KD to GS - Pt III

[pelifan]

Quick note to the 'Warriors have been unfairly hated' crap echoed a bit in here.

We loved you guys as underdogs but you let success get to your head and become the most cocky, hypocritical team in the league.

It's all justified.

Correct. To reference something I posted from a previous KD thread that was written by a person from GQ shortly after the 2016 Finals:

http://www.gq.com/story/steph-curry-backlash-lebron

For the first time in what seemed forever, Curry (who, like LeBron, was born in Akron) was officially a loser again, just another Icarus who flew too close to the sun with his stupid mouthpiece dangling out. In a year that saw much of the formerly besotted public violently reject and repudiate Curry and the Golden State Warriors, this was the only acceptable conclusion, that of maximum dishonor and a vicious public humbling.

So, just as Phreak50 said, the "formerly besotted public" (a public that liked and was taken with the Warriors) turned on the Warriors last year. And that turning seems to have particularly taken place during the playoffs.

If you are capable of turning LeBron into a hero, then you're probably doing something wrong.

I recall seeing a poll (can't find it now and I have looked for it) taken either before the Finals started or before Game 7, from ESPN I believe it was, which I think showed an overwhelming number of USA states rooting for the Cavs. That never happens until late last year. The Warriors were the darlings of the league, but then people turned on them.

Sure, "Light Years" and all of that. But it wasn't just that. It was the shimmying, it was the arrogance that showed up on the court and in media sessions. It was the "best team of all time?" stuff that put the cart before the horse. It was Ayesha. It was Mychal. It was Draymond hitting people in the groin and not getting suspended during the OKC series. It was Klay talking about LeBron. It was Klay saying the Warriors were better than the Showtime Lakers after like Game 2 of the 2016 FInals. It was the sense of unearned entitlement that seemed to permeate the entire Warriors organization. It was the multiple comments from a supposed Curry source(s) about how hurt Steph was during the playoffs. It was Steph hitting a fan with his thrown mouthpiece in the Finals.

The hate was real, too. And it's still real. There's no way around it. This is from someone -- someone who himself fell prey to the foolish Warriors arrogance in tweets saying during the 2015-16 season that there was no way the Cavs could beat the Warriors in a series, I believe -- who covers the Warriors. It was written after the Durant signing.

http://www.mercurynews.com/marcus-thompson/ci_30089628/thompson-kevin-durant-makes-warriors-most-hated-team

Not that long ago, the Warriors were the epitome of lovable. A bunch of nice-guy underdogs who had obvious fun and played an entertaining style of basketball. Those days were clearly over after they won a championship, followed by their chase for 73 turning them into one of the most hyped teams ever.

CEO Joe Lacob's comments about the Warriors being "light years" ahead of the NBA gave credence to the anti-Warriors crowd's bemoans of arrogance. People grew weary of the Warriors and their rampant love. The once-cute, inspirational, play-the-game-the-right-way squad that brought beauty back to basketball officially became antagonists.

That was never more evident when the Warriors choked away a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. It was hard to tell if some were more happy about the Warriors' demise or impressed by the Cavaliers' impressive feat.

The Warriors, and their media, and the national media who defended them (I'm looking at you here, ESPN) earned their Darth Vader status.

I think the Warriors, collectively, are trying to start walking back from "villain road" now. KD was concerned about being the villain for leaving OKC and that's likely where the Player's Tribune piece came from. The leak about Steph's texts to Durant are almost certainly from a Curry source and seem clearly intended to paint Steph in a flattering light. Draymond Green just did an interview with Sports Illustrated and it seemed to contain none of what people have seemed to feel is Green's previous arrogance.

I agree with this amazing post. While Kerr is very likable Lacob, Thompson and Draymond definitely have not been. They've mostly been poor sportsmans who cry about their lack of recognition. Curry's showboating (just like Cam Newton) has put him way up there. He's a bigger show-boater than any MVP I can remember since Iverson. And yes more than Lebron. It's unfortunate, because many players on that team (Livingston, Barbosa and Iggy despite his foul face) are great guys. I know people will say we're just spewing hate, but save Lebron and Reily, that heat team was pretty likable and even at a time when superteams were unprecedented didnt get as much hate as the Warriors are about to get. Add in a guy who for years has been the humble player who loved loyalty, criticized Lebron, and pretended to want to be the good guy superstar, and you have the ingredients for the most hated team ever.

I mean even in a vacuum, with no talent or success I think this team would take a lot of crap.

[Litany]

It is a tough time for OKC fans because now their future is uncertain as they will likely need to hit reset if Russ leaves next summer. Either way, I think Sam Presti is a good GM and Donovan is a good coach so they'll bounce back.

Congrats Warriors fans, obviously, this is huge. Looks like you'll be on top for a while.

As far as KD, people calling him a bitch, a Beta, a punk, saying he's "taking the easy road" are so laughably hypocritical I can't even believe my eyes.

Think about your career. If you were offered similar money for a job, but you had an opportunity to live in a place you like a lot and a better opportunity to reach your ultimate goals you would take it. Anyone who says they would choose the harder road is full of **** and is being intellectually dishonest.

Why why do we expect/want athletes to take the harder road? It makes no sense.

If I was an OKC fan, I would be heartbroken, but removing emotion from it, you have to be able to see that he made the best decision for himself. And people spewing nonsense about "what about your loyalty" well...teams do the same thing. The minute a player isn't as valuable to them as their contract/situation dictates, they can ship em off...yet we expect athletes to be blindly loyal...it's really quite baffling.

As far as ways to prevent this in the future? The league only has itself to blame with how the cap-smoothing didn't happen and the unbelievable existence of max contracts...if those max contracts were removed, these superteams would be harder to create.

It's easy to ask KD or LeBron or another top 15 player to take $2-$5 Million less per year, but ask them to take $20 Million less per year? That's a harder sell. LeBron or KD or Curry should be making $45-$50 M per year. If KD knew he could make that...you think he stays in OKC to make $50 M per year or goes to GSW to make $20M? I think that's an easy answer.

So remove max contracts, have a cap in place and let the market dictate amounts and I'm convinced these superteams would be less common.

Anyway, good luck KD and Warriors, you won't need it . It will be fun to see how it all plays out and see how the Thunder bounce back. I'm interested in what Russ does next and how this causes other teams to react through trades/signings.

[Perishable517]

From reading these threads I've learned that a lot of you guys are way softer than you think Durant is.

Right???

Sorta sad.

[pelifan]

As far as KD, people calling him a bitch, a Beta, a punk, saying he's "taking the easy road" are so laughably hypocritical I can't even believe my eyes.

Think about your career. If you were offered similar money for a job, but you had an opportunity to live in a place you like a lot and a better opportunity to reach your ultimate goals you would take it. Anyone who says they would choose the harder road is full of **** and is being intellectually dishonest.

Why why do we expect/want athletes to take the harder road? It makes no sense.

Well. I understand your point, but you have to understand the hypocrisy of guys like Lebron and Durant. Most New Orleans basketball fans weren't mad at Paul when he left and I won't be mad when AD (I mean he's got a huge tattoo of Chicago on his arm) leaves because those guys have never said things like "I want to stay here my whole career" and things like that.

Extending it to your real life scenario, it would be like if a guy (KD) saw his colleague (LBJ) jump on a better opportunity and say "I can't believe that sellout, I'd never do that" and then doing that same thing to an even worse degree a few years later. I'd for sure be pissed.

So really it's Durant's hypocrisy that should be brought into question here.

[pelifan]

As far as ways to prevent this in the future? The league only has itself to blame with how the cap-smoothing didn't happen and the unbelievable existence of max contracts...if those max contracts were removed, these superteams would be harder to create.

It's easy to ask KD or LeBron or another top 15 player to take $2-$5 Million less per year, but ask them to take $20 Million less per year? That's a harder sell. LeBron or KD or Curry should be making $45-$50 M per year. If KD knew he could make that...you think he stays in OKC to make $50 M per year or goes to GSW to make $20M? I think that's an easy answer.

So remove max contracts, have a cap in place and let the market dictate amounts and I'm convinced these superteams would be less common.

On this point:
The NBA will never do that. Superteams are good for the NBA as a whole as far as revenue. Owners don't care because parity matters a lot less when there is revenue sharing.

[Jellybeans824]

What if this was KD's master plan...to make GSW trade their players and then KD backs out of the verbal agreement and heads back to OKC?

[ppedro123]

I'm no fan of Durant going to GS, but it is funny people say Curry is cocky when he celebrates. He is literally doing things that no other player in NBA history is doing and you want him to show no emotion? If I could shoot like that, I certainly would be celebrating. There is nothing wrong with how Curry has acted.

Being the unanimous regular season MVP but having a total of zero Finals MVP votes for two straight finals?

cmon man, you have been on this no finals mvp hype for way too long. Give it a break man, curry is a HOFer but he is no MJ, we all get it.

I'm glad you get it

[SF_Warriors]

Being the unanimous regular season MVP but having a total of zero Finals MVP votes for two straight finals?

cmon man, you have been on this no finals mvp hype for way too long. Give it a break man, curry is a HOFer but he is no MJ, we all get it.

I'm glad you get it

I think we all got it when the finals ended. Its cool man, we still love steph and as a fan I will treasure the mvps, championship, and look forward to the upcoming years as a super team. No qualms from me at all.

[fa2011]

Its so much easier to blame someone else for being "homers" than to actually find specific instances of disrespect or being overly arrogant. That bias cuts both ways.

You can't tell me Steph Curry doesn't do stuff on the court that would rub most people wrong, especially with his cute little dances. And you don't think Draymond Green's interview after their Championship wasn't disrespectful? If no, then I don't think we'll ever come to an agreement because we would never see eye-to-eye on the subject.

Think Klay Thompson proclaiming his Warriors would be the Showtime Lakers wasn't an arrogant statement? They've won exactly 1 championship, that's it. I would be more willing to entertain his proclamation if they were on like championship #3 or more, but they're not.

Look, the Warriors are really good and have probably one of the best shooting backcourts I've ever witnessed in my lifetime. At the end of the day, your team is arrogant and overly confident. If you don't see it, there are plenty of people that do.


P.S. is there a way to multi-quote replies on here? Kind of headache to bounce around these threads to reply. Especially if you're trying to respond to more than one.

Also, I'll respond back to your reply tomorrow. I got to get up at 5:30 and Im sure it's 1:30 am where you are, too.

See, here is how people manufacture villains I guess. First off, Curry doesnt dance any more than players like Westbrook, Lebron, or Shaq or many other players today. And yes Draymonds interview was disrespectful, he was playing around but Im sure the Warriors cringed when they heard him say that. But the context was that he was drunk and that was an behind the scenes interview with a local reporter as the players arrived backstage from the parade route, I was there and they were showing the interviews on a big screen in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

And Klays comment? Surely you completely missed that was a joke and dig at his father who was part of the Showtime Lakers. You completely missed the fact that the rest of the press corps laughed because they got the joke.

And honestly, I think us being put on a pedestal by the media based on our record is the main reason so many people think that is that it is easier to paint our team as the villain instead of realizing that we have some high character low key guys here, besides Draymond, but even he is of high character. There is the backlash about us being too good, and "destroying" parity, so people try to paint our guys as jerks, even though there is very little evidence to that. Having being a fan through all the crappy years, when everyone loved us because we were entertaining but not threatening, i guess I would much rather be hated but feared, than loved and being an afterthought.

First off, good morning (I'm going to assume you're West Coast, too, considering you were up so late? That and you're Warriors fan)

1. I don't particular have a taste for Westbrook, Lebron, or Shaq. Westbrook I think is brash as well, Lebron is a drama queen, and Shaq is just a knucklehead. That said, it doesn't mean if I was picking a team I wouldn't take them either. Just like my Laimbeer comment previously. Hate the guy as an opponent, love him if he's on your team. My statement about the Warriors being cocky isn't to say they're the only ones. I simply said they were more likable in the past and that they're cockiness makes less palatable these days. There are a lot of players in the NBA I can't stomach. And then there are some others hate I happen to maybe not like, but can respect their game. I'm not even saying I don't like the Warriors. In fact, my uncle has season tickets for GS 4 rows from the floor.

2. Klay comments. Admittedly, I'll take the L on that comment. I was wrong on that one.

3. I don't find GS to be villains per se, they're (some of the players, family members, and Lacob) just getting to the point they're annoying. As I've mentioned several times over the past few days, I have zero issues with how Warriors as a front office are going about their business. They're doing an amazing job drafting, hiring, and accumulating talent. Where you possible feel like your team is attacked is when "discussion" are brought up about KD. I don't think people have an issue with GS, they're more than likely flaming KD for taking the absolute easiest path of least resistance and it's perpetuated when your fan base says otherwise. Let's be honest, almost everyone wants to be in the GSW's shoes. But don't confuse with that envy or hatred. More so an appreciation for the position your team is in.

In regard to parity, it's not the GSW's responsibility to maintain balance in the league and no one should comment on the Warrior's posturing. They're doing their job to provide the best on the floor product and win championships. It's the other GMs in the league responsibility to do the same. I have zero issues with how y'all and managing that end of the spectrum.


I can give you an honest overall perspective on why a healthy amount of people have issues with your team/people in these forums/threads.

1. Entitled/cocky, and Warriors fans dismiss it as the media painting them to be bad guys. Look, they're winning, it happens, but it doesn't mean they're not doing it nor does that exclude other teams from the same type of behavior. I'm also not dismissing you don't have good guys on your team either. It was a general statement, that a lot of people agree with about how they carry themselves.
2. Making excuses for KD not being a ring chaser. Dude is a ring chaser. As was Lebron.

This isn't an all out assault on the Warriors. Are they my favorite team? No, but I do happen to appreciate them. As I said, y'all backcourt is probably the best shooting duo I've ever witnessed and y'all play an exciting brand of basketball.

In terms of weathering the storm as a fan. I've been a Magic fan since their inception in 1989 and I've never seen them ever win a Championship. I know what it's like to not to win, yet still remain a fan. Unfortunately, bandwagoners also come with winning, too. I'm sure a healthy majority of your "fans" never even took interest until they started winning. And that's true for a lot of teams in a similar situation.

[Saints14]

What if this was KD's master plan...to make GSW trade their players and then KD backs out of the verbal agreement and heads back to OKC?

Well then he saved them from overpaying Barnes and got them to replace Bogut for Pachulia for ~10M cheaper. So he'd be doing them a favor

[therealbig3]

Again, I don't care about any of the "cowardice" or "heartless" talk...I care about how much KD is going to contribute to these championships that GS is going to win. And considering that GS could win championships with any average SF, the answer is "not much".

There's just no rational way to look at however many rings Durant wins now and say, yup, those are just as impressive and he was just as valuable for them as LeBron was for his, or even Kobe was for his. It's just not true, because we know that Kobe's and LeBron's teams would not have won titles without them. We can't say the same about Durant, because the Warriors already have won without him, with the current core that they're simply adding Durant to.

Basically, unless I'm convinced that Durant was absolutely necessary for the Warriors to win, and he pulls through with a superstar performance, then whatever success he has in GS might mean something to me, in terms of his all time rank. But I don't know how in the world I can be convinced of that. Which means that he can win as many rings as he wants, it won't do much for his all-time rank other than adding longevity to his career.

[fa2011]

Curry is actually quite tame imo. He does celebrate every now and again (which NBA player doesn't?), but Curry barely ever showboats. You're just having selective memory here. Draymond on the other hand...

Not selective memory, just calling like I see it. Curry may be tame in relative terms to your entire team, but he's no angel nor the worst of the bunch either. I'll put it this way, the Warriors are no Spurs when it comes to class. Not suggesting that SA is perfect, but in general, when you think true professionals, San Antonio tops the list.

Anyway, I'll hit you guys up tomorrow. I should have never even logged on this late to begin with lol.

Again this is selective memory and/or media fatigue. SAS to me was one of the more annoying organizations. They have toned it down a lot in the past couple of years. But watching Duncan whine or cry about EVERY SINGLE CALL (he was known for this), watching Manu and Tony flop on every play, or watching Bruce Bowen karate kick the guy he's guarding (if he wasn't trying to intentionally injure them with a foot under them while shooting), it's funny to even bring up the Spurs as comparisons. They had some straight bush league tendencies... Narratives change.

People hating the Warriors now is mostly due to media fatigue, despite the fact that they still aren't getting as much coverage as the Heat did when LBJ joined them in 2010. The media got to sell the fans adversity and story lines to keep the revenue flowing, and now it's the Warriors turn in the spot light. Yes it becomes unbearable at time. But that comes with territory. The NBA is in the business of entertainment. The Warriors provide that with all the story lines.

1. It's none of the above. Let me ask you this, your feelings aside, do you honestly think that the SAS aren't considered one of the best organizations from top to bottom, including class? Honest answer. I'm sure the majority would echo they're one of the classiest organizations in not only the NBA, but professional sports.

2. You don't think Anderson V with his medusa hair doesn't flop with the best of them? That's his MO, too. Bowen's karate kick to the groin was uncalled for, yes. Just like Draymond's hitting people in the nuts was, too.

Let me be perfectly clear about my stance on the Warriors. I'm not "hating" on them. I'm simply stating their act as players, an organization (more so Lacob. I rather like Steve Kerr), and some of their family members is starting to wear thin on a lot people out of the Bay Area. As I stated in a recent reply, I can fully appreciate what the their organization as a whole is ran and how they have positioned themselves; they're doing an amazing job. I also respect their overall play and skill.

[Andre Roberstan]

Agreed with most above. I respect their team and their organization and hate them to the depths of my soul.

[SKR]

[UDRIH14]

kd who played with 3 allstars at one time couldnt even win a ring

so what happens if he cant even win a ring with gsw?

[Litany]

As far as KD, people calling him a bitch, a Beta, a punk, saying he's "taking the easy road" are so laughably hypocritical I can't even believe my eyes.

Think about your career. If you were offered similar money for a job, but you had an opportunity to live in a place you like a lot and a better opportunity to reach your ultimate goals you would take it. Anyone who says they would choose the harder road is full of **** and is being intellectually dishonest.

Why why do we expect/want athletes to take the harder road? It makes no sense.

Well. I understand your point, but you have to understand the hypocrisy of guys like Lebron and Durant. Most New Orleans basketball fans weren't mad at Paul when he left and I won't be mad when AD (I mean he's got a huge tattoo of Chicago on his arm) leaves because those guys have never said things like "I want to stay here my whole career" and things like that.

Extending it to your real life scenario, it would be like if a guy (KD) saw his colleague (LBJ) jump on a better opportunity and say "I can't believe that sellout, I'd never do that" and then doing that same thing to an even worse degree a few years later. I'd for sure be pissed.

So really it's Durant's hypocrisy that should be brought into question here.

Yeah I just think that as people grow up or mature or have experiences they're entitled to change their mind. Again...like we all do.

Expecting someone to make the same decisions when they have new or different information/circumstances isn't fair or reasonable imo.

To comment on your scenario of a guy seeing his colleague...I think the lesson to be learned is Durant (and the rest of the world who joined in) was stupid for criticizing LeBron for doing what he did. That to me is the crux of this. LeBron did what we all would do. So did KD...so would we all in those situations.

If in the real life scenario i saw a colleague leave an organization for a better opportunity and at first I thought it was a dick move for whatever reason...I'd be wrong...because they're maximizing their opportunities. I can't understand a world in which that would be wrong.

[Litany]

As far as ways to prevent this in the future? The league only has itself to blame with how the cap-smoothing didn't happen and the unbelievable existence of max contracts...if those max contracts were removed, these superteams would be harder to create.

It's easy to ask KD or LeBron or another top 15 player to take $2-$5 Million less per year, but ask them to take $20 Million less per year? That's a harder sell. LeBron or KD or Curry should be making $45-$50 M per year. If KD knew he could make that...you think he stays in OKC to make $50 M per year or goes to GSW to make $20M? I think that's an easy answer.

So remove max contracts, have a cap in place and let the market dictate amounts and I'm convinced these superteams would be less common.

On this point:
The NBA will never do that. Superteams are good for the NBA as a whole as far as revenue. Owners don't care because parity matters a lot less when there is revenue sharing.

I do think you're right about this.

I can see the NBA opposing it for the reasons you stated as well as the NBAPA opposing it because the benefit would go to mostly the top 20 players while the others suffer the consequences. So it likely won't happen. It would eliminate this problem, but it won't happen.

[Litany]

You can't tell me Steph Curry doesn't do stuff on the court that would rub most people wrong, especially with his cute little dances. And you don't think Draymond Green's interview after their Championship wasn't disrespectful? If no, then I don't think we'll ever come to an agreement because we would never see eye-to-eye on the subject.

Think Klay Thompson proclaiming his Warriors would be the Showtime Lakers wasn't an arrogant statement? They've won exactly 1 championship, that's it. I would be more willing to entertain his proclamation if they were on like championship #3 or more, but they're not.

Look, the Warriors are really good and have probably one of the best shooting backcourts I've ever witnessed in my lifetime. At the end of the day, your team is arrogant and overly confident. If you don't see it, there are plenty of people that do.


P.S. is there a way to multi-quote replies on here? Kind of headache to bounce around these threads to reply. Especially if you're trying to respond to more than one.

Also, I'll respond back to your reply tomorrow. I got to get up at 5:30 and Im sure it's 1:30 am where you are, too.

See, here is how people manufacture villains I guess. First off, Curry doesnt dance any more than players like Westbrook, Lebron, or Shaq or many other players today. And yes Draymonds interview was disrespectful, he was playing around but Im sure the Warriors cringed when they heard him say that. But the context was that he was drunk and that was an behind the scenes interview with a local reporter as the players arrived backstage from the parade route, I was there and they were showing the interviews on a big screen in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

And Klays comment? Surely you completely missed that was a joke and dig at his father who was part of the Showtime Lakers. You completely missed the fact that the rest of the press corps laughed because they got the joke.

And honestly, I think us being put on a pedestal by the media based on our record is the main reason so many people think that is that it is easier to paint our team as the villain instead of realizing that we have some high character low key guys here, besides Draymond, but even he is of high character. There is the backlash about us being too good, and "destroying" parity, so people try to paint our guys as jerks, even though there is very little evidence to that. Having being a fan through all the crappy years, when everyone loved us because we were entertaining but not threatening, i guess I would much rather be hated but feared, than loved and being an afterthought.

First off, good morning (I'm going to assume you're West Coast, too, considering you were up so late? That and you're Warriors fan)

1. I don't particular have a taste for Westbrook, Lebron, or Shaq. Westbrook I think is brash as well, Lebron is a drama queen, and Shaq is just a knucklehead. That said, it doesn't mean if I was picking a team I wouldn't take them either. Just like my Laimbeer comment previously. Hate the guy as an opponent, love him if he's on your team. My statement about the Warriors being cocky isn't to say they're the only ones. I simply said they were more likable in the past and that they're cockiness makes less palatable these days. There are a lot of players in the NBA I can't stomach. And then there are some others hate I happen to maybe not like, but can respect their game. I'm not even saying I don't like the Warriors. In fact, my uncle has season tickets for GS 4 rows from the floor.

2. Klay comments. Admittedly, I'll take the L on that comment. I was wrong on that one.

3. I don't find GS to be villains per se, they're (some of the players, family members, and Lacob) just getting to the point they're annoying. As I've mentioned several times over the past few days, I have zero issues with how Warriors as a front office are going about their business. They're doing an amazing job drafting, hiring, and accumulating talent. Where you possible feel like your team is attacked is when "discussion" are brought up about KD. I don't think people have an issue with GS, they're more than likely flaming KD for taking the absolute easiest path of resistance and it's perpetuated when your fan base says otherwise. Let's be honest, almost everyone wants to be in the GSW's shoes. But don't confuse with that envy or hatred. More so an appreciation for the position your team is in.

In regard to parity, it's not the GSW's responsibility to maintain balance in the league and no one should comment on the Warrior's posturing. They're doing their job to provide the best on the floor product and win championships. It's the other GMs in the league responsibility to do the same. I have zero issues with how y'all and managing that end of the spectrum.


I can give you an overall honest perspective on why a healthy amount of people have issues with your team/people in these forums/threads.

1. Entitled/cocky and Warriors fans dismiss it as the media painting them to be bad guys. Look, they're winning, it happens, but it doesn't mean they're not doing it nor does that exclude other teams from the same type of behavior. I'm also not dismissing you don't have good guys on your team either. It was a general statement, that a lot of people agree with about how they carry themselves.
2. Making excuses for KD not being a ring chaser. Dude is a ring chaser. As was Lebron.

This isn't an all out assault on the Warriors. Are they my favorite team? No, but I don't happen to appreciate them. As I said, y'all backcourt is probably the best shooting duo I've ever witnessed and y'all play an exciting brand of basketball.

In terms of weathering the storm as a fan. I've been a Magic fan since their inception in 1989 and I've never seen them ever win a Championship. I know what it's like to not to win, yet still remain a fan. Unfortunately, bandwagoners also come with winning, too. I'm sure a healthy majority of your "fans" never even took interest until they started winning. And that's true for a lot of teams in a similar situation.

Yes KD is a ring chaser...so is every other winner ever. I wouldn't want a non-ring chaser on my team. I want a guy who wants to win it. Shaq "chased rings" and it was the right move. Barkley ring-chased forever and to this day has to deal with the fact that he didn't ever get one. He gets clowned for it (yes it's mostly playful, but I know it eats at him). So I can't ever fault a guy for "chasing a ring." Good on em. It's the right move.

[Litany]

kd who played with 3 allstars at one time couldnt even win a ring

so what happens if he cant even win a ring with gsw?

KD not winning with 3 all-stars...he did face an all-time great in LeBron so it's understandable. Just like all the hearts broken during the Jordan era. Many great teams didn't make it to the top because of MJ (including my statues team).

As far as what happens if he can't win with this GSW team...that's the risk he's taking right? Now they have at on of pressure (like the Heat did when leBron teamed with Wade and Bosh). Anything but at least one ring in the next two years will be viewed as a failure. That's pressure he signed up for. He stays in OKC and they don't win it all...not as big of a deal or as big of a problem as not winning it with this GSW team.

[DonMega]

The nba sucked already and this is the nail on that coffin.