^^haha yes in a perfect basketball world. Say, Didn't we have a fantasy type thread on CL at one point? I wanted to get in on it was too late.
http://www.blackplanet.com/users/ima_warrior/canvas/view_canvas.html Prophetic that his username was ima_warrior
The Warriors gutted a portion of their championship team for Durant. Their bench got older, I don't know how well that's gonna work. Also they still have no rim protector. It can very well backfire.
But the nights they are on will kinda be like this.... :Hotshot3::Hotshot3::Hotshot3::Hotshot3::Hotshot3: Some games will be over by the half.
Durant will take away shots from Thompson not to mention Green who is developing one. It will be a big adjustment for all parties...
wait...doesn't he know Draymond and co? Some savage reviews on his OKC restuarant: http://www.yelp.com/biz/kds-oklahoma-city http://www.yelp.com/not_recommended_reviews/kds-oklahoma-city
uhh...errr...because the new team isn't comprised of blood relatives? because they only won one title and 73 games last year instead of two titles and 74 games? earthquakes? i'm out of ideas.
Most of the people I seen mad were LeBron fans and OKC fans. I didn't realize it was Kevin Durant's duty to help the Cavs and LeBron win rings. Their self serving outrage was gag worthy. But it does suck he couldn't win one on a homegrown team. They were one or two players away from possibly being in the finals next season. It's so weird. But everybody ain't Kobe.
My issue is... I find I don't care if he joins a contender from a bad team. I don't know why I think it's different, I just do. But his team in OKC was up 3-1 on these Warriors that he rushed to join. He had a team capable of beating them, he just choked. Was his heart in that series the way it should have been? I'm always going to wonder. Instead of beating the best when he was at his best and capable of doing it, he joined them. It'd be like Malone joining Jordan or Isiah Thomas joining the C Bags or Hakeem joining the Lakers. You're there! You're capable of doing it, so carve your own legacy and do it! The reality is he wanted to get away from Donavan and Westbrook. He wanted to play this open style with guys who more fit his personality. I can understand that. Personally I think he should have imposed that style and that personality in OKC and let that be his legacy, but hey to each their own. My respect didn't drop out of the bottom like a lot of people, but it did drop.
^If I recall correctly, Durant had plenty of shot attempts during Game 7 and he also sneered at the Warrior win in Game 5. Yes, they choked away Game 6 too. To appear laying them at the feet of his teammates is unseemly. Great players went through tough teams to earn their rings...Johnson had Bird, Jordan had Detroit, O'Neal and Bryant had the Jazz/Spurs riddles. Hell, James had to go through Detroit too.
I agree that he left because of Westbrook and Denovan. I think he was just tired of playing ISO-ball. I don't think Durant could have imposed a new playing style though. Especially when dealing with a strong personality like Westbrook. I mean, could any player change how Kobe played? He was the same dude until he retired.
Except Kobe won games which changes the narrative, right? Would Durant want to play with Kobe? I assume so and I think Kobe would adjust at least enough to win games. It seems Westbrook wouldn't even change that much. I don't necessarily blame Durant for leaving because of that, but still. A strong person is strong enough to stand up for what they believe in. Durant was so non-confrontational that he instead fled from a tough position instead of standing up for himself. That's why my respect for him dropped a bit.
That's not who he is though..... and that's why I think the gap between the best player (Lebron) and the 2nd/3rd best players (Durant/Curry) are HUGE. It's rare to have all the necessary attributes to be a GOAT type player. It's been said before, but if Durant and Westbrook switched personalities they would have been unbeatable. Unfortunately Durant is not the person you describe. And he will never belong on the Mount Rushmore of Greats for that exact reason.