Durant II - Durant to GSW

[MoneyMo]

Remember when they said KD is different yet here is doing almost the exact same thing LeBron did after his extension finished.

LeBron only teamed up with other stars; he didn't join an already historically dominant team. The equivalent would be LeBron joining the Lakers that year.

I know some disagree, but to me the difference between the two situations is light years apart.

No, it would be like joining the Celtics right after getting eliminated by them in 2010. Can you picture that

Except instead of joining a 50 win team which the Celtics were that year, Durant is joining a 73 win team? That just eliminated him? Disgusting

[DoubleLintendre]

Durant is operating at a different level than Lebron. His legacy isn't being compared to Jordan or Shaq, players who won as the man. He could want a title like Drexler or Barkley wanted a title, without ego, just desire. Fact is, he could have won a title this year and been seen as getting a sidekick ring. I don't think that will be a terribly important factor in this.

I see this way as well.

Durant doesn't strike me as a legacy guy at all. He just wants to win and play for a championship.

I don't know what you intended by this comment, so I I'm sorry if I misappropriate your quote. But, it frustrates me when people say "he just wants to win" like it's not a selfish desire. I don't see how joining a team that gives you a shortcut, or in this case perhaps even an absolute monopoly on winning, is any worse or better than joining a team for money. Are you helping making the world a better place by winning more games for some random team? Especially, since you would be winning games for, you know, YOUR team (not some other team).

I "just want to win" is hardly an ethical position.


Honestly, at this point, if the rumors are true that Durant is even seriously considering joining Golden State I've lost a great deal of my respect for him. It would be the most cowardly thing imaginable in professional sports. Maybe more importantly, it would decimate the career of one of the future all time greats, as he would be relegated to being a role player.

Oklahoma City vs Golden State has the potential to be an awesome rivalry for 5 years at least. Instead of helping to fortify his team, Durant says "screw it, I'll just join the competitor and create a monopoly where I don't have to try that hard to win."

If Durant's team was lacking in talent, or if Golden State needed one more star to be great, I wouldn't care. But you don't leave a title contender at the peak of its powers to play for an equal rival to remove competition from the sport. Its absurd. Especially if that rival just won 73 games.

I was making an observation, not a judgment.

I could care less about the politics of where Durant lands, or why, as long as he's not an ass about it.

[Teko]

Stay in Thunder or go Spurs, please!

[Axl Rose]

he'll re-sign with the thunder and the article will talk about how his heart never wavered and he loves the city. may go into detail about the move from Seattle and how OKC made him feel at home right away and helped him grow into the man he is today

I dont see why he'd take all the time to writer an article if he's signing a one year contract. The only way to me this would be article worthy in terms of showing loyalty to OKC if he does re-sign is if he;'s signing a 5 year max which I think is unlikely from everything we've heard.

never underestimate how overdramatic these athletes can be

[Chuck Everett]

Did people hate on Rodman when he joined the Bulls? The Pistons-Bulls rivalry was way more heated than the Warriors-Thunder.

Rodman was traded to the Spurs between his Pistons and Bull runs, where he was seen as poison more or less. And the Bulls drafted the two legit superstars on those Bulls teams. This wouldn't be like that at all.

He also was a role player. An elite/hall of fame version, but whenever he didn't play with stacked teams he was "Dennis the menace."

[nbafan38]

Remember when they said KD is different yet here is doing almost the exact same thing LeBron did after his extension finished.

LeBron only teamed up with other stars; he didn't join an already historically dominant team. The equivalent would be LeBron joining the Lakers that year.

I know some disagree, but to me the difference between the two situations is light years apart.

No, it would be like joining the Celtics right after getting eliminated by them in 2010. Can you picture that

Except instead of joining a 50 win team which the Celtics were that year, Durant is joining a 73 win team? That just eliminated him? Disgusting

Reading this thread there are clearly two camps on this, I'm personally in your camp about this but others see it differently.

[Litany]

Okay I'm going to join in again. If KD is dumb enough to go to a worse team with lesser players then by all means go to Boston because it helps make the western conference easier . So I'm going to vote that KD goes to Boston.

Come on KD, go to Boston...I'm going to need a little while to figure out an argument for why it's better for you...but please do it!!! Ahahaha

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Its not about legacy. It is just that people know the threat of what can happen. Its one thing to create a big 3 of KG-Pierce-Allen or Lebron-Wade-Bosh.
But a 73-9 team adding a superstar like KD? Its over. And nobody in their right mind besides Oaklanders wants that to happen. And if it does happen, everyone will be hatin on KD for a while

Did people hate when Jordan's Bulls were dominating the mid '90s?

Did people hate on Rodman when he joined the Bulls? The Pistons-Bulls rivalry was way more heated than the Warriors-Thunder.

I was not a Heat hater so I am missing some understanding of the mindset. There is something frustrating about trying to build to a championship while knowing that your star can shatter everything by leaving.

The Pistons and also the Riley Knicks played nasty ball that made it easy to root for Jordan. Jordan paid his dues losing to better Easter conference teams.

Grant left the Bulls so Rodman just seemed like a replacement for Grant. There were many Rodman haters that thought the Bulls were endangering their success by allowing Rodman to be on the team.

So I think the analogy fails.

[te887848]

Durant shouldn't care what the general public thinks. His legacy like all great NBA players ultimately will be determined by rings.

Why try the same formula that has failed over and over again (OKC) when you can pick the better, wiser route of guaranteeing rings year in and year out? Golden State is the right decision.

And Boston is stupid move too. Yea they'd be great, but not convincingly better than the Cavs, Warriors or even the Spurs.

With the Warriors Durant's only concern would be the Cavs.

People are so dumb talking about this "would lose all respect for him" sh&t. As if he should care about what random fans want him to do.

All rings don't have equal value though at least in terms of public perception. Look at Lebron, his 2 rings in Miami are percieved less impressively than his 1 in Cleveland because everyone know his ring in Cleveland was more difficult to achieve.

No, they actually aren't. He's viewed as someone with 3 rings and is now a top 3 player all-time because he went to Miami for those 4 seasons. Had he stayed with the garbage in Cleveland (obviously now they're not garbage with Kyrie and Love, but they were during LeBron's first 7 seasons) he likely wouldn't have won anything and would be viewed much more unfavorably than he is now.

Obviously Durant isn't playing with the crap LeBron did in Cleveland, but his competition is also way, way tougher so it almost evens out. He has a "title contender" every year in OKC but it would never be an upset if he lost in the 2nd round or WCF every year, because he's got to deal with the juggernaut Warriors, Spurs and to a lesser extent Clippers. Even the early rounds can be grueling playing a tough team like Memphis or someone similar.

Golden State is the right decision because he cripples his West competition in the process, thus not being required to go through hell every single season just for a chance to make a Finals appearance.

[BayArea408415]

Remember when they said KD is different yet here is doing almost the exact same thing LeBron did after his extension finished.

Can people stop it with the Durant hate until the guy actually joins us? At this point, it's still likely he goes back to the Thunder for a 1+1 PO. Chill out guys.

[Litany]

Remember when they said KD is different yet here is doing almost the exact same thing LeBron did after his extension finished.

Can people stop it with the Durant hate until the guy actually joins us? At this point, it's still likely he goes back to the Thunder for a 1+1 PO. Chill out guys.

People are so ridiculous. If KD wants to go to the Warriors he should do it. He's earned it.

I think either the thunder or warriors are great situations for him.

[toussaud]

OKC's not going to be calling up Philly and going "hey bro, u up? can you do me a favor ill owe u big time." Teams are also not all sitting around a conference table in a dark room together conspiring to stop GS, ala some Presidential danger room type deal.

This is actually exctly how it works

[toussaud]

I mean here is the thing. Durant wants to leave. Think about it like this. Durant can guarantee himself 150+ million dollars, right now, by simply signing a piece of paper to stay in OKC. Right now. he hasn't done it. he's done all this, not for money. He wants to play somewhere else. It's just the where.

[gustofwind]

I see this way as well.

Durant doesn't strike me as a legacy guy at all. He just wants to win and play for a championship.

I don't know what you intended by this comment, so I I'm sorry if I misappropriate your quote. But, it frustrates me when people say "he just wants to win" like it's not a selfish desire. I don't see how joining a team that gives you a shortcut, or in this case perhaps even an absolute monopoly on winning, is any worse or better than joining a team for money. Are you helping making the world a better place by winning more games for some random team? Especially, since you would be winning games for, you know, YOUR team (not some other team).

I "just want to win" is hardly an ethical position.


Honestly, at this point, if the rumors are true that Durant is even seriously considering joining Golden State I've lost a great deal of my respect for him. It would be the most cowardly thing imaginable in professional sports. Maybe more importantly, it would decimate the career of one of the future all time greats, as he would be relegated to being a role player.

Oklahoma City vs Golden State has the potential to be an awesome rivalry for 5 years at least. Instead of helping to fortify his team, Durant says "screw it, I'll just join the competitor and create a monopoly where I don't have to try that hard to win."

If Durant's team was lacking in talent, or if Golden State needed one more star to be great, I wouldn't care. But you don't leave a title contender at the peak of its powers to play for an equal rival to remove competition from the sport. Its absurd. Especially if that rival just won 73 games.

I was making an observation, not a judgment. I could care less about the politics of where Durant lands, or why, as long as he's not an ass about it.

Then I apologize for quoting you. But, I hope you can see I was using the quote a as a springboard for a more general observation.

Perhaps the fact that you said he "just wants to win," is what I was picking up on. People (not necessarily you) like to minimize the gesture of someone trying to dominate other people as long as its within a safe group. In my view, just because you are part of a group, doesn't change the gesture. In my view, if Durant joins GSW he isn't "just" anything. He would be making a bold and aggressive maneuver, whether one likes it or not. Durant is, therefore, neither making an selfless gesture, or even a harmless one.

[JulesWinnfield]

Remember when they said KD is different yet here is doing almost the exact same thing LeBron did after his extension finished.

LeBron only teamed up with other stars; he didn't join an already historically dominant team. The equivalent would be LeBron joining the Lakers that year.

I know some disagree, but to me the difference between the two situations is light years apart.

No, it would be like joining the Celtics right after getting eliminated by them in 2010. Can you picture that

Except instead of joining a 50 win team which the Celtics were that year, Durant is joining a 73 win team? That just eliminated him? Disgusting

And that's not the only difference... Most people are only focusing on the destination (and we could all agree golden state is far more stacked than the Miami team Lebron joined, not to mention the can't beat em join em aspect)...

You also have to look at where they departed from though. Hate Lebrons move all you want, it's impossible to argue he was in an extremely rough spot in Cleveland with the cast that surrounded him. It was pretty damn easy to understand why he left. You may not have liked how he did it, but clevelands roster was a dead end. That's not the case with Durant. I could see him having reservations long term depending on what he may be privy to with Westbrook, but as is that's a team who is going to remain a threat to anybody (even though Lebron seems to have their number routinely, that's not guaranteed to happen forever). They were a Klay Thompson record breaking night from being in the finals this year

[nfmos]

Durant is operating at a different level than Lebron. His legacy isn't being compared to Jordan or Shaq, players who won as the man. He could want a title like Drexler or Barkley wanted a title, without ego, just desire. Fact is, he could have won a title this year and been seen as getting a sidekick ring. I don't think that will be a terribly important factor in this.

I see this way as well.

Durant doesn't strike me as a legacy guy at all. He just wants to win and play for a championship.

I don't know what you intended by this comment, so I I'm sorry if I misappropriate your quote. But, it frustrates me when people say "he just wants to win" like it's not a selfish desire. I don't see how joining a team that gives you a shortcut, or in this case perhaps even an absolute monopoly on winning, is any worse or better than joining a team for money. Are you helping making the world a better place by winning more games for some random team? Especially, since you would be winning games for, you know, YOUR team (not some other team).

I "just want to win" is hardly an ethical position.


Honestly, at this point, if the rumors are true that Durant is even seriously considering joining Golden State I've lost a great deal of my respect for him. It would be the most cowardly thing imaginable in professional sports. Maybe more importantly, it would decimate the career of one of the future all time greats, as he would be relegated to being a role player.

Oklahoma City vs Golden State has the potential to be an awesome rivalry for 5 years at least. Instead of helping to fortify his team, Durant says "screw it, I'll just join the competitor and create a monopoly where I don't have to try that hard to win."

If Durant's team was lacking in talent, or if Golden State needed one more star to be great, I wouldn't care. But you don't leave a title contender at the peak of its powers to play for an equal rival to remove competition from the sport. Its absurd. Especially if that rival just won 73 games.

In the past players used to get blasted for "going for the money" instead of winning, and this could be an example of a players giving up tens of millions of dollars because he possibly personally prefers to play with a different group of players. What if he just is closer in personality and has more in common with players like Curry, Iggy, and Draymond? What if he likes the selfless style of ball the Dubs play better and has heard the rumors of how much these players like playing with each other? What if he just doesn't want to look back years from now and wonder how fun it would have been to play in this kind of system with guys he is pretty close with? Look at how religious Curry and Iggy are and how that is closer to how Durant is than someone like Westbrook. What if he just likes this group of guys better and wants to spend some years playing with them? Like Lebron has shown, a move like this doesn't need to be for the rest of his career, but does anyone think Lebron regrets going to Miami and taking advantage of that window, even with all the hate he got?

All these people judging him as being a coward, if you had an opportunity to work with people you really admire at a more successful company than you are currently at, maybe in a location better suited to you, are you turning it down because you prefer to be at an underdog company?

As a Warriors fan, I don't even think this makes us as unbeatable as all these people are trying to say, our depth would basically be alot of minimum pay veterans and rookies, so I don't see us winning anywhere close to the games we did last year. But yes, when we would be hitting at all cylinders, it would be amazing.

But its funny to see the hypocrisy judging a player deciding to take control of his career and make the move that will make him the happiest, in an industry where most players are often traded without any input. If any of you were in the same position, your team just coming off a record season where you came up short in the Finals, I would love to see how many of you would be calling him a coward for choosing your team. Not many, I'm sure.

I still think he stays in OKC, but I definitely would welcome him with open arms if he picks our team.

[te887848]

The NBA is really weird man... a team wins 73 games, falls 1 game short of a championship and they think about adding a superstar to the team. I mean, really, does the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mean anything to these franchises? I wouldn't TOUCH Golden State's roster right now. In my opinion, adding Durant is way more likely to mess things up. Basketball is not about mathematically adding numbers together...

Not really. The swap would be Barnes for Durant which easily, even if the Warriors went 82-0, is a no-brainer decision.

Teams that can get better should always try to do so. Pretty much common sense.

[nbafan38]

Durant shouldn't care what the general public thinks. His legacy like all great NBA players ultimately will be determined by rings.

Why try the same formula that has failed over and over again (OKC) when you can pick the better, wiser route of guaranteeing rings year in and year out? Golden State is the right decision.

And Boston is stupid move too. Yea they'd be great, but not convincingly better than the Cavs, Warriors or even the Spurs.

With the Warriors Durant's only concern would be the Cavs.

People are so dumb talking about this "would lose all respect for him" sh&t. As if he should care about what random fans want him to do.

All rings don't have equal value though at least in terms of public perception. Look at Lebron, his 2 rings in Miami are percieved less impressively than his 1 in Cleveland because everyone know his ring in Cleveland was more difficult to achieve.

No, they actually aren't. He's viewed as someone with 3 rings and is now a top 3 player all-time because he went to Miami for those 4 seasons. Had he stayed with the garbage in Cleveland (obviously now they're not garbage with Kyrie and Love, but they were during LeBron's first 7 seasons) he likely wouldn't have won anything and would be viewed much more unfavorably than he is now.

Obviously Durant isn't playing with the crap LeBron did in Cleveland, but his competition is also way, way tougher so it almost evens out. He has a "title contender" every year in OKC but it would never be an upset if he lost in the 2nd round or WCF every year, because he's got to deal with the juggernaut Warriors, Spurs and to a lesser extent Clippers. Even the early rounds can be grueling playing a tough team like Memphis or someone similar.

Golden State is the right decision because he cripples his West competition in the process, thus not being required to go through hell every single season just for a chance to make a Finals appearance.

Or he can waitit out, force the warriors to give Barnes a max contract or lose Barnes and not replace him,not allow the spurs to sign anyone while waiting on him and then sign with OKC on the 9th and that's another way of crippling his competition wink:

[BayArea408415]

People are so ridiculous. If KD wants to go to the Warriors he should do it. He's earned it.

I think either the thunder or warriors are great situations for him.

Durant (to me) is one of the most likeable guys in the NBA. I think the hate Durant is getting is partially due to fans just being blinded by their hate for the Warriors. They hate "dirty" Green. They hate "trash talking" Klay and they hate Steph and his "celebrations" or "lack of criticism" he gets. They hate Bogut and his "illegal screens" and act as if we're the only team that does it.

For many forum members, it's their worst nightmare to contemplate Durant joining us and winning 3-4 rings and stomping through the playoffs. Fair enough but the guy hasn't even joined us and he gave OKC so many years of his career already, so I agree he's earned the right to choose where he goes (even if it makes winning chips that much easier).

[Bandeazyy]

Remember when they said KD is different yet here is doing almost the exact same thing LeBron did after his extension finished.

Can people stop it with the Durant hate until the guy actually joins us? At this point, it's still likely he goes back to the Thunder for a 1+1 PO. Chill out guys.

People are so ridiculous. If KD wants to go to the Warriors he should do it. He's earned it.

I think either the thunder or warriors are great situations for him.

To top it off, KD doesn't owe OKC a thing. All these people saying he should finish his career in OKC are beyond ridiculous. He's a RFA, OKC had their chances to make a dominant team and with his age, this will be THE contract that defines his career with either ending it with a ring or not, doubt he'll care that people will lose their respect for him.