KD to GS - Pt III

[HotRocks34]

I still want to like the guy, heck even love him, but I can't. He says going to Golden State isn't the "easy road" to a ring, but it is.

As Shot Clock said above, I really don't understand who gave Durant PR advice as regards that comment or line of thinking/talking. That's not going to play well, I don't think.

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread or another Durant thread the old phrase "don't spit on me and tell me it's raining." Durant's 'easy road' comment fails that simple test.

You can't insult people's intelligence and then expect them to be sympathetic to you.

[NetsWorld]

This presser certainly did not produce a feeling that KD was motivated by this in order to win championships. At least LeBron kept talking rings when he pulled his Decision back in 2010. The drive and motivation has to be there. I feel like KD may have pulled this move as a form of revenge. He acted like a fool and a little school girl.

[Onus]

This presser certainly did not produce a feeling that KD was motivated by this in order to win championships. At least LeBron kept talking rings when he pulled his Decision back in 2010. The drive and motivation has to be there. I feel like KD may have pulled this move as a form of revenge. He acted like a fool and a little school girl.

Really it sounded like he wanted to be a part of a team rather than a 2some. Just wanted to focus on basketball not whose team is it

[MrBaynes]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/daldridgetnt/status/751153543948619776[/tweet]

I found that quote a little.....uncomfortable.

[nbafan38]

I will never understand how people can be so salty at someone who doesn't even know they exist. I really really hope they win it all this next season just to see how much the haters and naysayers will cry their eyes out.

Uh, you're missing the point completely.

We're paying fans, well most of us anyway, who want to see a competitive product on the court.

Being mad that Durant is watering down the product is a good reason to be upset, especially when he did not have to make that choice.

And what haters and naysayers? EVERYONE expects them to not only win, but destroy the competition for a few years to come. But that's exactly the problem...

Yea this is different than what Lebron did. When Lebron went to Miami the league was eh and the heatles were the hated team you wanted to see fail and there was at least a chance they could. The league was already in a really good place before this move (finals ratings was already insane and we already had a 73 win team that was already exciting to watch) you had four teams that could legitimetly win titles and other teams on the rise. Now you have 1, maybe 2 at most. In this case theres no real reason to even hate the warriors and root against them because it will only lead to dissapointment. There is almost no way this team can't win a championship and likely championships barring major injuries.

[Winsome Gerbil]

This presser certainly did not produce a feeling that KD was motivated by this in order to win championships. At least LeBron kept talking rings when he pulled his Decision back in 2010. The drive and motivation has to be there. I feel like KD may have pulled this move as a form of revenge. He acted like a fool and a little school girl.

Really it sounded like he wanted to be a part of a team rather than a 2some. Just wanted to focus on basketball not whose team is it

KD rocking that 'Born to Follow" t-shirt nowadays.

[2Irving2]

When will you guys get it? The issue isn't that Durant shouldn't be allowed to choose what team he plays for. He has the right to pick his team and he has the right to not care about what anybody else thinks. But that's not the point! The point is that the league just became incredibly less competitive and exciting and it further sets the precedent that it's okay for superstars to team up and form super-teams. If that's the kind of league you want to be a fan of, fine. But don't sit there and play stupid and act like you don't see why that would rub the fans of the game the wrong way.

People defending this decision are either Warriors fans or people just trying to be edgy and go against the majority so they can appear as the logical, rational person.

[djsunyc]

i have no issues with what kd did like i had no issues with what lebron did. it wouldve been nice to acknowledge how he choked in game 6 which prevented okc from going to the finals.

[NaturalThunder]

i have no issues with what kd did like i had no issues with what lebron did. it wouldve been nice to acknowledge how he choked in game 6 which prevented okc from going to the finals.

Durant didn't just stink in game six of that series; he had a number of games throughout the playoffs where he stunk. The only thing that kept him from having a handful of games that you could watch and say "this guy is awful" is because he was really, really good defensively throughout pretty much all of OKC's playoff run. However, as was the case in the regular season, Westbrook was OKC's best player in the playoffs. Maybe that bugged Durant, I don't know; but this was the first year where most of us OKC fans, the ones who were real OKC fans and not a Westbrook or Durant fan, would agree that Westbrook surpassed Durant as OKC's best player. Part of this is bitter, hindsight is 20/20 opinion, but I do think the top three players in the league this past season were Curry, LeBron, and Westbrook and then you could start a new tier. Maybe the first tier was only Curry and LeBron, but I do think Westbrook was a tier above Durant. I know the numbers (raw and especially advanced) may say otherwise, but Westbrook was typical Westbrook and took very few, if any, nights off while Durant coasted a lot of the season.

To make that long, rambling paragraph short: The Thunder this season, more so than any other season, went as Westbrook went.

[NaturalThunder]

There is almost no way this team can't win a championship and likely championships barring major injuries.

This is something I keep coming back to and why Durant's decision should receive a lot of scrutiny. Durant's decision to ditch on legit championship contender in OKC, for another even more established championship contender, is that the Warriors definitely didn't need him to win championships. OKC did. Even with a more depleted bench, unless there are major chemistry injuries, this Warriors "Big 4" could almost sleepwalk their way to a championship in the next two three seasons. I mean there's a better than good chance, even if the Warriors bring just their B game throughout the entire playoffs, that may still be enough to win 16 playoff games and a ring. That's what Durant joined.

[te887848]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

That's good stuff.

The only thing Durant can control is his stats and the number of championships he might win. Those are tangible things. Legacy is completely subjective. And Durant going to a stacked team will hurt his legacy with most people, unless that team does something nearly superhuman. That's just how it is.

What's so funny? It's the truth.

And no, legacy isn't really subjective. It's a combination of individual stats + dominance + titles.

Durant going to the most stacked team in the league doesn't hurt his legacy in the slightest, but rather it helps it tremendously because it guarantees him several titles, which is one of the key variables to the formula for an all-time great legacy.

Trust me, people whining about Durant not playing on a team they wanted to see him on has zero impact on his legacy.

Legacy is completely subjective. There is no such thing as an objective measure of legacy. Perception is one of the most fluid things alive. See how Lebron was viewed before the Cavs won the title this year.

If going to a stacked team doesn't hurt Durant's legacy in the slightest, how come he's getting pretty heavily criticized for doing so?

LeBron was viewed as a top 5-7 player all-time by reasonable people's judgement prior to this Cavs win. The Cavs win cemented him as a top 3 player ever. Again, rings = improved legacy.

He's getting heavily criticized because many people would prefer seeing unpredictable outcomes, close games/series, etc. The element of surprise and variability appeals to many fans, and Durant's decision eliminates all of that. Therefore fans get angry and it affects their judgement and ability to rationally evaluate players. Pretty simple.

[nbafan38]

I actually liked Durant and still kind of do as a person. I can understand him wanting a ring and was rooting for him to get a ring. I felt strongly he should have stayed in OKC but if he had say gone to Boston I would still have rooted for him to get over the top but I can't root for a player who takes such an easy road. To me it won't seem like an earned title.

[narmerguy]

When will you guys get it? The issue isn't that Durant shouldn't be allowed to choose what team he plays for. He has the right to pick his team and he has the right to not care about what anybody else thinks. But that's not the point! The point is that the league just became incredibly less competitive and exciting and it further sets the precedent that it's okay for superstars to team up and form super-teams. If that's the kind of league you want to be a fan of, fine. But don't sit there and play stupid and act like you don't see why that would rub the fans of the game the wrong way.

People defending this decision are either Warriors fans or people just trying to be edgy and go against the majority so they can appear as the logical, rational person.

When will people get it...the way to stop this is very simple...just get rid of max contracts. Players form super-teams because they want to win more than they want to be the only one doing the winning. If you lose trying to go it alone, eventually you suck it up and try to win another way. Max contracts make it so that players like Durant cost the Warriors similar money as players like Barnes. That just doesn't make sense. Max contracts really have to go to create parity. But other players don't want that, so this is what comes now.

[nbafan38]

When will you guys get it? The issue isn't that Durant shouldn't be allowed to choose what team he plays for. He has the right to pick his team and he has the right to not care about what anybody else thinks. But that's not the point! The point is that the league just became incredibly less competitive and exciting and it further sets the precedent that it's okay for superstars to team up and form super-teams. If that's the kind of league you want to be a fan of, fine. But don't sit there and play stupid and act like you don't see why that would rub the fans of the game the wrong way.

People defending this decision are either Warriors fans or people just trying to be edgy and go against the majority so they can appear as the logical, rational person.

When will people get it...the way to stop this is very simple...just get rid of max contracts. Players form super-teams because they want to win more than they want to be the only one doing the winning. If you lose trying to go it alone, eventually you suck it up and try to win another way. Max contracts make it so that players like Durant cost the Warriors similar money as players like Barnes. That just doesn't make sense. Max contracts really have to go to create parity. But other players don't want that, so this is what comes now.

Fans and the media have to change too. As long as players are only judged by how many rings they get,they will be pushed to do this. I mean there have even been people downplaying Lebron prior to this year because he only had two rings even though he's an epic player.

[Hindenburg]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NBAcom/status/751192676943400960[/tweet]

[Cactus Jack]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NBAcom/status/751192676943400960[/tweet]

[Jedi32]

This presser certainly did not produce a feeling that KD was motivated by this in order to win championships. At least LeBron kept talking rings when he pulled his Decision back in 2010. The drive and motivation has to be there. I feel like KD may have pulled this move as a form of revenge. He acted like a fool and a little school girl.

Really it sounded like he wanted to be a part of a team rather than a 2some. Just wanted to focus on basketball not whose team is it

sadly no one will address this, it's easier to be salty and whine about competition and what not. I don't think he should have left, but that was his decision to make, and he's no less of a player for it. I believe he just wants to be a part of a team, he's not into the alpha/beta male narrative. yeah he's 27 but folks get old fast in this league, and there are no guarantees. look at all the players outside of Russell who were considered top notch or great, they all have more years without rings than with them. there were no guarantees that the thunder would get to the wcf again let alone the finals, there also wasn't a guarantee for the warriors to get back. it's funny seeing LeBron fans complain about it though. this guy left a 60 plus win team to join the heat, and then left the heat to join another stacked team. now i'm not saying what LeBron did was wrong because that was his right, and this is kd's.

[Nate505]

I will never understand how people can be so salty at someone who doesn't even know they exist. I really really hope they win it all this next season just to see how much the haters and naysayers will cry their eyes out.

They'll be the prohibitive favorites, so it's not a hard thing to root for.

[afox]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/NBAcom/status/751192676943400960[/tweet]

Pretty fly for a 'bye' guy!(Bye OKC...sorry had to) I've had guys telling me for years, OKC is never gonna win a title the way they were constructed...I didnt buy it....but they had their shot, multiple shots...let him move on....One of the most humble, soft spoken, down to earth superstars you'll ever find...what has he ever done to just hate him now....James is far more of a prima donna...The only ones mad are OKC fans...face it you got lucky with the team you had for five years....be thankful, and fans of competing teams...namely James fans....how they can talk smack about KD is beyond me...lol...James was just as bad....And pretty much told the league, we can do what we want as players and theres nothing anyone can do...Kevin seems pretty at ease with himself...doesnt come off as prepared or gauging what he says, like you know who...way more likable...sorry guys, there were only 4 teams anyway, now theres 3...not much of a change really...KD said, if James can do it, so can I...

[Hect0r_Zer0n1]

I wonder if Spurs fans would be as salty if he went there instead.