Kevin Durant: Mark Cuban is an idiot

[Dirk]

Mark Cuban should shut up and he is an idiot for putting himself in these positions. But this is just another instance where people just comment on topics without really reading the quotes. Anyone who reads what Cuban said, surely won't find his points that idiotic and will certainly understand where he is coming from.

How many believe Westbrook has what it takes to lead a team to the Championship? I doubt there will be a majority who truly think Westbrook's game is that of a player who can always lead his team to being a top seed every year and be a contender by building around him. Hell, they have Durant and they're still so mentally soft and insecure.

This is weird because all that criticism was levied on Dirk and the Mavs until they finally won a championship.

Interesting point, of course I will say "but that was unfair criticism". The thing is, Westbrook is on a very talented team, so we'll probably never "answer these questions", because he'll be playing with Durant.

I think the most ironic part is that Cuban indirectly uses his failure to bring better players to the Mavs as an example why Dirk was a superstar.

"You look at Dirk [Nowitzki]," Cuban said, citing his franchise player as an example of a superstar. "I'm not going to talk about other teams' players, I guess other than what I just said, but Dirk for 15 years won 50 games no matter what. We put Moe, Larry and Curly next to him and we won 50 games. Russ is certainly an All-Star, but I consider Durant a superstar."

"When you look at Dirk, all those years until now, he carries teams to 50 wins," Cuban said. "To me, that's the sign of a superstar. It wasn't until we got [Jason] Kidd that we had another Hall of Famer, and even J. Kidd was towards the end of his career. So for [11] years when Dirk won 50, that's a superstar. There are only a few guys where you can put them on any team and they win 50 games. To me, that's the definition of a superstar."

This roster made the finals in 2006:

Dirk
Terry
Josh Howard
Stackhouse
Devin Harris
Dampier
Diop
Adrian Griffin
Van Horn
Marquis Daniels

The Mavs averaged 56 wins for 10 seasons before finally winning a championship as an outsider. The second best player on these teams was Jason Terry...

I think Westbrook is a "superstar", but even at that level, there are tiers I guess. He may have had a better season than Durant, but I don't think he is at Duran'ts level, they don't put the same fear in you when you face them... and I can't see a team with a bunch of role players and Westbrook going anywhere. Even if some may think this is wrong, it certainly isn't that far fetched.

Carlisle goes out of his way to compliment everyone and then the owner goes and stirs ups controversy. For that reason, Cuban is an idiot, he should never be making these headlines about players. His passion is great but it also hurts the franchise and for such a smart guy, he just doesn't seem to learn.

[bklynspursfan]

Durant said "he's a idiot." If you're going to call someone that, you should know it's "an idiot" lol

Cuban isn't one either way, and I'm not a fan of him. He was probably just trying to get in WB's head and make him be over-aggressive and lose the game for OKC

[LakersLegacy]

Cuban loves to troll.
I wonder who will lead the franchise after Dirk? He talks a lot of trash about other players. He may have to rebuild through the draft.

[cpower]

why would Mark Cuban say something like that in the first place?

[Slava]

Mark Cuban should shut up and he is an idiot for putting himself in these positions. But this is just another instance where people just comment on topics without really reading the quotes. Anyone who reads what Cuban said, surely won't find his points that idiotic and will certainly understand where he is coming from.

How many believe Westbrook has what it takes to lead a team to the Championship? I doubt there will be a majority who truly think Westbrook's game is that of a player who can always lead his team to being a top seed every year and be a contender by building around him. Hell, they have Durant and they're still so mentally soft and insecure.

This is weird because all that criticism was levied on Dirk and the Mavs until they finally won a championship.

Interesting point, of course I will say "but that was unfair criticism". The thing is, Westbrook is on a very talented team, so we'll probably never "answer these questions", because he'll be playing with Durant.

I think the most ironic part is that Cuban indirectly uses his failure to bring better players to the Mavs as an example why Dirk was a superstar.

"You look at Dirk [Nowitzki]," Cuban said, citing his franchise player as an example of a superstar. "I'm not going to talk about other teams' players, I guess other than what I just said, but Dirk for 15 years won 50 games no matter what. We put Moe, Larry and Curly next to him and we won 50 games. Russ is certainly an All-Star, but I consider Durant a superstar."

"When you look at Dirk, all those years until now, he carries teams to 50 wins," Cuban said. "To me, that's the sign of a superstar. It wasn't until we got [Jason] Kidd that we had another Hall of Famer, and even J. Kidd was towards the end of his career. So for [11] years when Dirk won 50, that's a superstar. There are only a few guys where you can put them on any team and they win 50 games. To me, that's the definition of a superstar."

This roster made the finals in 2006:

Dirk
Terry
Josh Howard
Stackhouse
Devin Harris
Dampier
Diop
Adrian Griffin
Van Horn
Marquis Daniels

The Mavs averaged 56 wins for 10 seasons before finally winning a championship as an outsider. The second best player on these teams was Jason Terry...

I think Westbrook is a "superstar", but even at that level, there are tiers I guess. He may have had a better season than Durant, but I don't think he is at Duran'ts level, they don't put the same fear in you when you face them... and I can't see a team with a bunch of role players and Westbrook going anywhere. Even if some may think this is wrong, it certainly isn't that far fetched.

Carlisle goes out of his way to compliment everyone and then the owner goes and stirs ups controversy. For that reason, Cuban is an idiot, he should never be making these headlines about players. His passion is great but it also hurts the franchise and for such a smart guy, he just doesn't seem to learn.

There's really no way you can argue that Westbrook is not in the top tier of players in the NBA no matter what qualifying factors you use. Infact he will finish higher than Durant in MVP voting for consecutive seasons, he's put up seasons with 29 and 28 PER, ranked 6th in RPM during the same time frame while producing at an elite level, especially on offense.

Steph Curry is in a level of his own, so that's tier 1 if you like to differentiate him like that but after that Westbrook is in the same tier as Lebron and Chris Paul.

[Texas Chuck]

This is weird because all that criticism was levied on Dirk and the Mavs until they finally won a championship.

Interesting point, of course I will say "but that was unfair criticism". The thing is, Westbrook is on a very talented team, so we'll probably never "answer these questions", because he'll be playing with Durant.

I suppose we might get to find out if Durant surprises us by leaving. Now Nash was never close to Durant level when he was in Dallas obviously, but I don't know that Dirk ever fully becomes Dirk if his buddy Nash sticks around. Dirk had to become the leader of the team something he previously let Nash and Fin handle. He had to create more of his offense and develop that killer high-post game.

Maybe Westbrook proves to be a guy capable of leading a championship level team if KD leaves and they replace him with smart role player types. Because after that horrible 04 season the Mavs dumped a ton of "talent" in Nasty and Antoine/Antawn and then amnestied Finley the next year. The overall talent on the 05-07 teams that were very successful was relatively low, but it fit around our top 3 player in Dirk. And of course we improved upon that in 2011.

I think both Durant and Westbrook are capable of leading top 5 teams individually personally. More Durant than Westbrook if I'm honest, but Westbrook is really really good.

[Texas Chuck]

Durant said "he's a idiot." If you're going to call someone that, you should know it's "an idiot" lol

I don't understand why so many people are harping on this. KD knows its "an". I mean duh. He was almost certainly intentionally saying it that way to emphasize the point. KD isn't stupid or inarticulate. He also wasn't worried about using the Queen's English at that point in time.

Get over it everyone.

[jayjaypimpson]

Cuban gut a championship team for a chance at free agent players that didn't even give the Mavs a good look.

Then we hear about him talking his GM out of drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo

and now he really thought he could get inside Russy's head somehow & that's supposed to help his team? Or even worse, that Westbrook isn't a superstar?

Anyone who wouldn't build around Russell Westbrook sucks at playing gm

[MarvinGaye1983]

Yes KD

[bklynspursfan]

Durant said "he's a idiot." If you're going to call someone that, you should know it's "an idiot" lol

I don't understand why so many people are harping on this. KD knows its "an". I mean duh. He was almost certainly intentionally saying it that way to emphasize the point. KD isn't stupid or inarticulate. He also wasn't worried about using the Queen's English at that point in time.

Get over it everyone.

You can emphasize saying "an"... It's just the irony of it , that's all. I don't care for Durant or Cuban personally.. But I found it funny to point out. Nothing wrong with that dude

[CP300 lbs]

"A idiot" - Kevin Durant

[CP300 lbs]

why would Mark Cuban say something like that in the first place?

Cuban tried to get Westbrook go into hero ball mode and shoot 50 times from the jump.

[likashing]

So true.

I agree with Durant on this.

[inquisitive]

Well, if the Mavs were trying to lure KD to Dallas, this might have shut the door on that...interesting summer to come.

[TheShoe1010]

Surprised to see everyone on KD's side on this one.

To me, the whole thing seemed like a really forced effort to stand up for Westbrook in the media. I don't understand how anyone could see Cuban's comments as anything other than him trying to get in Westbrook's head or cause some sort of internal conflict that could carry over onto the court. Cuban knew they were outmatched in this series and this was his way of doing what he could to level the playing field. He really didn't have anything to lose.

Was he correct? No, I don't believe so. Westbrook is absolutely a superstar by every measure. I'd also be willing to bet you that Cuban would move heaven and earth to acquire a player like Westbrook, given the opportunity.

I would have much rather Durant said something along the lines of, "Cuban doesn't even believe that. He knew the series was over and did what he could to get into our heads. Obviously it didn't work." and keep it moving. I just think it would have been the more mature, intelligent route to take. Call a spade a spade.

Unfortunately, if KD reacts any other way than he did the media would probably manufacture a story about how Durant didn't stand up for Westbrook and how they obviously don't get along.

[Left*My*Heart]

The Mavs haven't been a free agent destination, so probably not in Cuban's best interest to draw fire from any of the top players in the game.

[jerep_path]

Good to see Cuban improving the players' outlook on his organization. What a great tactic to use to attract FAs.

[Revived]

Cuban is dead wrong for saying this kind of crap but idiot is the last word I would use to describe him.

He's a self made billionaire and did it at a relatively young age too. Probably makes more money in 5 years than KD & Westbrook will combine to make in their lives.

[Revived]

How many believe Westbrook has what it takes to lead a team to the Championship? I doubt there will be a majority who truly think Westbrook's game is that of a player who can always lead his team to being a top seed every year and be a contender by building around him. Hell, they have Durant and they're still so mentally soft and insecure.

Edit: Adding, they were a 50ish win team last year when Westbrook alone was healthy. And that was with Kyle Singler starting at SF. He's a franchise player.

It's funny with all these comments because I'm sure every Mavs fan in the world, Carslie & the rest of the Mavs coaches and their players and even Cuban himself would give up his first child to get a talent like Russel Westbrook on their team.

[bondom34]

How many believe Westbrook has what it takes to lead a team to the Championship? I doubt there will be a majority who truly think Westbrook's game is that of a player who can always lead his team to being a top seed every year and be a contender by building around him. Hell, they have Durant and they're still so mentally soft and insecure.

Edit: Adding, they were a 50ish win team last year when Westbrook alone was healthy. And that was with Kyle Singler starting at SF. He's a franchise player.

It's funny with all these comments because I'm sure every Mavs fan in the world, Carslie & the rest of the Mavs coaches and their players and even Cuban himself would give up his first child to get a talent like Russel Westbrook on their team.

Carlisle and Dirk said it postgame .