Will Kevin Durant ever win a Championship as the best player on his team?

[michaelm]

KD can't even pick a good running mate.

He joins players who don't compliment him. Booker and Kyrie like cmon bruh you should have played with Jokic.

Everyone saw what happened when he did pick a good running mate, and many of them particularly those who belonged to a certain fan base got rather upset.

[JustBuzzin]

KD can't even pick a good running mate.

He joins players who don't compliment him. Booker and Kyrie like cmon bruh you should have played with Jokic.

Everyone saw what happened when he did pick a good running mate, and many of them particularly those who belonged to a certain fan base got rather upset.

That was different. He picked a teammate who's team just won a championship. Jumping on the champs bandwagon was not cool. He broke the league and everyone knew it.

Since then he's had terrible luck with picking teammates. Had he joined Giannis or Jokic he would be sitting on a few more championships right now.

[AmIWrongDude]

KD can't even pick a good running mate.

He joins players who don't compliment him. Booker and Kyrie like cmon bruh you should have played with Jokic.

Everyone saw what happened when he did pick a good running mate, and many of them particularly those who belonged to a certain fan base got rather upset.

It’s not about running mate and I’m sure you know that

He joined the team that:
- broke the regular season wins record the year before
just beat his already great team in the playoffs the year before
- lost in the last minute of the Finals the year before
- won a championship the year before that year

Cmon man

[Iwasawitness]

I had some problem with “The Decision” TV thing at the time, but not now having discovered that it generated money for charity and allowing for LeBron being quite young at the time, but no problems with LeBron forming the Heatles, the Cavs were a terrible organisation who were never going to get their act together sufficiently to give him a shot at success, and he and Bosh were Free Agents. I don’t think there was the marked difference from KD’s move that some like to posit, particularly given KD was cut no slack for being beaten by the Heatles with his homegrown team of 22 and 23 year olds. Like LeBron he had given OKC more than a good college try, and I don’t see why he was obliged to keep losing next to Westbrook as he was then. People like to talk of things LeBron didn’t go like joining up with the Celtics big 3, which it probably was not possible to do given the salary cap and which it wouldn’t have been in his interests to do given they were fairly old and the Celtics title was pretty much the last hurrah for two of them. Particularly after the AD to the Lakers move I see no evidence that LeBron imposes any limits on what he will do himself superteam wise.

Sorry but “what if’s” don’t apply when it comes to something like this. It doesn’t really matter if LeBron couldn’t go to Boston… the fact is, he didn’t do it, and he probably wouldn’t have if he had the opportunity. While I definitely agree LeBron has inserted his influence in more times than necessary, the simple fact of the matter is… Miami wasn’t his first choice. This isn’t up for debate.

You may think it isn’t up for debate but that is you, and as with many things on the internet saying something repeatedly or vehemently doesn’t make it true/other than a matter of opinion.

Again, why pray tell do arcane rules apply to what KD is allowed to do particularly as a Free Agent while LeBron has done what he pleased 3 times to increase his chances of winning titles ?.

…it ISN’T up for debate. It’s a literal fact that LeBron tried staying in Cleveland first. You not wanting it to be the case doesn’t make it so. I don’t make the rules regarding how reality works.

And because LeBron didn’t go to the team that he choked to in the playoffs and was a 73 win team. This isn’t rocket science. Don’t let blind fanboyism make you die on this hill.

[carrrnuttt]

I'm not reading this whole thread, but I wanted to reply as a Suns fan.

KD *kills* team dynamics because instead of the team flowing through progressions to find the best scoring opportunity, his default and habit is going into a slow-moving iso. Him being who he is, which one of his teammates is going to defy him and not pass the ball to him?

Because the iso is slow moving, his teammates often get caught spectating. Even if they don't, it makes the offense so predictable that it makes it easy to pick off KD's passes when he eventually gets blitzed and doubled. What he does is only effective when he's on. When he's not on it's tough for the rest of the team to cover for him...because feeding his isos take away the rhythm from everyone else, even Booker a lot of times.

[bledredwine]

Curry getting more defensive focus isn’t a hypothesis… it’s a fact.

Lebron guarded Durant and got lit up, then chose not to guard him the following year sooo…

no excuses. Durant FMVP

1. LeBron lit up Durant, despite Kevin having far superior defensive talent around him. It goes both ways.

2. I’ve already explained why saying he chose not to guard him next season means nothing. He chose not to guard any opposing teams best player. This is just desperation on your end because you have no leg to stand on.

But sure… Durant FMVP. Congrats to him beating LeBron while being on a significantly better team… twice. If only they had faced on an even playing field.

Oh wait, they did, in 2012… and LeBron gentlemen swept him.

Durant not only scored more but was way more efficient.

[Iwasawitness]

Lebron guarded Durant and got lit up, then chose not to guard him the following year sooo…

no excuses. Durant FMVP

1. LeBron lit up Durant, despite Kevin having far superior defensive talent around him. It goes both ways.

2. I’ve already explained why saying he chose not to guard him next season means nothing. He chose not to guard any opposing teams best player. This is just desperation on your end because you have no leg to stand on.

But sure… Durant FMVP. Congrats to him beating LeBron while being on a significantly better team… twice. If only they had faced on an even playing field.

Oh wait, they did, in 2012… and LeBron gentlemen swept him.

Durant not only scored more but was way more efficient.

You mean the guy receiving less defensive attention and had less offensive responsibilities scored more on better efficiency? Oh man, I’m so shocked.

Literally doesn’t prove anything I just said wrong.

[Baz]

That is ridiculous to say, yea he joined a stacked team and those two championships dont hold as much weight as many others but would it be better if he didnt win those 2 with GS and retired with none?

Yes. I truly believe so. The move to GS has not and will continue to not age well.

Lol thats crazy man. Ask guys like Karl Malone, Barkley, and Stockton how it feels to retire without a ring. Weak or not at least he got a couple. How would you view his career if he retired without those 2 in GS?

I get why you'd think it's crazy I just don't think those rings even mean much to KD at the end of the day. I mean I'm just speculating I could be wrong but I'd bet he sits there and looks at those rings and still feels unfulfilled. You can tell by how bothered he is about this topic that it eats him up. Equally I think if Barkley joined the Bulls and won a cheap ring it'd also hurt his legacy as opposed to his current one. It's not about the destination it's about the journey.

[NoStatsGuy]

Yes. I truly believe so. The move to GS has not and will continue to not age well.

Lol thats crazy man. Ask guys like Karl Malone, Barkley, and Stockton how it feels to retire without a ring. Weak or not at least he got a couple. How would you view his career if he retired without those 2 in GS?

I get why you'd think it's crazy I just don't think those rings even mean much to KD at the end of the day. I mean I'm just speculating I could be wrong but I'd bet he sits there and looks at those rings and still feels unfulfilled. You can tell by how bothered he is about this topic that it eats him up. Equally I think if Barkley joined the Bulls and won a cheap ring it'd also hurt his legacy as opposed to his current one. It's not about the destination it's about the journey.

you are totally right. KD himsef is not a fan of ring culture that was created by fans and media. you could say he was "pressured" into jumping teams, like lillard, beal and other stars that care more about their families and/or other hobbies in life rather than pleasing fans and media narratives. KD is actually one of the few, that just wants to ball. ofc hes competetive, otherwise you wouldnt make it to the league. but chasing rings and jumping teams, in the fashion it is practiced now, really was "invented" by lebron. at the end of the 2000s and early 2010s is when this took over.

no one really was bashing players as much as it happens today, for not winning rings. the jazz would have been blown up in todays league, people would say "why is malone staying on this team?", etc.

times change, perspective changes and KD is one of the best all time players, wether you like it or not. and i will disagree with you, in 20 years from now all those little stories and narratives will mostly be forgotten and KD will go down as a champion , finals mvp and 1st ballot hall of famer.

[bledredwine]

1. LeBron lit up Durant, despite Kevin having far superior defensive talent around him. It goes both ways.

2. I’ve already explained why saying he chose not to guard him next season means nothing. He chose not to guard any opposing teams best player. This is just desperation on your end because you have no leg to stand on.

But sure… Durant FMVP. Congrats to him beating LeBron while being on a significantly better team… twice. If only they had faced on an even playing field.

Oh wait, they did, in 2012… and LeBron gentlemen swept him.

Durant not only scored more but was way more efficient.

You mean the guy receiving less defensive attention and had less offensive responsibilities scored more on better efficiency? Oh man, I’m so shocked.

Literally doesn’t prove anything I just said wrong.

Lebron was guarding him. Less attention is merely an excuse.

[michaelm]

KD can't even pick a good running mate.

He joins players who don't compliment him. Booker and Kyrie like cmon bruh you should have played with Jokic.

Everyone saw what happened when he did pick a good running mate, and many of them particularly those who belonged to a certain fan base got rather upset.

It’s not about running mate and I’m sure you know that

He joined the team that:
- broke the regular season wins record the year before
just beat his already great team in the playoffs the year before
- lost in the last minute of the Finals the year before
- won a championship the year before that year

Cmon man

GSW broke the regular season record the same season and OKC lost to GSW in the WCF series the same season. GSW did indeed win the season before except you guys all said they didn’t really win which is where this all really started, particularly the stupid attempt to break the regular season record. Knowing these things because I am a GSW fan who actually followed events at the time I also know they had decided to move on from Harrison Barnes after he rejected a generous early season offer to re-sign well before he stunk it up in the play-offs, and had also decided Bogut was too inconsistent and injury prone.

It wasn’t the regular season GSW team by the time they faced OKC, their problem for stupidly chasing the regular season record which ended up being meaningless, and we all know that despite the constant narrative of those of your ilk the Cavs didn’t really even beat the best GSW team of all time, which was clearly the 2017 team which won less regular season games.

I won’t bother repeating myself overly, but KD gave 9 years to the OKC franchise which wasn’t even in OKC when he was drafted, and had already stayed loyal and re-upped once. Losing in the actual finals in 2012 didn’t presage a later title, so why should a WCF loss have been different ?. There was absolutely no sign OKC were going to change their failed strategy, and in particular that his future had he stayed was going to be other than continuing to play a dual iso offensive scheme with Westbrook.

And most of all he was a Free Agent entitled to do whatever the f… he wanted after 9 years. What neither he nor GSW were obliged to do was stand pat to give LeBron a better chance of winning more titles. If this thwarted LeBron and your ambitions for him tough for you.

[Baz]

Lol thats crazy man. Ask guys like Karl Malone, Barkley, and Stockton how it feels to retire without a ring. Weak or not at least he got a couple. How would you view his career if he retired without those 2 in GS?

I get why you'd think it's crazy I just don't think those rings even mean much to KD at the end of the day. I mean I'm just speculating I could be wrong but I'd bet he sits there and looks at those rings and still feels unfulfilled. You can tell by how bothered he is about this topic that it eats him up. Equally I think if Barkley joined the Bulls and won a cheap ring it'd also hurt his legacy as opposed to his current one. It's not about the destination it's about the journey.

you are totally right. KD himsef is not a fan of ring culture that was created by fans and media. you could say he was "pressured" into jumping teams, like lillard, beal and other stars that care more about their families and/or other hobbies in life rather than pleasing fans and media narratives. KD is actually one of the few, that just wants to ball. ofc hes competetive, otherwise you wouldnt make it to the league. but chasing rings and jumping teams, in the fashion it is practiced now, really was "invented" by lebron. at the end of the 2000s and early 2010s is when this took over.

no one really was bashing players as much as it happens today, for not winning rings. the jazz would have been blown up in todays league, people would say "why is malone staying on this team?", etc.

times change, perspective changes and KD is one of the best all time players, wether you like it or not. and i will disagree with you, in 20 years from now all those little stories and narratives will mostly be forgotten and KD will go down as a champion , finals mvp and 1st ballot hall of famer.

Kevin in spite of what I said I'm still a fan of your game, you're right you are a certified AT great

[michaelm]

Sorry but “what if’s” don’t apply when it comes to something like this. It doesn’t really matter if LeBron couldn’t go to Boston… the fact is, he didn’t do it, and he probably wouldn’t have if he had the opportunity. While I definitely agree LeBron has inserted his influence in more times than necessary, the simple fact of the matter is… Miami wasn’t his first choice. This isn’t up for debate.

You may think it isn’t up for debate but that is you, and as with many things on the internet saying something repeatedly or vehemently doesn’t make it true/other than a matter of opinion.

Again, why pray tell do arcane rules apply to what KD is allowed to do particularly as a Free Agent while LeBron has done what he pleased 3 times to increase his chances of winning titles ?.

…it ISN’T up for debate. It’s a literal fact that LeBron tried staying in Cleveland first. You not wanting it to be the case doesn’t make it so. I don’t make the rules regarding how reality works.

And because LeBron didn’t go to the team that he choked to in the playoffs and was a 73 win team. This isn’t rocket science. Don’t let blind fanboyism make you die on this hill.

I will have you know I am a Curry fanboy rather than a Durant fanboy. And I bow to your obvious superior expertise in blind fanboyism. It has been my experience btw that resorting to argumentum ad hominem is not commonly a sign that the party concerned is winning the debate. I am actually amused and pleased to be called a fanboy for defending Durant on an obvious troll/agenda thread started purely to denigrate him, but it would seem likely you are not very familiar with the concept of irony.


As I have said on numerous occasions LeBron was never going to be given what he needed and was his due at the Cavs the first time and was entirely entitled to leave after giving them nearly a decade of his best efforts, and could go wherever he pleased as far as I am concerned as a free agent. I am yet to hear what better options he rejected, but nor should he have taken other than his best option imo. Your ‘literal fact’ is hardly compelling, more a literary fact actually, something you read somewhere and very short on details.

In actual reality Durant was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics, and perhaps oddly played his rookie year in the city of Seattle, after which the franchise was hi-jacked to OKC. He gave the franchise I believe 8 further years, re-upping once, and was counted as being outclassed by LeBron and the Heatles despite despite facing a superteam with a team of fellow 22 and 23 year olds, with subsequent discussions mainly based on what he and his team-mates became at their peaks rather than what they were then. After brilliant drafting OKC didn’t keep Harden, and made no attempt to improve the coaching, game plan or roster (in particular the spacing) despite improvements obviously being necessary. He also gave OKC 4 more years after a finals loss in which they didn’t win a title, had a career threatening injury the management of which gave every appearance to me of being flawed, but was supposed to stay again because of a WCF loss this time. ?.

Most of all as I said elsewhere he was a Free Agent entitled to go wherever he chose after 9 years. You are perhaps unfamiliar with the meaning of the word free ?. He was a top 5 player who joined another top 5 player as has been commonplace over the last 15 years or so, but a well constructed team had been built around the top 5 player he joined which is actually not illegal or unfair.

[iamoti]

KD is the definition of soft , weak minded individual. Him joining the Warriors is the most beta move in sports history. And to answer the topic, no he wont win ****.

Sent from my SM-G990B2 using RealGM mobile app

[Iwasawitness]

Durant not only scored more but was way more efficient.

You mean the guy receiving less defensive attention and had less offensive responsibilities scored more on better efficiency? Oh man, I’m so shocked.

Literally doesn’t prove anything I just said wrong.

Lebron was guarding him. Less attention is merely an excuse.

No it’s literally a fact. But even if that was the case… it still doesn’t prove what I said wrong.

[Iwasawitness]

You may think it isn’t up for debate but that is you, and as with many things on the internet saying something repeatedly or vehemently doesn’t make it true/other than a matter of opinion.

Again, why pray tell do arcane rules apply to what KD is allowed to do particularly as a Free Agent while LeBron has done what he pleased 3 times to increase his chances of winning titles ?.

…it ISN’T up for debate. It’s a literal fact that LeBron tried staying in Cleveland first. You not wanting it to be the case doesn’t make it so. I don’t make the rules regarding how reality works.

And because LeBron didn’t go to the team that he choked to in the playoffs and was a 73 win team. This isn’t rocket science. Don’t let blind fanboyism make you die on this hill.

I will have you know I am a Curry fanboy rather than a Durant fanboy. And I bow to your obvious superior expertise in blind fanboyism. It has been my experience btw that resorting to argumentum ad hominem is not commonly a sign that the party concerned is winning the debate. I am actually amused and pleased to be called a fanboy for defending Durant on an obvious troll/agenda thread started purely to denigrate him, but it would seem likely you are not very familiar with the concept of irony.


As I have said on numerous occasions LeBron was never going to be given what he needed and was his due at the Cavs the first time and was entirely entitled to leave after giving them nearly a decade of his best efforts, and could go wherever he pleased as far as I am concerned as a free agent. I am yet to hear what better options he rejected, but nor should he have taken other than his best option imo. Your ‘literal fact’ is hardly compelling, more a literary fact actually, something you read somewhere and very short on details.

In actual reality Durant was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics, and perhaps oddly played his rookie year in the city of Seattle, after which the franchise was hi-jacked to OKC. He gave the franchise I believe 8 further years, re-upping once, and was counted as being outclassed by LeBron and the Heatles despite despite facing a superteam with a team of fellow 22 and 23 year olds, with subsequent discussions mainly based on what he and his team-mates became at their peaks rather than what they were then. After brilliant drafting OKC didn’t keep Harden, and made no attempt to improve the coaching, game plan or roster (in particular the spacing) despite improvements obviously being necessary. He also gave OKC 4 more years after a finals loss in which they didn’t win a title, had a career threatening injury the management of which gave every appearance to me of being flawed, but was supposed to stay again because of a WCF loss this time. ?.

Most of all as I said elsewhere he was a Free Agent entitled to go wherever he chose after 9 years. You are perhaps unfamiliar with the meaning of the word free ?. He was a top 5 player who joined another top 5 player as has been commonplace over the last 15 years or so, but a well constructed team had been built around the top 5 player he joined which is actually not illegal or unfair.

Read somewhere and am short on details? LeBron tried luring Bosh to Cleveland. Bosh himself confirmed this. What more information do you need? Do you need to know that LeBron had to go to his own mom for advice on the matter because he was so conflicted? Or the fact that he was the last one of the three to make a decision and only did so after Cleveland failed to bring any of the big name FAs to the team? Are you really that incapable of reading between the lines?

And you seem to be misunderstanding the point. No one’s saying Durant should have stayed. No one’s misunderstanding the term “free”. The problem is that you are outright choosing to ignore context and are just stopping at “they both left to join another top five player”. That would be fine if there wasn’t more nuance to it. Again, one did in fact leave to join a top five player, that being LeBron. Durant on the other hand did the same… except that top five player was also a back to back MVP, the latter being the first ever unanimous MVP selection in NBA history on the backbone of a historically dominant season. On that aspect alone, you’re already wrong, but it gets worse. That team also had two other all NBA players from the previous season and they made the finals and were one win away from winning it all. And that isn’t even mentioning the 73 wins. Oh and btw, they were the ones who beat Durant. Durant made his choice. It was a cowardly move, but it got him two championships, so it worked. You want to say it’s the same as what LeBron did, there’s where you end up being wrong in this situation.

At this point it’s coming down to choosing to ignore key factors and having a fixation on one detail and going “see? They’re the same!”. They are not, and blind fanboyism is the only thing I can boil this down to. And yes, I’m well aware you’re a curry fan, not a Durant fan. No one said anything about you being a Durant fan though, so I’m not sure what you’re going on about.

[Calvin Klein]

KD can't even pick a good running mate.

He joins players who don't compliment him. Booker and Kyrie like cmon bruh you should have played with Jokic.

Everyone saw what happened when he did pick a good running mate, and many of them particularly those who belonged to a certain fan base got rather upset.

That was different. He picked a teammate who's team just won a championship. Jumping on the champs bandwagon was not cool. He broke the league and everyone knew it.

Since then he's had terrible luck with picking teammates. Had he joined Giannis or Jokic he would be sitting on a few more championships right now.

maybe he should stop jumping from team to team looking for an easy path to the Finals.

Draymond, as much as everyone hates him, called him what he is.

[dhsilv2]

Defense literally ceases to exist when the opportunity to downplay Durant is there. People will argue til they're blue in the face about Durant's offense being less than Curry's, and the fact he was a nationally lauded defensive anchor that postseason will never cross their mind. And then they'll probably go right into another thread and argue on both sides to the ball again.

KD literally broke people's brains when he broke the league, and that's the reason he'll never be respected the way he could/should.

Now hold up.

I will always praise Durant for the strides he made defensively that season, but in no way was he their defensive anchor.

He was one of their defensive anchors. He and Draymond. Especially during the finals.

But you won't always praise him for the strides he made, because defense apparently doesn't exist when you're debating he vs Curry.

Durant's D-LEBRON was 0.77 and -0.34 in 2017 and 2018.

Curry was -0.05 and -0.23

KD was a better defender and was important in some of their small ball lineups with his length. But if you're trying to imply KD was somehow this really significant defensive anchor, you're out of your mind.

[dhsilv2]

Durant not only scored more but was way more efficient.

You mean the guy receiving less defensive attention and had less offensive responsibilities scored more on better efficiency? Oh man, I’m so shocked.

Literally doesn’t prove anything I just said wrong.

Lebron was guarding him. Less attention is merely an excuse.

The warrior's were building their defense to stop Lebron. The cavs were there to stop Curry...

[michaelm]

…it ISN’T up for debate. It’s a literal fact that LeBron tried staying in Cleveland first. You not wanting it to be the case doesn’t make it so. I don’t make the rules regarding how reality works.

And because LeBron didn’t go to the team that he choked to in the playoffs and was a 73 win team. This isn’t rocket science. Don’t let blind fanboyism make you die on this hill.

I will have you know I am a Curry fanboy rather than a Durant fanboy. And I bow to your obvious superior expertise in blind fanboyism. It has been my experience btw that resorting to argumentum ad hominem is not commonly a sign that the party concerned is winning the debate. I am actually amused and pleased to be called a fanboy for defending Durant on an obvious troll/agenda thread started purely to denigrate him, but it would seem likely you are not very familiar with the concept of irony.


As I have said on numerous occasions LeBron was never going to be given what he needed and was his due at the Cavs the first time and was entirely entitled to leave after giving them nearly a decade of his best efforts, and could go wherever he pleased as far as I am concerned as a free agent. I am yet to hear what better options he rejected, but nor should he have taken other than his best option imo. Your ‘literal fact’ is hardly compelling, more a literary fact actually, something you read somewhere and very short on details.

In actual reality Durant was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics, and perhaps oddly played his rookie year in the city of Seattle, after which the franchise was hi-jacked to OKC. He gave the franchise I believe 8 further years, re-upping once, and was counted as being outclassed by LeBron and the Heatles despite despite facing a superteam with a team of fellow 22 and 23 year olds, with subsequent discussions mainly based on what he and his team-mates became at their peaks rather than what they were then. After brilliant drafting OKC didn’t keep Harden, and made no attempt to improve the coaching, game plan or roster (in particular the spacing) despite improvements obviously being necessary. He also gave OKC 4 more years after a finals loss in which they didn’t win a title, had a career threatening injury the management of which gave every appearance to me of being flawed, but was supposed to stay again because of a WCF loss this time. ?.

Most of all as I said elsewhere he was a Free Agent entitled to go wherever he chose after 9 years. You are perhaps unfamiliar with the meaning of the word free ?. He was a top 5 player who joined another top 5 player as has been commonplace over the last 15 years or so, but a well constructed team had been built around the top 5 player he joined which is actually not illegal or unfair.

Read somewhere and am short on details? LeBron tried luring Bosh to Cleveland. Bosh himself confirmed this. What more information do you need? Do you need to know that LeBron had to go to his own mom for advice on the matter because he was so conflicted? Or the fact that he was the last one of the three to make a decision and only did so after Cleveland failed to bring any of the big name FAs to the team? Are you really that incapable of reading between the lines?

And you seem to be misunderstanding the point. No one’s saying Durant should have stayed. No one’s misunderstanding the term “free”. The problem is that you are outright choosing to ignore context and are just stopping at “they both left to join another top five player”. That would be fine if there wasn’t more nuance to it. Again, one did in fact leave to join a top five player, that being LeBron. Durant on the other hand did the same… except that top five player was also a back to back MVP, the latter being the first ever unanimous MVP selection in NBA history on the backbone of a historically dominant season. On that aspect alone, you’re already wrong, but it gets worse. That team also had two other all NBA players from the previous season and they made the finals and were one win away from winning it all. And that isn’t even mentioning the 73 wins. Oh and btw, they were the ones who beat Durant. Durant made his choice. It was a cowardly move, but it got him two championships, so it worked. You want to say it’s the same as what LeBron did, there’s where you end up being wrong in this situation.

At this point it’s coming down to choosing to ignore key factors and having a fixation on one detail and going “see? They’re the same!”. They are not, and blind fanboyism is the only thing I can boil this down to. And yes, oh I’m well aware you’re a curry fan, not a Durant fan. No one said anything about you being a Durant fan though, so I’m not sure what you’re going on about.

So it can only be blind fanboyism that explains my defence of Durant on this troll thread which exists only to denigrate him even though I am actually primarily a Curry fan ?. My main motivation is actually that I don’t like lynch mobs on sports forums.

And now we have proceeded from ‘literal fact’ to reading between the lines ?. And because LeBron may have vaguely asked his friend Chris Bosh whether he was interested in joining the Cavs and Chris Bosh may later have said they had a conversation, for whatever motive which could conceivably have included justifying the formation of the Heatles after the trenchant criticism they copped, LeBron was henceforth entitled to any choice he cared to make while other elite players could only make moves approved by LeBron fans ?. I am sure LeBron would have liked to have chosen that Wade, Bosh, Eric Spoelstra and Pat Riley join him in Cleveland, and similarly KD might have been happier to stay at OKC if Curry, Thompson, Green and Kerr could have joined him there, but neither was ever going to happen.

Both of them had given 8 or 9 years to the franchise which signed them, and were free to go wherever they wanted to go for whatever reason, including not wanting to live in OKC any more if that was KD’s preference. The FA rule came into being so that young men drafted to play in places not of their choosing did not have to stay there for their entire career, which in some cases amounts to 20 years or more.

I have no problem with non-partisan followers of the NBA having a preference, perhaps for reasons of aesthetics or philosophy, that LeBron, Curry and Durant be at 3 different franchises. It doesn’t require much in the way of reading between the lines to work out why LeBron fans were peeved about KD joining GSW however.

And it is the problem of LeBron and his partisans if LeBron is not as good as Curry at turning his non top 5 team-mates into all stars and doesn’t understand team construction; as I have said before all indications are that while a great player he is a terrible GM. Were the 2014 Spurs also unfair for playing a team game with a well constructed roster and actually developing Kawhi Leonard into a top 5 player which he wasn’t before the 2014 play-offs and probably wasn't really until the finals that year ?.