Kevin Durant’s financial sacrifice reminds Steve Kerr of Tim Duncan

Kevin Durant took $10 million less than he could’ve on a two-year, $53 million deal this offseason to keep the Warriors together. That brought back memories of another future Hall of Fame player for Steve Kerr.

Kerr compared Durant’s willingness to take less money so the team could bring back role players to Tim Duncan’s propensity to do the same thing.

A remarkable gesture. I told him it reminded me a little bit of Tim Duncan and his time with the Spurs. He made max money and then at key times in his career he took a little less so they could add a player here and there.

Toward the end of his career, Duncan became famous for taking a pay cut to keep the Spurs together. Back in 2015, Duncan took an $8 million pay cut to keep the Spurs from out of the luxury tax while signing Lamarcus Aldridge. He also cut his salary from $21 million to $10 million in 2012 to allow the Spurs to easily keep their depth.

Initial reports said Durant would be willing to take a slight pay cut, but Kerr said no one expected it to be this much.

The implications on the roster are obvious. Because of Durant’s gesture, the Warriors retained Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston — one of those two players were expected to leave, with it most likely being Iguodala.

But what Durant did represents much more than that. The Warriors’ live and die by their “Strength in Numbers” motto. Nothing epitomizes that culture more than the sacrifice Durant made.

And, if Kerr is being truthful here, it was a voluntary sacrifice Durant made without the Warriors requesting he take such a cut. We also saw a similar sacrifice, though, not on the same pay scale, with Shaun Livingston’s three-year, $24 million deal.

On the open market, both of those players are worth far more than they’ll be making over the next few seasons. But, as Livingston told NBC Bay Area, “You can’t put a price on happiness.”

Winning matters to these guys more than money, and that’s fine. It would be fine the other way around, too.

Sure, Durant took a deal for less than his market value as a superstar. He isn’t the first star to do this and he won’t be the last one.

As Kerr said, it’s up to star players whether they want to take a bit less money to keep the squad in tact. But that’s the thing — it’s a choice. Yes, Durant made less money than he could have. And maybe that does put more of an expectation on other star players to do the same.

But those players can also choose not to do so. The thing about the max contract is that most players who are actually being paid the max are worth much more than that. Just ask LeBron James.

Most max level players will still be paid their max simply because other teams will pay them that if their current teams won’t. Paul Millsap is still making $30 million over the next two years, at least. Kyle Lowry will do the same at $33 million annually. They’d make that same money next year and the year after, simply because they’re All-Star level players.

It should be noted that Durant can sacrifice in a way those players can’t. He has more endorsement money coming in and has a Nike deal that could reach as much as $300 million. So $10 million per season for him isn’t as much of a sacrifice for him as it is other top tier players.

Still, many notable players have taken pay cuts over the years. Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh are all on that list. And now we can add Durant do it.

Will we see players continue to do this down the line? Probably. But if we do, it’ll be because they chose to do so — not because the market says they have to.