We knew it was gonna happen.........

[spearsy23]

that's a ridiculous notion.

No, it isn't.

That was fun.

there's nothing i can say that will convince you that it's ridiculous. you're intoxicated by sports tribalism.

There's nothing you can say because it's not ridiculous, it's an obvious reality to anyone who actually understands the nature of athletic competition.

[Old Man Game]

I believe there are reasoned, level headed rationale that can lead one to being upset at Durant. I think it comes down to 2 main things for me:

i'm upset he left. and i don't think it's wrong to be upset with him. i'm mainly concerned with some of the lines i think were crossed with the outrage, double standards being applied, and the insane psychoanalysis predictions made about his mental state this year most of which have proven to be untrue.

1) Did he act in bad faith or at a minimum a callous disregard toward the Thunder organization. One can disagree but based on the reporting there is now circumstantial evidence by which one could reasonably conclude the answer is YES. For me the distracted, subpar performance in that game 6 (akin to a College Coach that's already accepted a new job), and more damning, that text to Draymond indicating he'd made a decision after the Finals seals it. He owed it to the Thunder to let them know so they could plan. But that would have gotten in the way of his stupid Hamptons weekend and making himself the center of the sports world for 4 days. So he didn't.

your interpretation of these events is clearly shaped by your bias. all of this is a circumstantial interpretation you are choosing to make, one in which all its cloudy events are curiosity aligned with kevin durant being basketball satan.

2) Did he hurt the league by joining up with an already great team. If he'd joined Boston at least that would have actually helped competitive balance. Instead what we're seeing now has all the drama of professional wrestling. Long term its bad for the league. And even short term it is and this isn't just an opinion, Exhibit 'A', the cap number that had to be reduced by 3 million. A direct impact of the reduction in televised playoff games because Golden State (and Cleveland) just steamrolled everyone.
Now I understand ratings were big in this Finals, but will that last long term. Eventually blowouts get old. Even casual fans get bored with that at some point.

i couldn't care less about any of that insofar as it relates to kevin durant's decision making and my feelings on his decision. why aren't we similarly outraged at tim duncan playing for $5mm a few years ago?

Now look, I understand one could say (as he himself has argued) that it isn't Kevin Durant's responsibility to ensure competitive balance. That's true. But one can still be unhappy about his decision regardless. But for him making that decision we wouldn't be dealing with the outcome. He's the proximate cause of the gross inequity of the moment. Hurts us as fans of competitive basketball. Hurts the league. His decision and his alone led us there. He gets the blame. Period.

his decision and his alone led us there? come on. a ton of outside factors led to this, some out of anyone's direct control. you're smarter than this. unhappy with his decision? i don't care. i was, too. i still am. i'm happy for kevin durant the person that he got what he wanted and appears to be in a good place for him. i'm unhappy that he's no longer on the thunder. i'm unhappy that the warriors will reign in the west for the foreseeable future, overshadowing westbrook's prime. those things suck.

And to your point, I do think he was making his own decisions. The observations to the contrary are really just people not wanting to believe he, this guy we all loved so much and thought of as loving us back, could do that to us. Back to the jilted wife analogy again, like blaming everyone except our Ex for his actions.

making this assumption about any athlete is just asking for trouble. i fear for the ones who are laying so much on the line with westbrook and interpreting so much into his actions that can just as easily be explained away by maximizing his financial situation. i was surprised with kevin durant actually left because i like a lot of people thought he was like a dirk or a duncan or whatever. but he was presented with an opportunity none of those guys ever had and it's foolish to assume what a guy's priorities are and that they will never change. this isn't a jilted wife thing for me at all.

We could go back and forth questioning each other's motives for why we are choosing to interpret these events the way we are respectively, but ultimately that would get us nowhere so I guess I'll rest my case on that point.

But I am still surprised that you aren't at least annoyed by the fact that he knew well before the Hamptons weekend that he was going to Golden State and chose to tell no one. Do you just not believe that reporting? Don't you think it would have been helpful to the team that had paid him and made him a Cornerstone and helped to elevate his career the first 8 years to at least like give them a heads up so they could start making contingency plans before free agency opened?

Also I'm surprised that you're writing off the competition argument. Just as a basketball fan you're telling me that you honestly enjoyed these playoffs this year? Forget the playoffs, this whole season was nothing but a formality on this dreary slog toward what we all knew beforehand would be the ultimate conclusion.

I think it speaks volumes that there are threads on the general board with titles like "NBA sucks right now" and in that thread fully half or more of the people are agreeing with the general premise that there's no competition in the league, that the whole season was pointless, that there's no light at the end if the tunnel given the Warriors ages and salaries of key players. These aren't Thunder fans, these are NBA fans. And they're unhappy with this.

Justin, I've talked to you online long enough to know that you're a lifelong NBA fan and I'm just surprised that an NBA lifer is honestly okay with that State of Affairs and that you aren't willing to lay a least some blame on the guy whose decision (his, not his shoe company, not Jay Z, not the players union, not his posse, his) has made this our reality as NBA fans.

Take it to the logical extreme, If they win seven straight rings losing only one game every post season and mostly beating teams by double digits every game, you're telling me you'll find that compelling basketball? Will you watch it all? I sure as Hell won't. And no, not because I'm a sore thunder fan, I won't because that'll be boring.

[bondom34]

Just want to say that's a great post OMG, agree entirely.

[slick_watts]

But I am still surprised that you aren't at least annoyed by the fact that he knew well before the Hamptons weekend that he was going to Golden State and chose to tell no one. Do you just not believe that reporting? Don't you think it would have been helpful to the team that had paid him and made him a Cornerstone and helped to elevate his career the first 8 years to at least like give them a heads up so they could start making contingency plans before free agency opened?

when's the last time a pending ufa came out and said "i'm leaving"? i don't think there's a precedent for what you are asking for, even if you take that reporting at face value.

i think if kd did know he was leaving beforehand and told everyone that would have done precisely what many have accused him of doing- sabotaging the team. or are you saying he knew he was leaving after the playoffs but before July 4? even if he did know, and did tell sam presti and the thunder, what would have changed? and again, where is the precedent for any other ufa of durant's caliber (or any caliber, i guess) announcing his intentions like this before free agency begins? my guess is a low percentage, if it's any percentage.

Also I'm surprised that you're writing off the competition argument. Just as a basketball fan you're telling me that you honestly enjoyed these playoffs this year? Forget the playoffs, this whole season was nothing but a formality on this dreary slog toward what we all knew beforehand would be the ultimate conclusion.

i watched a few games of the playoffs. didn't watch most of it. no, i didn't enjoy it. mostly because the thunder were not in it.

I think it speaks volumes that there are threads on the general board with titles like "NBA sucks right now" and in that thread fully half or more of the people are agreeing with the general premise that there's no competition in the league, that the whole season was pointless, that there's no light at the end if the tunnel given the Warriors ages and salaries of key players. These aren't Thunder fans, these are NBA fans. And they're unhappy with this.

our disconnect is that you are blaming kevin durant, and kevin durant only, for the state of the nba. i don't think he should be held responsible for that. he didn't create the circumstances that made it possible.

Justin, I've talked to you online long enough to know that you're a lifelong NBA fan and I'm just surprised that an NBA lifer is honestly okay with that State of Affairs and that you aren't willing to lay a least some blame on the guy whose decision (his, not his shoe company, not Jay Z, not the players union, not his posse, his) has made this our reality as NBA fans

Take it to the logical extreme, If they win seven straight rings losing only one game every post season and mostly beating teams by double digits every game, you're telling me you'll find that compelling basketball? Will you watch it all? I sure as Hell won't. And no, not because I'm a sore thunder fan, I won't because that'll be boring.

i already don't watch much non-thunder basketball. i'm fairly selective. it hasn't affected me much in that sense.

the warriors were fortunate to stumble into a situation where they could sign kevin durant. the biggest factor was the cap rise and tv deal. whether or not they saw it coming and planned accordingly is up for debate. but kevin durant wouldn't be a warrior right now if not for that and a confluence of many other circumstances (improbably losing against cleveland, for example).

i write off kevin durant going to the warriors as mostly bad luck. 'blaming' him for choosing an opportunity that aligned best with his priorities is just looney tunes to me.

[Old Man Game]

or are you saying he knew he was leaving after the playoffs but before July 4?

Yes. He texted Green AFTER the finals but before July 1, "I'm coming." There has also been reporting previously (forgive me I don't have the link because it was months ago) that the Thunder were essentially left high and dry in making offers to other free agents because Durant took so long to inform them of the decision. Guys like Parson, Crabbe, etc. They aren't KD by any means but it would have been nice to be able to at least make an offer. We couldn't because Durant's process and resulting timeline didn't allow it.

even if he did know, and did tell sam presti and the thunder, what would have changed? and again, where is the precedent for any other ufa of durant's caliber (or any caliber, i guess) announcing his intentions like this before free agency begins? my guess is a low percentage, if it's any percentage.

Well, Paul George just gave the Pacers a whole season's notice so there's that very recent example.

In terms of watching other teams I guess you just don't watch much as I was under the impression you watched. Me personally "my team" has only made the Finals once but I've watched every Finals and as many other playoff games as I possibly could leading up to the Finals since 1991, and I've never experienced a more boring playoffs than this season. I don't think I'm alone in that assessment.

To me this viewing experience isn't NBA basketball, at least not as we have previously understood and come to enjoy it. This most closely resembles watching the US national team in the Olympics just steamroll everyone.

[Old Man Game]

'blaming' him for choosing an opportunity that aligned best with his priorities is just looney tunes to me.

I could be wrong here and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think you're just getting too hung up on the moral dimension of this whole inquiry. My contention is that you don't have to actually get into the morality of it or lay blame to apportion fault. You're allowed to be mad at him and mad at the situation for what has occurred without laying blame or concluding he did something morally wrong insofar as he decided to make a rational, self interested decision to go to Golden State to pursue a championship.

Note: to be clear the ultimate decision to go and whether or not that was morally wrong, is a separate issue from his decision not to inform the thunder in advance and whether that was morally wrong.

[slick_watts]

Yes. He texted Green AFTER the finals but before July 1, "I'm coming." There has also been reporting previously (forgive me I don't have the link because it was months ago) that the Thunder were essentially left high and dry in making offers to other free agents because Durant took so long to inform them of the decision. Guys like Parson, Crabbe, etc. They aren't KD by any means but it would have been nice to be able to at least make an offer. We couldn't because Durant's process and resulting timeline didn't allow it.

this is common with any ufa though. teams can't make commitments to other players. this is why cap holds exist.

we wouldn't have been players for any major free agents anyway- we used the majority of the space we had after kd left to extend russell westbrook. this issue is a nonstarter for me. and honestly, i don't see how or why kd should feel responsible for making sure his rival in the west has ample time to go after free agents had he already made up his mind to leave.

imo you're holding kd to a moral expectation that is unreasonable.

In terms of watching other teams I guess you just don't watch much as I was under the impression you watched. Me personally "my team" has only made the Finals once but I've watched every Finals and as many other playoff games as I possibly could leading up to the Finals since 1991, and I've never experienced a more boring playoffs than this season. I don't think I'm alone in that assessment.

To me this viewing experience isn't NBA basketball, at least not as we have previously understood and come to enjoy it. This most closely resembles watching the US national team in the Olympics just steamroll everyone.

i haven't watch much nba since 2013 or so.

whether you think this is 'nba basketball' or not i still don't see how that relates to kevin durant's decision making process. is he supposed to take that into consideration...? are we holding every player to these expectations? or just kevin durant?

we've gone a little bit off track. i want to re-iterate that i don't have a problem with people being mad at kd, or upset with him and his decision. his decision made the thunder suck. he went to a team that we all hate. i get all that. i don't get the epithets (i.e. 'cupcake', less of a man, not competitive, 'beta') that come along for the ride and i especially don't get calling me out in the first place as a jilted wife because i'm glad the dude appears to be content.

[slick_watts]

'blaming' him for choosing an opportunity that aligned best with his priorities is just looney tunes to me.

I could be wrong here and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think you're just getting too hung up on the moral dimension of this whole inquiry. My contention is that you don't have to actually get into the morality of it or lay blame to apportion fault. You're allowed to be mad at him and mad at the situation for what has occurred without laying blame or concluding he did something morally wrong insofar as he decided to make a rational, self interested decision to go to Golden State to pursue a championship.

Note: to be clear the ultimate decision to go and whether or not that was morally wrong, is a separate issue from his decision not to inform the thunder in advance and whether that was morally wrong.

i mean, ok. if you want to separate the morality of kd's decision from the consequences of his decision, yeah you can say that his actions had a hand in creating the current nba landscape. i don't think this is a natural separation though and the critique of kd's decision is mostly hinged upon moral sentiment (i.e. it was 'wrong' to go to golden state) from what i've seen.

i don't think informing the thunder in advance is either a realistic expectation for a player in kd's position, or one that would have even benefited the thunder much at all. maybe save them some agita.

[Old Man Game]

i especially don't get calling me out in the first place as a jilted wife because i'm glad the dude appears to be content.

I wasn't referring to you specifically. I was referring to the Thunder fan base as a whole. That's why there was so much motivated reasoning to say KD just couldn't do this on his own it had to be his crew it had to be the shoe company excetera that's the jilted wife aspect they don't want to believe their former partner could be so awful to them.