as a human being. Who can fault him for that? He's rejecting people who say "even if he wins a title he is admitting that he couldn't do it alone." Good for him.

Now, I feel bad for the good people of OKC. I think Durant feels bad about that too. But sometimes it's important to remember that each of us must live our own lives. Each of us must follow our own path of growth. We should be careful and kind, but we also can't end up on our deathbeds wondering "what if?" just to please people that we don't really know that well. Sometimes living an authentic and full life involves disappointing people.

Durant is taking an incredible risk. This won’t be easy. It is impossible for this team to overachieve. And he’s okay with that. He’s choosing values that are important to him. In the grand scheme of the Universe NBA championships mean nothing (with all due respect to Jerry West). But doing beautiful things with people you love does matter. It matters a great deal. I’m happy for Durant. I think he’s made a beautiful decision.

Welcome to California, Mr. Durant! If you ever want to go backpacking in the Sierra let me know!