ZeroTolerance wrote:Kevin Durant proved something to me.....HE IS A TEAM PLAYER!....no question in my mind...And his teammates respect him for it...He chose to play, knowing full well that he was vulnerable to sustaining further injury...But because his team needed him, he was out there trying his best.... That right there folks is shades of old times where guys would suck it up and play hurt....I suspect he will now resign with Golden State.... And If he does, he will have set the selfish, self centered world of the NBA divas on it's ear! You can bet that KD will be on the bench to offer morale support for the remainder of the finals... Book it!....And if for any reason, he is not resigned in Oakland....He has a home awaiting him here in Boston...He' has that Celtic DNA...He will be welcomed with open arms! But if he remains with the dubs, IMO it will be good for basketball... All the more power to him!....He has earned this old man's respect...And BTW Kevin Looney... My same feeling about being a team player also goes for you... i hope you can return to help your team!
Today, I'm pleased to announce that there's still hope for the future of the sport!
First off, I am truly sorry he got hurt. As a basketball fan I never want any player to get hurt.
Now, team player or sell out. Sorry, I don't buy it. KD did decide to play only so he can play the "hero" and show the naysayers that GS need him, he doesn't need them. From reports and people seeing him practice on Sunday he was questionable and likely out for game 5. Instead he comes back and has no minute restrictions, even though he was having lots of pain around the achilles. That doesn't make sense to me.
Can you imagine how much the media would have eaten that up if KD came back, played the rest of the series and helped GS win the championship after being down 3-1?
If he was a team player he would have taken responsibility of the OKC vs. GS series as being his fault that they lost and reupped with them to run it back.
He chose the easy route to a championship which was to sign with the heavy favorites who won 73 games, were 1 game from repeating as champions and were already stacked.
No other player in the "Goat" conversations has done that in their primes. LBJ didn't go join the 2 time champion Lakers in the summer of 2010. He joined a struggling team in Miami who had their own struggles at the start even with Wade and Bosh. He also chose to join his best friend and move to Miami for his family, so more than just basketball reasons.
KD has also been on the defensive ever since he joined GS. Why? If you believe in your talents and you are truly happy with your choice to join GS and win championships then just do you and let your game do the talking.