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https://streamable.com/p93kr

While i do think it's disgusting what happened last game surrounding KD..no doubt what Jalen says here hits the nail on the head. This dude gave himself to the franchise because people were putting stuff in his head. In no way should he have played this series.

It's like modern day gladiators at times.

He explained it well.

It's sickening, the whole thing. Really a turnoff on sports to see this in action honestly.

Good and important speech. I'm not sure if I agree fully or just with most of it but anyway.

Why would he get fired for that? Not all that controversial

Sounds like an idiot. As usual.


He played because they were down 3-1 and he wanted them to win the championship. There’s nothing more to discuss. Any alternate theories or reasoning are the delusions of a fool.

Black Jack wrote:He explained it well.

It's sickening, the whole thing. Really a turnoff on sports to see this in action honestly.

truly is..i just dont get why anyone would want him to play..he literally put his career on the line because people pressured him..its sad man..

Loaded_Hollows wrote:Sounds like an idiot. As usual.

Care to elaborate?

Roscoe Sheed wrote:Why would he get fired for that? Not all that controversial

Kinda put the media on blast didn't he? But yeah the topic name is over the top i agree

duppyy wrote:

Loaded_Hollows wrote:Sounds like an idiot. As usual.

Care to elaborate?

Revised above.

Tracymcgoaty wrote:

Black Jack wrote:He explained it well.

It's sickening, the whole thing. Really a turnoff on sports to see this in action honestly.

truly is..i just dont get why anyone would want him to play..he literally put his career on the line because people pressured him..its sad man..

Whoever was "unhappy with KD" in the Warriors org should be named. Expose who pressured him to play.

The best and most honest I've seen Jalen. I normally think he's a little phony but this was great.

We romanticize what KD attempted to do. He gained more respect by getting injured than by winning. This is because we want to set up Greek tragedies, and completely lose sight of the humanity of athletes. We think because they get paid millions, they should be putting their livelihoods at risk. They get paid millions because they possess a rare skillset and bodies which are literally the product. Condoning this kind of culture only diminishes the product, because we just lost another ATG's prime.

I remember romanticizing Kobe playing 47-48 minutes a night before blowing his Achilles trying to drag that sorry team to the playoffs. It wasn't worth it.

Black Jack wrote:

Tracymcgoaty wrote:

Black Jack wrote:He explained it well.

It's sickening, the whole thing. Really a turnoff on sports to see this in action honestly.

truly is..i just dont get why anyone would want him to play..he literally put his career on the line because people pressured him..its sad man..

Whoever was "unhappy with KD" in the Warriors org should be named. Expose who pressured him to play.

I think it was everyone from the media to the fans to the org..everyone pressured him to play..we all know KD is insecure so it's not that farfetched to think he took all that in and wanted to prove something.

Loaded_Hollows wrote:

duppyy wrote:

Loaded_Hollows wrote:Sounds like an idiot. As usual.

Care to elaborate?

Revised above.

I get where you're coming from but just like in mma and boxing if the fighter is getting demolished they need to throw in the towel to save the fighter from himself. The Golden State Warriors should've saved him from himself and told him not to play, whether he wanted to play or not they were selfish and threw him out there. Look at the result.

If he doesn’t get hurt again this isn’t a story.

The media in general is never concerned with the games, only the narratives.

That’s why the story over the playoffs has been about free agency and injuries rather than actually games.

KD did what most athletes would, he played but you honestly he loves the game and if they said he could go and he felt good so he went with it.

Tracymcgoaty wrote:https://streamable.com/p93kr

While i do think it's disgusting what happened last game surrounding KD..no doubt what Jalen says here hits the nail on the head. This dude gave himself to the franchise because people were putting stuff in his head. In no way should he have played this series.

It's like modern day gladiators at times.

well, and that is why no one is to blame. if everyone is to blame, then no one is to blame. what kd did,,,,that is the culture he lives in. he's a gladiator, we anoint our gladiators, our heros.

and oh btw, jalen left out kd's peers. you know,,,,his TEAMMATES. they were there every practice watching how he looked. they were there yesterday dressed in slacks just watching kd go through his very very light workout against the scrubs. a meaningless 20minute workout to see if he was fit. all eyes were on kd because of the anticipation of "is tonight the night". so there was that peer pressure as well, and kd had to answer to that.

but again, NO ONE is to blame because that is the world kd lives in. gymnasts competing with a broken ankle. in fact, maybe KD is to blame because he didn't go the kawhi route - he kept quiet. it wasn't only people "putting stuff in his head". it was also kd putting stuff in his own head because that's what high paid superstars do.

levon wrote:The best and most honest I've seen Jalen. I normally think he's a little phony but this was great.

We romanticize what KD attempted to do. He gained more respect by getting injured than by winning. This is because we want to set up Greek tragedies, and completely lose sight of the humanity of athletes. We think because they get paid millions, they should be putting their livelihoods at risk. They get paid millions because they possess a rare skillset and bodies which are literally the product. Condoning this kind of culture only diminishes the product, because we just lost another ATG's prime.

I remember romanticizing Kobe playing 47-48 minutes a night before blowing his Achilles trying to drag that sorry team to the playoffs. It wasn't worth it.

Agreed with what you said. I respected him a lot after last game willing to risk it to help the team..but it was clear from the start the dude had no business being out there.

NBA is a business in the end..and it's booming when you've got the full product on the court..healthy or not. We as fans are detached from that reality because we dont want to be part of it. We want to go to a game and watch the stars play.

I just hope this serves as a reminder to the rest of the players that it just aint worth it.

Lalouie wrote:

Tracymcgoaty wrote:https://streamable.com/p93kr

While i do think it's disgusting what happened last game surrounding KD..no doubt what Jalen says here hits the nail on the head. This dude gave himself to the franchise because people were putting stuff in his head. In no way should he have played this series.

It's like modern day gladiators at times.

well, and that is why no one is to blame. if everyone is to blame, then no one is to blame. what kd did,,,,that is the culture he lives in. he's a gladiator, we anoint our gladiators, our heros.

and oh btw, jalen left out kd's peers. you know,,,,his TEAMMATES. they were there every practice watching how he looked. they were there yesterday dressed in slacks just watching kd go through his very very light workout ups against the scrubs. all eyes were on kd because of the anticipation of "is tonight the night". so there was that peer pressure as well, and kd had to answer to that.

but again, NO ONE is to blame because that is the world kd lives in. gymnasts competing with a broken ankle. in fact, maybe KD is to blame because he didn't go the kawhi route - he kept quiet. it wasn't only people "putting stuff in his head". it was also kd putting stuff in his own head because that's what high paid superstars do.

Had a big arguement with my brother about this..He blamed the Org for letting him play..i said there is plenty of blame to go around..KD knows his body best anyone who saw him play last game knew he had no business being out there. But how the doctors cleared him i have no idea. Media aswell all that noise creates tension,pressure.

I feel for KD because of how much he loves the game. As someone who was gone a long time because of injuries while playing sports i can relate to it..It's a bitch because it's a big part of who you are.

I can't stand hyperbole.

Modern day gladiators. Get out of here. Gladiators? You mean slaves forced to fight each other, animals, and the elements to THE DEATH?

They're paid MILLIONS of dollars and live the lives of gods, man. Nobody forced KD out there. He's a grown man.

Sucks what happened and he should never have been playing in the series to begin with, but to say he was unfairly influenced is yet another way of try to blame others rather than the person responsible.

Sure, was there media buzz? Of course.

Did his teammates want him out there? Of course.

Did the Warriors want him out there? Of course.

It's his job. It's what he's under contract to do. It's what he's paid tens of millions to do.

He made the decision.

If it were some child who didn't know better or some college student unfairly influenced by agents, nike, his team, his coach, the media, etc, then I'd agree.

But this is a grown man. A super star. One of the best there ever has been or ever will be. This isn't Zion Williamson playing the NCAA tournament, this is Kevin F******* Durant playing the NBA finals.

He made this decision.

Why are we abbreviating ‘about’ to ‘bout’?

TheDavinciCHODE wrote:I can't stand hyperbole.

Modern day gladiators. Get out of here. Gladiators? You mean slaves forced to fight each other, animals, and the elements to THE DEATH?

They're paid MILLIONS of dollars and live the lives of gods, man. Nobody forced KD out there. He's a grown man.

Sucks what happened and he should never have been playing in the series to begin with, but to say he was unfairly influenced is yet another way of try to blame others rather than the person responsible.

Sure, was there media buzz? Of course.

Did his teammates want him out there? Of course.

Did the Warriors want him out there? Of course.

It's his job. It's what he's under contract to do. It's what he's paid tens of millions to do.

He made the decision.

If it were some child who didn't know better or some college student unfairly influenced by agents, nike, his team, his coach, the media, etc, then I'd agree.

But this is a grown man. A super star. One of the best there ever has been or ever will be. This isn't Zion Williamson playing the NCAA tournament, this is Kevin F******* Durant playing the NBA finals.

He made this decision.

Sure KD is to blame ofcourse. But like someone posted..sometimes people have to save someone from themselves..why was he cleared when it was clear from watching him play that he was nowhere near healthy. Same thing goes for looney..Dude looked like he was ready to collapse during the game.

Just to be clear im not absolving KD of the blame here. It's just a **** situation overall and it could have been avoided.