KD to GS - Pt III

[DaleyBlind]

This is unlike any other NBA super team ever. We are basically in 2004 Yankees signing ARod territory, except this is probably more dramatic given the talent disparity that now exists.

This is more like if Pedro joined the Yankees after losing to them in 2003

Like Ronaldo quitting Real Madrid for Barcelona after he lost in the Champions League final. Really gutless stuff.

Not even close, Proper rivalry vs whatever Golden State and OKC is.

[carlquincy]

Disappointed with Lebron in 2011. Disappointed with Durant today.

Want to see more KD vs Curry. Not KD with Curry.

[nfmos]

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.

What exactly has Curry said that makes you believe he has a huge ego or is arrogant? Specifically? By all accounts, this guy never tries to grab credit for himself, or disrespects other players in the media. Does he dance a little and maybe celebrate a little too much? Maybe, but besides Duncan or someone like Leonard, most modern players do. And I rarely see Curry taunting his opponents, if anything he is celebrating with the crowd, or talking trash back to an opponents crowd.

And when has he ever acted entitled? Even after falling in the draft, overcoming so many ankle injuries, and then winning a championship and MVP, Curry probably worked harder on his game in the summer than any other Warrior. He is opposite of an entitled athlete, as far as I am concerned.

And Draymond entitled? Look at how he has improved since being drafted in the 2nd round as a pudgy tweener to an all star today. And when he made money, he gave a huge gift to his alma mater. How is that entitled and douchey again?

You sound like a Davidson Curry stan that is just bitter because he wont return your emails or something. I understand people being upset about the assault on parity this move signifies, but don't try to create these false portrayals of hard working players to justify your bitterness.

[vancity604]

SMH.
This would be like Jordan losing to the Pistons in 1990 ECF....and then joining the bad boys the next season. Even if he had won 6 titles after with the Pistons it would have tarnished Jordans reputation. Instead he took up the challenge, got physically and mentally tougher and swept the pistons the next year and won 6 titles.

[NBAfan3024]

there's another thread? last one got maxed out?

[Kupchak9]

Given he's on 1+1. Let's say GSW win the chip next season, any chance KD opts out and leaves? Or is he a Warrior for good now?

depending on cap space, he'll either opt out to sign a bigger, longer contract with the warriors

Since I already gave you the spoiler,,,

Spoiler:

He will go back to OKC to reunite with his brothers, and this time be the Lord Commander.

There is no freaking way Kevin Durant is Jon "Targaryen" Snow in this scenario. He's more like Stannis, had everything going for him but pooped the bed with horrible late-game execution.

[NBAfan3024]

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

It's his own fault for being awful.

[HotRocks34]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2016/07/04/kevin-durant-warriors-free-agent-thunder/86684632/

The Warriors were struck by one thing early (in the meeting): Durant, quite clearly, was concerned with the PR hit he would likely take by leaving the Thunder behind to join the team that had beaten him in the Western Conference Finals. He didn’t want to be seen as a villain, and wanted to know how they saw that sensitive part of this whole picture.

...

The salt in the wound for Oklahoma City? Had Durant given a verbal commitment to return to the Thunder, they were very confident that fellow free agent Al Horford would have come too. Horford, the 30-year-old forward who agreed to sign with the Boston Celtics, played under Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan during his University of Florida days.

Ouch.

[BROWN]

The Rodman comparison isn't even remotely close to a Barkely, Malone, Stockton, or Ewing. Besides, Dennis went to San Antonio after Detroit, then to Chicago.

Originally he had left the Pistons to go join the Bulls, who beat them.

He then helped them win, and was a first ballot HOFer.

I don't care where Rodman ended up after his time with the Bulls. Everyone sees him as a champion, a winner. He left his Pistons to win more rings. I personally do not care what Durants legacy ends up being, but I can pretty much see where he's coming from. He's 9 years into his career, no rings, and knows he doesn't have all the time in the world to get them. Westbrook may be gone, and then it's an entire reset. If he ends up winning 3-4 rings, he'll solidify himself, regardless of how it happened, as one of the best to play.

Which NBA were you watching? Rodman went from the Pistons, to the Spurs, then to the Bulls. And people remember him more for being a rebounder, a weirdo who wore dresses, and screwing Madonna. Dennis' act was wearing thin by the time he got to SA. The Bulls took a chance on after they lost Horace Grant to Free Agency a year or two prior. I'm curious, how old are you? Are you reading something or did you actually live in the years Rodman was in his prime??? Dennis won championships, I'll give you that, but his off the court antics overshadowed his on the court success.

Again what i meant to say was still valid. He ended up playing for the team he competed against in the Eastern conference finals.

Yes it took him 3 years to get that point. So it's all good for Dennis to join up a rival team, but KD can't because why?

It's cool for Wade to join up with LeBron, or it's cool with Wilt to join up with Jerry... it happens all the time. I understand that he was just a "role player". A role player doesn't just get into the hall of fame.

[Nate505]

Rodman left the Bad boys Pistons to join the Bulls. He helped the Bulls win 3 more rings and cemented himself as a HOF player.

I don't think KD wants to be the #1 all time, he wants to be a HOF'er, a first ballot HOF'er. He gets that with rings, he doesn't want to be a Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Ewing. Those guys are never considered to be the best of the best.

He won't be considered the best of the best either, even with a ring or two. The best of the best never joined a team with a 2 time MVP winner and a team that won 70+ games the season before.

Speaking of which, all those guys were first ballot HOFers. Durant would probably be one too since he won an MVP and has played at a pretty high level for a decent period of time.

[GreenBloodedC]

Remember how great the WCF was? Good times.

[gustofwind]

People wanna talk about loyalty, honor..blah blah. Where was OKC's loyalty to Scott Brooks? Serge Ibaka? James Harden? Reggie Jackson? Or is loyalty only a one way street. Players should be loyal to the team, but the team doesn't have to be loyal to the player? Star plays should be loyal? But average players have no loyalty from the team?

Teams do what is best for them, and players have the same rights.

Firstly, the main issue with Durant isn't that he left, it's the context in which he left. The team he left was a serious title contender with another mega-superstar, some good role players and a bright future. The team he joined was the 73 win Warriors, who don't need much help. On top of that the Warriors just eliminated the Thunder from the playoffs in an extremely close playoff series.

Secondly, while it's a valid point to criticize GMs for being disloyal, I think i this case we need more context. To my knowledge, Jackson was traded because he wanted a larger role than the Thunder could give him, Harden was traded because he wanted more money than the Thunder could give him, and reports were out that Ibaka was traded due to his dissatisfaction as well.

Still, if I were the Thunder I don't trade Ibaka for a marginally better player if one of my arguments to Durant is that he should stay out of loyalty. So I don't disagree entirely with you.

[BROWN]

SMH.
This would be like Jordan losing to the Pistons in 1990 ECF....and then joining the bad boys the next season. Even if he had won 6 titles after with the Pistons it would have tarnished Jordans reputation. Instead he took up the challenge, got physically and mentally tougher and swept the pistons the next year and won 6 titles.

Durant isn't Jordan. No one compares to Jordan.

[BROWN]

Rodman left the Bad boys Pistons to join the Bulls. He helped the Bulls win 3 more rings and cemented himself as a HOF player.

I don't think KD wants to be the #1 all time, he wants to be a HOF'er, a first ballot HOF'er. He gets that with rings, he doesn't want to be a Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Ewing. Those guys are never considered to be the best of the best.

He won't be considered the best of the best either, even with a ring or two. The best of the best never joined a team with a 2 time MVP winner and a team that won 70+ games the season before.

Speaking of which, all those guys were first ballot HOFers. Durant would probably be one too since he won an MVP and has played at a pretty high level for a decent period of time.

Agreed, but in effect when you think of guys like Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Stockton. You categorize them differently, then guys like Jordan, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Shaq, only because some had rings, some didn't.

This isn't anyone's fault, but those who have emphasized, without rings, there's nothing else to talk about. 9 years in and doesn't have one, he's only made 1 trip to the NBA finals.

He'll be a lock, but people will remember him in the same category has the Dominques, Barkleys, Malones.

[NaturalThunder]

I don't know where else to post this. I don't want to start a new thread because every other Thunder fan has similar feelings about all of this. My feelings about it aren't any more special or important than all the other OKC fans devastated and confused by this whole ordeal. I just need an outlet and this is what I do. I vent by typing on some internet outlet. The last time I went to the extent I'm about to go to (a long, rambling emotional post) was 10 years ago after Peyton Manning won his Super Bowl. I'm a lifelong, diehard Colts fan and I was overcome with emotion and caught a lot of feelings after Manning finally shook the "choker" label and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. It's something I was hoping I'd get to experience with Kevin Durant and the Thunder. Now it'll never happen.

Before the Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City eight years ago, I never had one NBA team I was truly dedicated to. I grew up and still live in Arkansas; a state with zero professional sports teams. People from here have two options: root for the most "local" teams (Cardinals, Cowboys, Mavericks, Rangers, and Royals) or just pick some random team. I did that for the NFL and MLB with the Colts and Braves. I never did it for the NBA. Like a lot of kids from my generation, I idolized Michael Jordan and the Bulls. But after Jordan retired for the second time after the '98 season, I didn't care for the Bulls anymore. So I picked a new player to "hero worship" and liked his team the best. That turned out to be Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves. My loyalty for a specific team followed KG to the Celtics in '08 which also happened to be the first year of the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, in that first season, they hadn't been around long enough for me to really "fall" for them. That changed in 2009. I started listening to Thunder games on the radio; I thought it was really cool that I could pick up a local radio station that carried an NBA team's games. I also had a close friend who moved to the OKC area that year and I went out and stayed at his house a couple of times that year and went to a couple of Thunder games with him. I was hooked. I was a Thunder fan. I finally had an NBA team to attach myself to. I had no idea at the time that they would soon show the promise of a budding NBA dynasty.

I think my true obsession started in 2010, though. I not only became a huge Thunder fan in 2010, I also became a Durant fanboy. He was my guy. Like Peyton Manning with the Colts and Chipper Jones with the Braves, Kevin Durant was the player I "hero worshiped." I watched every Team USA game during the 2010 World Championship and the Durant/Thunder obsession grew even more. Durant was coming off a 30-8-3 season at 21 years old and then carried Team USA's B/C squad to the World Championship. Then things got exciting. First game the unexpected, excitingly 2011 WCF. I'll never forget how crushed I was by the Thunder blowing a 15 point lead with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to the Mavs. It was game four and a Thunder win would've tied the series 2-2. I'll never forget the 2012 playoff run. Durant was amazing all playoffs long and was only 23 years old. That cold-blooded, game clinching, dribble-up three-pointer he hit over Artest is still one of my top five KD moments. The 2012 Finals were difficult to handle, but it also provided a lot hope...then we traded Harden and a series of unfortunate, untimely injuries ensued. It wasn't until this past season that the Thunder were fully healthy and they showed they were still legit championship contenders when fully healthy.

Blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Warriors was heartbreaking, but I still thought it was enough to show Durant that the Thunder could compete and win a championship. They were painstakingly close to getting over the hump. It took Klay Thompson and Steph Curry cheesing the 3P line to NBA 2K rookie difficulty levels to lose game six by five points. It was painful, but like the 2012 Finals, it gave me hope. Then July 4, 2016, happened. A day I will never forget. I spent eight years thinking Durant was cut from the old school cloth of loyalty like my two other all-time favorite athletes in Peyton Manning and Chipper Jones. As it turns out, he wasn't. I don't despise Durant for his decision, but I suddenly lost all respect for him. It led to a mixed bag of emotions. I respect and appreciate all that he did for this franchise but, at the same time, I also lost all respect for him. The moment I saw "1 New Tweet" and clicking it to reveal Durant's "Players Tribune" article titled "My Next Chapter" will forever be burned into my brain. I didn't have to click on the article to know he was leaving OKC. The title said it all. I was crushed. I was a 29 year old man acting like a 12 year old boy whose "hero" had broken his heart.

Maybe I'll forgive Durant one day. It won't be any time soon. I'll never respect any championship he wins with the Warriors. Leaving an exceptionally talented team for a historically great team that you were five minutes from beating and advancing to the NBA Finals will always be something I view as "the coward's way out." Durant let down an entire city today. He forever changed an entire fanbase's image of him in the worst way possible. He left a promising team to join forces with an all-time best 73-win team that was one win away from winning back-to-back championships. I'm your quintessential way too obsessed, way too emotionally attached fan when it comes to the Thunder. They were the first professional sports team I truly viewed as "the local team." Durant ripping my heart out and killing the franchises hopes of likely ever winning a championship is something I will never get over. I'd like to say I wish KD the best and I wish I could root for him to do big things with the Warriors, but I can't. Maybe one day I'll get over it, but July 4, 2016, will forever be the day I lost all respect a player I held to the highest esteem.

[Nate505]

Originally he had left the Pistons to go join the Bulls, who beat them.

He then helped them win, and was a first ballot HOFer.

I don't care where Rodman ended up after his time with the Bulls. Everyone sees him as a champion, a winner. He left his Pistons to win more rings. I personally do not care what Durants legacy ends up being, but I can pretty much see where he's coming from. He's 9 years into his career, no rings, and knows he doesn't have all the time in the world to get them. Westbrook may be gone, and then it's an entire reset. If he ends up winning 3-4 rings, he'll solidify himself, regardless of how it happened, as one of the best to play.

Which NBA were you watching? Rodman went from the Pistons, to the Spurs, then to the Bulls. And people remember him more for being a rebounder, a weirdo who wore dresses, and screwing Madonna. Dennis' act was wearing thin by the time he got to SA. The Bulls took a chance on after they lost Horace Grant to Free Agency a year or two prior. I'm curious, how old are you? Are you reading something or did you actually live in the years Rodman was in his prime??? Dennis won championships, I'll give you that, but his off the court antics overshadowed his on the court success.

Again what i meant to say was still valid. He ended up playing for the team he competed against in the Eastern conference finals.

Yes it took him 3 years to get that point. So it's all good for Dennis to join up a rival team, but KD can't because why?

It's cool for Wade to join up with LeBron, or it's cool with Wilt to join up with Jerry... it happens all the time. I understand that he was just a "role player". A role player doesn't just get into the hall of fame.

Rodman was a borderline HOFer, and is one because he was one of the better defenders and rebounders of all time. He was never seen as a player remotely in Durant's camp. Rodman made 2 NBA 3rd teams in his career, while Durant has an MVP and 5 1st teams under his belt already.

[ocelot17]

SMH.
This would be like Jordan losing to the Pistons in 1990 ECF....and then joining the bad boys the next season. Even if he had won 6 titles after with the Pistons it would have tarnished Jordans reputation. Instead he took up the challenge, got physically and mentally tougher and swept the pistons the next year and won 6 titles.

It's the millennial mentality. People don't want to work hard. They just want everything given to them, instead of earning it.

The path to least resistance.

[Nate505]

Rodman left the Bad boys Pistons to join the Bulls. He helped the Bulls win 3 more rings and cemented himself as a HOF player.

I don't think KD wants to be the #1 all time, he wants to be a HOF'er, a first ballot HOF'er. He gets that with rings, he doesn't want to be a Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Ewing. Those guys are never considered to be the best of the best.

He won't be considered the best of the best either, even with a ring or two. The best of the best never joined a team with a 2 time MVP winner and a team that won 70+ games the season before.

Speaking of which, all those guys were first ballot HOFers. Durant would probably be one too since he won an MVP and has played at a pretty high level for a decent period of time.

Agreed, but in effect when you think of guys like Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Stockton. You categorize them differently, then guys like Jordan, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Shaq, only because some had rings, some didn't.

This isn't anyone's fault, but those who have emphasized, without rings, there's nothing else to talk about. 9 years in and doesn't have one, he's only made 1 trip to the NBA finals.

He'll be a lock, but people will remember him in the same category has the Dominques, Barkleys, Malones.

What he is doing now is pretty unprecedented, and he'll be put in his own special category for that.

Gary Payton has a ring, but it hardly enhanced his legacy. His legacy was set far before he won with the Heat. Durant will get one being a far more key player than Payton did, but everyone will know that he went to the best team of all time (at least according to record) to do so.

The Magics/Birds/Jordans of the world are on another level because they were the man on their team, and didn't move on to another team when the going got tough. But it's not just that Durant is moving on. It's that he's moving on to a historically great team. The Thunder had what, the 3rd or 4th best record in the NBA and were 1 game from going to the Finals, and that wasn't good enough for him to have a legit shot at a championship?

[fa2011]

Originally he had left the Pistons to go join the Bulls, who beat them.

He then helped them win, and was a first ballot HOFer.

I don't care where Rodman ended up after his time with the Bulls. Everyone sees him as a champion, a winner. He left his Pistons to win more rings. I personally do not care what Durants legacy ends up being, but I can pretty much see where he's coming from. He's 9 years into his career, no rings, and knows he doesn't have all the time in the world to get them. Westbrook may be gone, and then it's an entire reset. If he ends up winning 3-4 rings, he'll solidify himself, regardless of how it happened, as one of the best to play.

Which NBA were you watching? Rodman went from the Pistons, to the Spurs, then to the Bulls. And people remember him more for being a rebounder, a weirdo who wore dresses, and screwing Madonna. Dennis' act was wearing thin by the time he got to SA. The Bulls took a chance on after they lost Horace Grant to Free Agency a year or two prior. I'm curious, how old are you? Are you reading something or did you actually live in the years Rodman was in his prime??? Dennis won championships, I'll give you that, but his off the court antics overshadowed his on the court success.

Again what i meant to say was still valid. He ended up playing for the team he competed against in the Eastern conference finals.

Yes it took him 3 years to get that point. So it's all good for Dennis to join up a rival team, but KD can't because why?

It's cool for Wade to join up with LeBron, or it's cool with Wilt to join up with Jerry... it happens all the time. I understand that he was just a "role player". A role player doesn't just get into the hall of fame.

Your point isn't valid at all. Dennis Rodman, HOFer or not, was never a piece you build around. Rather, he was a complimentary piece. In no way shape or form was your example good. Further, Rodman was traded for, he didn't go from a team he lost to and signed as a free agent like Durant. Rodman was traded for Will freaking Perdue. Let that sink in for a moment. Additionally, Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Lakers and Wade has been with the Heat his whole career.

How old are you? Serious question. You sound like you're in your early 20s and just got done watching some NBA highlight reels.

[UDRIH14]

maybe kd enjoys watching curry dancing then watching westbrick dancing...