Yep. I used to think Morey was arrogant, but these guys from players, coach & GM are ALL just entitled, arrogant & passive aggressive biootches. That smug little look they have irks me
This actually was something. I heard the jab at KD yesterday on HighNoon with Bomani Jones and Pablo Torres... these guys are actually reporting something really really odd and it was totally awkward for Durant atm... you can tell by watching the video he had one of those Nick Young wtf meme moments WHILE ON STAGE at the championship parade. Knowing how sensitive Durant is the HighNoon guys joked about how a few tweets would be coming from his burner accounts about the dig from Myers. I honestly wouldn't put it past that spineless little b****, he didn't earn any of it... he just hopped on the quickest flight to paradise and has looked back on the decision ever since. It is kinda sad when the management team that recruited you doesn't even respect your decision. And his reaction to that... confusion, somehow.
The sad part about this is that they can say anything about Durant, malicious or not, because they know the team can still compete and win a ring if Durant bolts. I'm not feeling bad for Durant in any way, mind you, but that soft and sensitive mentality that KD has is playing right into the hands of the Warriors' douchey organization.
If Durant was secure, he'd brush this off. But knowing he's an insecure snake and with all the media attention it's getting, it will eat at him.
I subscribed to the Athletic because of an NFL Team that I LOVE. You're Welcome. Tim K is HATED in the Yay Area LMFAO!! What were the Warriors doing on Tuesday and why would they pick the day of the championship parade to do it? Here’s an answer: Those painfully awkward live-television ha-ha/not-so-funny moments between Warriors general manager Bob Myers, team announcer Bob Fitzgerald and Kevin Durant — of all people — were probably just subliminal signs that this team still is a little bit on edge dealing with its two-time Finals MVP. This is all mostly a very good union, by the way. Durant likes it on this team and this team loves having him. This has been a wildly successful relationship for both, and it will continue into the near future once Durant re-signs. But it’s still a new relationship, there are still occasional flare ups to manage, the two sides sometimes do odd stuff around each other, and we saw how klutzy it can get, even in the afterglow of back-to-back titles (and back-to-back Finals MVPs). Myers and Fitzgerald obviously didn’t set out to try to make Durant look bad and feel uncomfortable. But under the glare, maybe with some nerves involved, that’s exactly what happened just a few weeks before Durant is due to become a free agent. Oops! Championship parades can produce unpredictable weirdness, of course, which is really nobody’s fault; I suspect the Warriors tried mightily to reduce the chances of embarrassing displays by ditching the usual post-parade rally, but they produced something even more peculiar with this pre-parade Q&A session, anyway. Basically, those clunky jokes by Myers (way out of character) and Fitzgerald (not out of character) about Durant’s impending free agency, whether he’s “earned” the same kind of deal Stephen Curry received last year and predicting his exit from the team … well, that was some heavy passive-aggressive stuff, if you’re into the psychology of this. The larger point is that the Warriors went through some stuff to get Durant two years ago, and to make him feel comfortable over the ensuing days and months — more than they’ve ever gone through with Curry, Draymond Green or Klay Thompson to convince them the value of being on this team. They’ve gone through all this because, plainly, it’s worth the effort. Durant is worth it. Well worth it. Of course, he’s worth it, or else the Warriors wouldn’t be doing any of it. But if you’re going to walk the Durant tightrope, win titles with him, celebrate with him, and make sure everything is working out with him, and continue to have to woo him through all of his short-term deals … it’s probably not wise to toss barbs at him, even in jest, on television just as you’re about to have a parade to celebrate your second championship with him. One joke about Durant’s pending free agency? Probably acceptable, given the situation — all of the Warriors players and key staffers were sitting together for a group interview, and it can get jocular; it’s a parade, maybe some guys are sober, maybe some are not. But … after Myers answered Fitzgerald’s question about Durant with a quip about maybe not offering Durant anything he wanted (and Durant chuckled in response), it got awkward. And maybe a little tense — all involving the guy who has spoken repeatedly about going through some issues fitting in with this team this season and who has left a team previously. What the hell? Here was the problem with that Q&A setting: All the players were sitting there, and owner Joe Lacob, too. Generally, making Durant’s contract the focal point at that moment was a weird choice, because you’re doing it in front of the entire team. You semi-slight Curry by bringing up somebody else’s monetary value in front of him and you make up for it by slighting that person? Weird. Remember, even though Curry and Durant have had no issues with each other, there is still this silent, gigantic push and pull within the franchise about Curry’s established and permanent leadership position and all the new personal and basketball dynamics added by Durant. It’s not Curry and Durant personally — it’s all of the connected levers and pulleys affected by their separate gravities, and all the staffers and teammates who have to figure out the balance on and off the court. Curry is signed long term and never was somebody Warriors management had to manage very much, anyway. Durant has signed only short-term contracts and is a little different about his relationships. So I’m guessing Myers did not want to gush about Durant’s leverage right in front of Curry, who landed his max deal last summer after playing out one of the most under-valued contracts in the recent history of the league. There are undercurrents swirling all around this team, and that’s not a terrible or uncommon thing for a superteam or any team. Hey, the Warriors have won two titles this way, Durant has won those two Finals MVPs, and I think Durant is fine with a little joshing about his free-agent positioning. But then Myers joked that Curry was different because “he earned it.” And Fitzgerald teased that he wanted to stand by Durant “before his Warrior exit.” That is some weird mojo. “Why was that even a discussion?” Durant responded. “Why we even talking about that? For sure, we going to do this thing again.” I was agreeing with him 100 percent when he said this. I’m sure his teammates were, too. There was no reason Durant or any of them should’ve had to sit through that. Will this screw up the negotiations in a few weeks? Not likely. I’m sure Myers already has smoothed it over with Durant, and Durant probably didn’t need much smoothing. This is the best spot for Durant right now and the Warriors surely cannot replace Durant, period. He has repeatedly said he will re-sign, and why wouldn’t he, after the back-to-back titles and finding so much comfort living in the Bay Area. But this wasn’t the ideal way to handle anything like this, and it was a reminder that the Warriors and Durant are still building this relationship. He gave up almost $10 million last summer to help the Warriors’ financial picture, but that was last year. The relationship is still incomplete. And Tuesday’s follies might underline the sense that Durant doesn’t need to sign a maximum-length deal this summer. As Danny Leroux has outlined, a two-year deal with a third-year option seems to be the likeliest way for Durant to go, providing him the best combination of salary plus flexibility. He gets his big money and still can take another look at everything in July 2020, one full season after the Warriors move into Chase Center and when Durant and Curry will both be entering their age-32 seasons. At that point, Durant would have put in four seasons with the Warriors, with two championships minimum. They could add one more by then. They could add two more and have won four of five, altogether. I think the Warriors would take that, and then be happy with whatever Durant wants to do in two years. I think Durant, being realistic, will want to have his options open for him in two years. It makes sense. He’s not Curry; maybe he’ll be here long term, maybe he won’t. The Warriors accidentally all but screamed that to him on Tuesday. It’s not wrong; it was just weird.
Yup, totally see that. Steph, Green, and Klay..for all of their douchiness...aren't high maintenanced guys at all whereas Durant needs to be coddled and babied.
To be fair. Lebron joined a Miami team w/ Wade that won a ring a few years prior, and I'm willing to bet you had nothing to say about that. Why? Because it's Lebron & rules don't apply to Lebron from his fans. Also he joined a 73 win team that got BEAT by the Cavs. Just wanted to give your post a little context
Miami won its championship with a less dominant but still Allstar Shaq in 2006 and a team of solid veteran role players like Walker, Mourning, Posey, and Williams. Lebron joined FOUR years later with a completely different squad. The only players left were Wade and Haslem. The reality is that Lebron was guilty of kicking off the superteam era and I would never respect his MIA rings to the same extent as his 2016 championship, but KD took it two steps further by joining GSW.
All I'm asking for is fairness. If we're gonna discount KD's greatness because of winning with a stacked team, then let's take in consideration he to get past Lebron's already stacked team. Stacked team vs Stacked teams here lol. Both are guilty, KD just did it better.
LeBron didn't join a team that had just won 73 games the year before and had beaten his team in the conference finals when he left Cleveland to go to Miami. Look, we have been through this a thousand times so I guess make that a thousand and one...the only way that cupcake snake can redeem himself is to go back to OKC and win a championship with them. That is what LeBron did and only Durant defenders ever bring up, "Well LeBron did this first ****." As the poster above you said - it was a different team with different circumstances.
Doesn't matter if the won 73 games or all 82 games. The best team in the league at the time was CLEVELAND who beat GS the year prior. All he did was join the 2nd best team in the league to beat the 1st best team. Him having to go back to OKC just to "win the respect" of obsessed Lebron fans, is you guys moving the goal post (yet once again). Cleveland already had Kyrie, the #1 pick, and TONS of cap space before Lebron got there. They had a load of options they had to get better. Before that he joined Wade, already a NBA champion, and Chris Bosh who was putting up superstar numbers in Toronto. They conspired while still with their respective teams to play together (which is the REAL b**** move). So Lebron creates 2 superteams but KD gets ALL the credit for it in GS. You guys keep moving the goal post lol
He did not do it to get past LeBron's "already" stacked team (who would have lost had Draymond not gotten suspended). He did it to avoid the Warriors, who he b****fully joined the summer after he choked away a 3-1 series lead against.
I am being fair. I don't view the MIA championships in the same lenses as the Cleveland championship. One was just a checkbox, but the other was one of the greatest comeback victories in the history of the Finals. But let's get something straight here. Golden State was ALREADY a stacked team (championship two yrs prior with 73 wins the previous year) before KD got there. None of Lebron's teams would have made the Conference Finals without him. There's "stacked," then there's "stacked."
Choked? GS was CLEARLY the better team, WB is a ballhog chucker & never wanted to be number 2, where was Durant's help? Or does the "help" argument only work to Lebron?
Miami had injuries. I guarantee if Miami stayed healthy, with Lebron gone & Ray Allen still playing, they'd be a legit threat to come out the east. They were STACKED
If you lose a 3-1 lead, you choked, I don't care who you're playing. Westbrook is better than anyone LBJ has ever played with except Wade the first season or two perhaps (you could make a case that Kyrie is as good too).
Russell Westbrook is a ballhog & chucker, and never wanted to be #2. Kevin Durant carried OKC all those years and lost to the better team. He can't do it himself, his teammates have to step up, Kevin Durant got tired & was injured. All these excuses should be familiar lol
Came home and went to pull my trash can in/ check the mail and the only mail was this months issue of SI. It had this douches face on it, so conveniently enough, i had the trash can there. I love when things work out efficiently.
Woulda shoulda coulda. Perhaps I went too far in saying Lebron's teams would have been big time losers without him, but none would have sniffed a ring. What the actual point is that no one in their right mind thinks that Wade, Bosh, and old Ray Allen are a "super team" that can even be mentioned in the same breath as the 73 win Warriors. It's actually comical to think about such a comparison.
