OAKLAND, Calif. – Kevin Durant has learned, painfully and repeatedly, that championships wait for no one. The game moves on, it evolves. What once seems promised quickly can vanish. As his latest best chance to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to that elusive title evaporated late Monday under a confetti shower at Oracle Arena, Durant hugged the triumphant Stephen Curry while seething and mourning inside.

"I hate to [expletive] lose. It sucks. I thought it was our year," Durant told The Vertical while shaking his head after his Thunder lost to the defending champion Golden State Warriors 96-88 in Game 7 of an incredible Western Conference finals series that won't soon be forgotten, "but sometimes it doesn't pan out that way."

Durant tried to the keep the most high-stakes season of his career going a little longer, staging a one-man rally that simply wasn't enough to dethrone a team that's on a quest for immortality more than anything else. The Thunder seemed destined for a similar chase when Durant and his dynamic running mate Russell Westbrook made their first NBA Finals in 2012.

Kevin Durant will become a free agent on July 1. (Getty Images) More

LeBron James stood in the way that year, then injuries mostly caused the delay in subsequent years. Then, while Durant was away recovering from three foot surgeries last season, Curry and the Warriors jumped him in line while also spoiling James' grand homecoming plans in the process. Golden State wasn't going to move aside so a former MVP and four-time scoring champion could claim a spot he has long coveted. And, after becoming just the 10th team in NBA history – and the first in a conference finals since the 1980-81 Boston Celtics – to overcome a 3-1 series deficit, the Warriors don't appear interested in getting out of the way anytime soon, leaving Durant to ponder if his moment will ever come.

"I'm certain. I'm certain," Durant told The Vertical about his belief that he eventually will win the championship that cements a Hall of Fame legacy. "They don't love the game like I love it. Nobody knows how much I put in the work, how much I care about my teammates, about everything. I've given my heart and soul into this since I was 8 years old. Whatever happens, I'm certain. I feel confident that that moment will happen. I'm 27 years old. Hopefully, I can play a long time in this league but nothing is guaranteed. I know one thing for sure, I'm going to put the work in."

But as he walked out of the arena, flanked by his father, Wayne Pratt; agent Rich Kleiman of Roc Nation Sports; and manager Charlie Bell, Durant dived into another level of uncertainty that superseded when and if he will stop being the game's most accomplished active player without a ring. Durant will become the most coveted free agent this summer and very well could've donned a Thunder uniform for the final time.

Durant played his final game in a Seattle SuperSonics uniform in the same building eight years ago, before the franchise moved on to the plains of the mid-South. The wounds of Monday's loss to the Warriors were still fresh and Durant wasn't ready to immediately speculate on his future. Soon, he won't be able to avoid the question he has effectively dodged for nearly two years.

"What I got, a month? I don't know," Durant told The Vertical. "I've got to decompress, just reflect. And I really can't tell you. I'll know in the next couple of weeks – if I even think about it. But as of today, I have no thoughts, I have nothing to really think about. Just enjoy, reflect on this season and all we did as a team."

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