Kevin Durant: I Can't Be Recruited

[the13thjoker]

LBJ didn't go join the 2 time champion Lakers in the summer of 2010. He joined a struggling team in Miami

LeBron is the OG of taking the easy route to titles. Durant just took it a step further[/quote]

Okay but Lebron brought a team together in Miami to find out a way to topple the Celtics and then they still lost to the Mavs. Lebron maybe the OG of talking arrogantly and selling his decision as TV special worthy but no one was beating those powerhouse teams on their own especially not Cleveland and then Miami had to go two seasons before a championship so it was hardly an easy route. Lebron, in hindsight, took the competitive route while also moving up his championship timeline.

[haste10176]

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.

a sell out is someone who trades integrity for money. that has not happened here. nor is it remotely accurate to label Durant as such given that he has signed contracts for less than he is worth

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.

he was cleared by the medical staff. any player w/ half a heart who was cleared to play DURING THE FINALS would play

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 they do win it, he was part of the reason

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.

that's like saying that if you take a new job you're not a team player

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.

that he did. and he's been rightfully and endlessly criticized for it. but it has no place in this conversation

LBJ didn't go join the 2 time champion Lakers in the summer of 2010. He joined a struggling team in Miami

LeBron is the OG of taking the easy route to titles. Durant just took it a step further

Yup, both are anti-competitive, just Durant did it better/worse depending on your perspective

No players would come to the Cavs and LBJ had not one star to play with at the Cavs.. KD had a great team with OKC they were actually favourites to win the title against the Heat.. Then they were 3-1 up on GSW.. Lebron joined the 8th seed in the heat and had a team with zero depth but 3 stars.. KD joined a team with Depth and were 73 and 9 and had a championship already and were a made shot or two from going back to back.. KD took it to a completely different level the fact is even LBJ has been favorite in 2 of the finals series and won 3 and actually lost one of the series they were favorite in so actually overcame the odds twice... There is no scenario in which a healthy warriors are not the overwhelming favourites.. Durant could of joined any team outside GSW and the Cavs and proved how good he was but he went to a team he could never be double teamed on.. I am sad he is injured because I really wanted to see Durant lead the Knicks and see how far he could take them and prove if he truly is the best..

[dice]

LeBron is the OG of taking the easy route to titles. Durant just took it a step further

Okay but Lebron brought a team together in Miami to find out a way to topple the Celtics and then they still lost to the Mavs. Lebron maybe the OG of talking arrogantly and selling his decision as TV special worthy but no one was beating those powerhouse teams on their own especially not Cleveland and then Miami had to go two seasons before a championship so it was hardly an easy route. Lebron, in hindsight, took the competitive route while also moving up his championship timeline.

you can't say a guy made the competitive choice in hindsight. it's entirely about his mentality at the time. and given his "not 4, not 5, not 6" routine at that farcical introductory event, he was entirely expecting to start winning titles immediately. and with good reason. the heat were strong favs to win in year one, but they got upset by the mavs

[dice]

a sell out is someone who trades integrity for money. that has not happened here. nor is it remotely accurate to label Durant as such given that he has signed contracts for less than he is worth


he was cleared by the medical staff. any player w/ half a heart who was cleared to play DURING THE FINALS would play


if they do win it, he was part of the reason


that's like saying that if you take a new job you're not a team player


that he did. and he's been rightfully and endlessly criticized for it. but it has no place in this conversation




LeBron is the OG of taking the easy route to titles. Durant just took it a step further

Yup, both are anti-competitive, just Durant did it better/worse depending on your perspective

No players would come to the Cavs and LBJ had not one star to play with at the Cavs.. KD had a great team with OKC they were actually favourites to win the title against the Heat

i assume you mean vs. lebron and the cavs. the cavs would've been the favorites. they had homecourt and significantly better title odds heading into the season. nothing happened during the season that would have changed that

the fact is even LBJ has been favorite in 2 of the finals series and won 3 and actually lost one of the series they were favorite in so actually overcame the odds twice

huh? the heat were favorites in each of their 4 finals appearances. you would expect them to win 3 of those. of the cavs' finals appearances you would probably expect them to win 1. so if anything lebron has underachieved in the finals

[haste10176]

Kevin Durant proved something to me.....HE IS A TEAM PLAYER!....no question in my mind...And his teammates respect him for it...

he didn't prove that to you when he allowed westbrick to take more shots w/o bitching?

He chose to play, knowing full well that he was vulnerable to sustaining further injury

if he thought there was even a 5% chance of a torn ACL by playing in the finals he would not have done so

I do hope that people recognize that, if the warriors win the title, it very likely wouldn't have happened w/o those 12 minutes from durant

If they win the title it has barely anything to do with Durant.. They have been injured and even without Durant they would of won if Healthy.. Klay Injured.. Iggy Injured.. Looney Injured.. Boogie clearly not match fit.. They could definitely have won without Durant in game 5 its all swings and round abouts but we will never know.. If they win out from here though you can definitely state they can win without Durant.. Well we already knew that cause they did..

[Najee12]

huh? the heat were favorites in each of their 4 finals appearances. you would expect them to win 3 of those. of the cavs' finals appearances you would probably expect them to win 1. so if anything lebron has underachieved in the finals

A LeBron James-featured team has been the favorite only twice in his nine NBA Finals appearances, both with Miami -- 2011 vs. Dallas (lost in six games) and 2013 vs. San Antonio (won in seven games).

[dice]

Kevin Durant proved something to me.....HE IS A TEAM PLAYER!....no question in my mind...And his teammates respect him for it...

he didn't prove that to you when he allowed westbrick to take more shots w/o bitching?

He chose to play, knowing full well that he was vulnerable to sustaining further injury

if he thought there was even a 5% chance of a torn ACL by playing in the finals he would not have done so

I do hope that people recognize that, if the warriors win the title, it very likely wouldn't have happened w/o those 12 minutes from durant

If they win the title it has barely anything to do with Durant.. They have been injured and even without Durant they would of won if Healthy

but they haven't been healthy. and they very likely don't keep season alive if KD doesn't play game 5

They could definitely have won without Durant in game 5 its all swings and round abouts but we will never know

of course. which is why i said "very likely" rather than definitely

.. If they win out from here though you can definitely state they can win without Durant..

any team can win w/o any player. that's not saying anything

[dice]

huh? the heat were favorites in each of their 4 finals appearances. you would expect them to win 3 of those. of the cavs' finals appearances you would probably expect them to win 1. so if anything lebron has underachieved in the finals

A LeBron James-featured team has been the favorite only twice in his nine NBA Finals appearances, both with Miami -- 2011 vs. Dallas (lost in six games) and 2013 vs. San Antonio (won in seven games).

holy crap. you're right. can't believe they were underdogs vs. the thunder. slight underdogs vs. the spurs in 2014 not that surprising i guess. but my overall point stands. if you add their vegas odds for each of the 9 series, it totals 3.4 titles expected:

2007 18.2% chance

2011 60.8
2012 42.6
2013 70.6
2014 43.5

2015 31.25
2016 35.7
2017 29.4
2018 10.5

[Najee12]

holy crap. you're right. can't believe they were underdogs vs. the thunder. slight underdogs vs. the spurs in 2014 not that surprising i guess. but my overall point stands. if you add their vegas odds for each of the 9 series, it totals 3.4 titles expected:

2007 18.2% chance

2011 60.8
2012 42.6
2013 70.6
2014 43.5

2015 31.25
2016 35.7
2017 29.4
2018 10.5

In five NBA Finals, LeBron James' teams had less than a 36 percent chance of winning the NBA title (including two times having a less than a 20 percent chance), according to your numbers. I am not understanding your estimation of 3.4 titles when James' teams were the favorite to win only twice and two times where their odds of winning the title was a little more than 40 percent.