KD to GS - Pt III

[Guest202]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MrBusby4o8/status/750024183388581888[/tweet]

[RaptorNews]

People want to portray this as a smart business move and nothing more

You realize this is just a silly game we all watch for fun and taking the fun out of it really really sucks?

[Boarder Patrol]

I don't blame GSW for this - you have the chance to massively upgrade your roster, which you grew from smart draft picks, planning and (as any title team has) some luck. It's a no-brainer for them. I do think it's an indictment on Durant's competitiveness though. That's a punk moving joining a team that you only lost to because you couldn't close.

[Hindenburg]

People criticizing Durant:

Do you purposely take the hardest and longest commute to work everyday?

yeah, like competitive sports and 9 to 5 jobs have anything in common

Predictable and lazy answer.

The point is you sure as hell aren't making your life/work needlessly more complicated to adhere to some romanticized moral standard. It is hypocritical to blame Durant then.

[sharkeisha]

How is this good for the league unless you enjoy a team winning majority of their games by 30 points. Games will be over after the 1st qtr.

you will be watching the games on national tv saying man this boring

lebron goes to final every year because the east is so bad....you dont hear people crying over that.

The east record versus the west is almost the same and the east had no sub .500 teams in the playoffs. On top of that, the east won the championship. Please stop with that.

bruh the east is horrible, outside of the cavs no team has a chance of making out of the west. Lebron gets a free ride to the final every year and now that durant wants that he is such a bad guy.

[ratul]

Eff Durant

[DreDay]

You apologists don't get it.

It's not that he moved, it's where he moved to.

No one cares that he left OKC, but KD, a former MVP and top three player in this league should not under any circumstances be signing with a 73 win team, that has the 2x reigning MVP, 2015 champs, with back to back Finals appearances, was moments away from going back to back as champs, and came back from a 3-1 lead against the team KD was just on.

It's a fraudulent, cowardly move. Everyone knows it makes them better, but that's the point. The Warriors had a 3-1 Finals lead and were a win away from being known as the "greatest team of all time", but they choked. They don't need to get better and the league doesn't need for them to get better. KD could sit on the bench all year and the Warriors may still win the title. Heck, I could ride the bench myself and win a title, it's just that unfair. Any ring he wins there is now meaningless and hollow.

That's the issue here.

Nothing cowardly about it. If anything it's brave to move to a team you believe is best for yourself knowing the public backlash that will occur if you sign there.

Nothing unfair about it from the Warriors side either. The Warriors opened up cap space for Durant by letting go of key contributors. Durant took the maximum money he could get from the Warriors. No shifty dealings happened here.

You think the Warriors don't need to get better. I do. So do many other Warriors fans out there. Can't call them chokers and simultaneously say they don't need improvements. Pick one. The league doesn't need for them to get better, but tough luck. The goal of an organisation is to continuously get better.

Even still, basketball is more than competition. It's a game meant for fun and entertainment. If Durant felt like he could enjoy his career most with the Warriors style of play, culture and teammates, just because they're a great team shouldn't mean Durant cannot join the Warriors. He only has one career, and people are telling him that he shouldn't join a great team even if that's the situation where he feels he can have the most fulfilling career.

Whether that's unfair or not is not Durant's problem. Durant's job is not to ensure league parity.

And no, no rings are meaningless and hollow. This is a legitimately constructed team, whether you accept that or not.

You're a Golden State fan. Everything you said in this post is completely irrelevant.

Of course you're going to support KD and your team. Heck, I'd do the same if he was on mine.

But that doesn't change the fact that his choice was cowardly and handicaps the competitive nature of the league. Take the Warrior spin elsewhere, not being bought here.

Actually I said the same thing a long time ago. But sure, dismiss it as irrelevant. I can also claim that you're a salty Boston fan, but that's just stupid because we won't get anywhere in terms of having a reasonable discussion.

[BigTrade92]

Nothing cowardly about it. If anything it's brave to move to a team you believe is best for yourself knowing the public backlash that will occur if you sign there.

Nothing unfair about it from the Warriors side either. The Warriors opened up cap space for Durant by letting go of key contributors. Durant took the maximum money he could get from the Warriors. No shifty dealings happened here.

You think the Warriors don't need to get better. I do. So do many other Warriors fans out there. Can't call them chokers and simultaneously say they don't need improvements. Pick one. The league doesn't need for them to get better, but tough luck. The goal of an organisation is to continuously get better.

Even still, basketball is more than competition. It's a game meant for fun and entertainment. If Durant felt like he could enjoy his career most with the Warriors style of play, culture and teammates, just because they're a great team shouldn't mean Durant cannot join the Warriors. He only has one career, and people are telling him that he shouldn't join a great team even if that's the situation where he feels he can have the most fulfilling career.

Whether that's unfair or not is not Durant's problem. Durant's job is not to ensure league parity.

And no, no rings are meaningless and hollow. This is a legitimately constructed team, whether you accept that or not.

You're a Golden State fan. Everything you said in this post is completely irrelevant.

Of course you're going to support KD and your team. Heck, I'd do the same if he was on mine.

But that doesn't change the fact that his choice was cowardly and handicaps the competitive nature of the league. Take the Warrior spin elsewhere, not being bought here.

Actually I said the same thing a long time ago. But sure, dismiss it as irrelevant. I can also claim that you're a salty Boston fan, but that's just stupid because we won't get anywhere in terms of having a reasonable discussion.

You wouldn't be wrong. I'm very salty.

But like I've said several pages ago, it's not that Kevin Durant left OKC, it's not that he didn't come to Boston, it's that he went to Golden State.

He could've gone literally to any team not named the Cavaliers, Warriors or Spurs and yeah, I would've been bummed he didn't come to my team, but I would've totally understood it.

But to not only burn his old team like that, but to sign with a 73 win team that doesn't and didn't even need him to win a title, well that's just so damn weak and cowardly and deserves criticism.

[Beffiosa]

lebron goes to final every year because the east is so bad....you dont hear people crying over that.

The east record versus the west is almost the same and the east had no sub .500 teams in the playoffs. On top of that, the east won the championship. Please stop with that.

bruh the east is horrible, outside of the cavs no team has a chance of making out of the west. Lebron gets a free ride to the final every year and now that durant wants that he is such a bad guy.

You think Lebron got a free ride when Wade and Bosh was hurt and they were playing tough teams like Pacers and Boston being down 2-3 with game 6 in Boston? You think it was a free ride playing the #1 team Hawks without Kevin Love and a hobbled Kyrie? Lets give Lebron more respect for being great and staying healthy year in and year out. Durant is not a bad guy for doing what he did, but his move was very surprising since he had a top 3 team in league and went to a team who he choked to. His action basically showed why OKC failed to win despite being one if not the most talented team in the past 5 years. Durant lacks heart and fire to lead a team. What Durant did is the equivalent of a competitive mountain climber taking a Helicopter to the top and then screams, "I finally made it!"

[bigben998]

This is just another step forward in taking the fun out of basketball......the less teams that can compete, the worse it will get. Smaller market teams have no chance when every team can sign more max players......even the best teams. People wanted to see Durant come back and have another shot at beating the Warriors like he should have.....now he joins them instead? Who does that? I remember hating it when Artest left the Rockets and went to LA after we got beat by LA in the 2nd round the year before but this is that x10. I can only imagine how OKC fans must feel. One of the reasons people liked Durant was because he did not seem like the type that would do this. Even if the Warriors win championships, no one besides Warriors fans will think it is fair. Let's all hope that this will trigger something in the NBA to stop this stuff from happening.

[smallgains]

lebron goes to final every year because the east is so bad....you dont hear people crying over that.

The east record versus the west is almost the same and the east had no sub .500 teams in the playoffs. On top of that, the east won the championship. Please stop with that.

bruh the east is horrible, outside of the cavs no team has a chance of making out of the west. Lebron gets a free ride to the final every year and now that durant wants that he is such a bad guy.

So by that logic isn't the west weak because from what everyone seems to think, GS will have a clear road to the finals? Then, the only team in the west to give them trouble has lost their best player to GS and is in shambles.

[10DayContract]

From reading these threads I've learned that a lot of you guys are way softer than you think Durant is.

[N8N]

He is a grown man. He is a free agent. He can do what he wants.

But I have to admit a little part of me has lost some respect for him as a competitor. I feel like all he needed to do was work on his game a little. Everytime Dirk and Dallas failed in the playoffs, Dirk improved. Durant could have done that, but chose not to.

Still, it was his choice. Good luck to the guy.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using RealGM mobile app

[DreDay]

You're a Golden State fan. Everything you said in this post is completely irrelevant.

Of course you're going to support KD and your team. Heck, I'd do the same if he was on mine.

But that doesn't change the fact that his choice was cowardly and handicaps the competitive nature of the league. Take the Warrior spin elsewhere, not being bought here.

Actually I said the same thing a long time ago. But sure, dismiss it as irrelevant. I can also claim that you're a salty Boston fan, but that's just stupid because we won't get anywhere in terms of having a reasonable discussion.

You wouldn't be wrong. I'm very salty.

But like I've said several pages ago, it's not that Kevin Durant left OKC, it's not that he didn't come to Boston, it's that he went to Golden State.

He could've gone literally to any team not named the Cavaliers, Warriors or Spurs and yeah, I would've been bummed he didn't come to my team, but I would've totally understood it.

But to not only burn his old team like that, but to sign with a 73 win team that doesn't and didn't even need him to win a title, well that's just so damn weak and cowardly and deserves criticism.

Like I said, Durant has one career in his life, and basketball is not just about being the main man on a title team. It's still at its core a game played for fun and enjoyment, and the NBA in simple terms is an organisation of employment. The Warriors aren't just a 73 win team. It's likely KD viewed them as a tight-knit, friendly, laid back, successful group of guys with a good organisational culture. In his mind it may be the perfect working environment. Why let fans dictate your career if you won't be as happy as you could be? He shouldn't have ethical obligations to choose a worse situation for his own life/career.

So yes, if you view the NBA mainly about winning championships as the main man or 'the right way', the anger makes sense. But to me there's so much more that needs to be considered that it would take some extreme circumstances for me to fault any player for leaving. For example, if Durant took the vet minimum, I could get behind the negativity regarding him.

[BleedOrangeBlue]

You guys are hating for something most of you guys probably do everytime you play pickup basketball. I go to the park or gym to play ball, all I see are stacked teams and you fools are playing for free/nothing - no 27 mill a year and no title. Some of you would even go to the extreme to do whatever it takes to win, but that's another story. Stop hating on KD, Lebron or whoever because anyone who plays ball knows he is doing what it takes to win and get paid.

[northoakland510]

sucks for Barnes that his teammates were openly recruiting his replacement for an entire season. It may haven even affected his game. He got his money though. All those supposed "great teammates" in Golden State.

Bogut and Barnes were the two guys who openly talked about the disrespect of seeking to change a team that's a GOAT contender.

Both are gone. It's a cruel world lol.

That's why the warrior players are douchey and I dont get why people are on the bandwagon when steph curry and draymond think they're entitled to everything. Curry was def not the same player that I followed at davidson, his ego on another level, robbed lebron of 2 MVPS because of the media and their hype.

Barnes was offered a new contract and he turned it down. Once he did that he sealed his own fate.

[BROWN]

Everyone felt this way when LeBron did it in 2010. "Omg the league isn't fair, blah blah blah". A few years later, there's a new superteam... a few years from now there will be another super team.

[BigTrade92]

You guys are hating for something most of you guys probably do everytime you play pickup basketball. I go to the park or gym to play ball, all I see are stacked teams and you fools are playing for free/nothing - no 27 mill a year and no title. Some of you would even go to the extreme to do whatever it takes to win, but that's another story. Stop hating on KD, Lebron or whoever because anyone who plays ball knows he is doing what it takes to win and get paid.

But that's the point, isn't it?

He's got more money than god. Why would you sell your soul for a championship?

Go back to your already stacked team or a young up-and-coming team and define your legacy and win a title on your own and prove to everyone that you are, exactly what you say and have said you are.

Don't go ride Curry's coat tails on a 73 win, championship team and make whatever ring you win hollow and empty...

"Oh yeah, KD cruised to winning a ring after joining the 73 win Warriors, the former champs, who had back-to-back Finals appearances and narrowly lost in the closing seconds of a Finals Game 7, and were stacked with a 2x reigning NBA MVP, and three other NBA All Stars...."

See how weak that sounds?

That fine when talking about the career of Zaza Pachulia, but for league MVP and superstar Kevin Durant, it's just....weak.

[HotRocks34]

Quick note to the 'Warriors have been unfairly hated' crap echoed a bit in here.

We loved you guys as underdogs but you let success get to your head and become the most cocky, hypocritical team in the league.

It's all justified.

Correct. To reference something I posted from a previous KD thread that was written by a person from GQ shortly after the 2016 Finals:

http://www.gq.com/story/steph-curry-backlash-lebron

For the first time in what seemed forever, Curry (who, like LeBron, was born in Akron) was officially a loser again, just another Icarus who flew too close to the sun with his stupid mouthpiece dangling out. In a year that saw much of the formerly besotted public violently reject and repudiate Curry and the Golden State Warriors, this was the only acceptable conclusion, that of maximum dishonor and a vicious public humbling.

So, just as Phreak50 said, the "formerly besotted public" (a public that liked and was taken with the Warriors) turned on the Warriors last year. And that turning seems to have particularly taken place during the playoffs.

If you are capable of turning LeBron into a hero, then you're probably doing something wrong.

I recall seeing a poll (can't find it now and I have looked for it) taken either before the Finals started or before Game 7, from ESPN I believe it was, which I think showed an overwhelming number of USA states rooting for the Cavs. That never happens until late last year. The Warriors were the darlings of the league, but then people turned on them.

Sure, "Light Years" and all of that. But it wasn't just that. It was the shimmying, it was the arrogance that showed up on the court and in media sessions. It was the "best team of all time?" stuff that put the cart before the horse. It was Ayesha. It was Mychal. It was Draymond hitting people in the groin and not getting suspended during the OKC series. It was Klay talking about LeBron. It was Klay saying the Warriors were better than the Showtime Lakers after like Game 2 of the 2016 FInals. It was the sense of unearned entitlement that seemed to permeate the entire Warriors organization. It was the multiple comments from a supposed Curry source(s) about how hurt Steph was during the playoffs. It was Steph hitting a fan with his thrown mouthpiece in the Finals.

The hate was real, too. And it's still real. There's no way around it. This is from someone -- someone who himself fell prey to the foolish Warriors arrogance in tweets saying during the 2015-16 season that there was no way the Cavs could beat the Warriors in a series, I believe -- who covers the Warriors. It was written after the Durant signing.

http://www.mercurynews.com/marcus-thompson/ci_30089628/thompson-kevin-durant-makes-warriors-most-hated-team

Not that long ago, the Warriors were the epitome of lovable. A bunch of nice-guy underdogs who had obvious fun and played an entertaining style of basketball. Those days were clearly over after they won a championship, followed by their chase for 73 turning them into one of the most hyped teams ever.

CEO Joe Lacob's comments about the Warriors being "light years" ahead of the NBA gave credence to the anti-Warriors crowd's bemoans of arrogance. People grew weary of the Warriors and their rampant love. The once-cute, inspirational, play-the-game-the-right-way squad that brought beauty back to basketball officially became antagonists.

That was never more evident when the Warriors choked away a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. It was hard to tell if some were more happy about the Warriors' demise or impressed by the Cavaliers' impressive feat.

The Warriors, and their media, and the national media who defended them (I'm looking at you here, ESPN) earned their Darth Vader status.

I think the Warriors, collectively, are trying to start walking back from "villain road" now. KD was concerned about being the villain for leaving OKC and that's likely where the Player's Tribune piece came from. The leak about Steph's texts to Durant are almost certainly from a Curry source and seem clearly intended to paint Steph in a flattering light. Draymond Green just did an interview with Sports Illustrated and it seemed to contain none of what people have seemed to feel is Green's previous arrogance.

[ThePersianFreak]