I don't think we can give Charles credit for not doing something he had no option to do. If he had the chance to play with Jordan and had said "no, no thanks. Max salary and joining Jordan and Pippen? No, that doesn't seem right." ... then okay. But that never happened. He might have (and probably would have, honestly) jumped at that chance. It's just lame for him to criticize when he happily, as an MVP-level player, joined another former MVP on a championship roster to chase a ring. It's what he does for a living, and I get that. But of all people to complain about Durant, I think it rings (doh!) hollow.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One of the reasons this part from <a href="https://twitter.com/sam_amick">@sam_amick</a> terrific piece really stood out to me: <a href="https://t.co/5Xdy9kwMD6">pic.twitter.com/5Xdy9kwMD6</a></p>— Royce Young (@royceyoung) <a href="https://twitter.com/royceyoung/status/750768218499788800">July 6, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Different world back then, but regardless, he never did. He was drafted and traded twice. He never forced his way onto the best team in the league nor did he become a Free Agent so he could go to the top team. He left teams that weren't very good, much more like LeBron than Durant. Durant was fortunate in that OKC built a solid foundation around him, even if they screwed up by trading away Harden, they still had one of the best teams in the league. We'll see if something similar happens next year, but after that it will be pretty difficult to do again.
Barkley is such a dope. Anyway, it took a lot more guts to leave OKC than to just stay there. He knew he'd get roasted in the press and he did it anyway. Good for him.
It wasn't OKC vs leaving to GSW. If he had chosen one of the other 6 teams, BOS or LAC (they blew him away), he doesn't get roasted like this. He's getting roasted just like Lebron for choosing to form a super team with the team that just won 73 games and almost repeated. Did you expect him not to get roasted like Lebron for doing that?
I think what got to people is he joined the team that beat him lol. You have films and other media where the seemingly main antogonist eventually becomes the BFF of the main hero after they fight a couple of times (Vegeta, Apollo Creed etc.) but I guess it makes the antoganist look a bit weak. I guess it would be like if Lebron joined the Celtics to form the new big 4 after he got beaten by them in the playoffs on their way to a showdown with the LA Lakers. And I guess another difference is LBJ almost had no choice, their team was horrible outside of him but OKC was just 1 game away from beating GSW and actually pulled off a really good move which improved the roster.
I think the absolute worst thing is not putting a period (you know, that little dot) at the end of a sentence.
I see a lot of misplaced hate in this thread. No one should have an issue with KD exercising his long awaited free agency and a chance to play where he wants. I also don't see an issue with wanting to play with the Warriors. As many have stated, its really the best place to currently play in the NBA. Basketball culture, city and team fit. The only thing impacted (and the most thing I most have an issue with) is Durant's disregard for his place as an all-time great. Joining any other team (besides GS or CLE) there would be no question he was the best player and leader. Every single player considered an all time great has been the unquestioned best player on a championship team. There is NO possibility that happens here. What he has done cannot be compared to other ring chasing efforts because a former MVP has never joined a team like this in the absolute prime of his career. (a) LeBron - joined a fringe playoff team whose roster was wiped completely before he joined. A lot of uncertainty on how the talent would mesh together. (b) Barkley - yes the Rockets were one year removed from the title but they were coming off a 48-34 year, were swept in the second round and had serious flaws. Hakeem (33), Barkley (33) and Clyde (34) were all nearing the end and in precipitous decline. The WC finals appearance was more a testament to turning back the clock than a superteam certainty. I, like most, will be rooting for this team to fail. At its heart, I think they are a Draymond Green injury away from failure. Winning the championship takes determination (or a lot of injuries from competition), and I think they will be glaringly short on that when all is said and done.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kevin Durant will sign his contract with the Warriors tomorrow ... Two-year deal at his full max with a player option ... as expected</p>— Marcus Thompson (@ThompsonScribe) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThompsonScribe/status/750789711929614336">July 6, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He didn't have the opportunity to go join the Bulls when he forced his way out of Phoenix. Unrestricted free agency didn't exist then. When he had his chance to go join a great team, that had one more title than the Warriors Durant just joined, he jumped at it.
Good post. You can never really blame people/organizations for doing what's in their best interest. The Warriors played within the rules and maximized their own interest - they certainly aren't to blame. KD maximized his own interest as well - he's making the max, living in what he likely considers a better city, likely scoring at a similar clip, and likely winning a title. He's sacrificing his legacy and his competitive fire, but I think his decision shows that he doesn't place the same amount of value on those as fans would like. It sucks for the league and fans, but that's the way it is. I'd say the failure only lies with the NBA and the current CBA, which allowed for a team to compile 4 max-level players.
For people talking about KD's "legacy", he does not have a legacy after this move. Weak move by an great player, such a shame.
Did Barkley have a veto on trades? We traded a lot for him. Not sure if Phoenix could find a better trade. Not sure why we are comparing the two, other than because Barkley criticized Durant. Sure, Barkley would have gone to the Bulls had they not gotten Rodman, in an alternative universe. But as others have said, he chose PHO at equal age to Durant. And he didn't leave PHO until age 33. Durant chose to create a super team despite having 6 other choices from his personal list of teams he visited. That's fine Durant. Good luck with your legacy.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Word filtering around is that David Lee may be in line to end up back in Golden State with the team he helped win the title in 2015.</p>— Eddie Sefko (@ESefko) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESefko/status/750801857056894976">July 6, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
"Durant and Nike don't care what you think" :grin: Durant is clearly one of the most sensitive superstars in this league. He cares. Media and spinning that makes it sound like fans should be devoid of their own opinion and have no right to call him out is just for this. PR protection of the star.
That's just not true, and speaks to the point. Memory lets me know its not true, but google also makes it obvious. He had games that were less amazing then others, and a clunker here or there, but on the whole, he did more than his part. Again, this speaks to the point that its about optics more than reality. Charles doesn't have a ring, lost twice to Houston by blowing series leads, moved teams a couple of times... so he must of routinely not stepped up. Um, no. Barkley's playoff PER is basically the same as his regular season (KD's drops about 2 points as a reference). He didn't "choke" in deciding games either. Take 95 playoffs. He wasn't "AMAZING" in game 7 against the Rockets... to the extent he only shot 7-16 and had 7 turnovers. But he still scored 18 points and pulled down 23 boards to go with 5 assists. He was dominant the prior game (34,14,3,3,1) where they could have closed it out, etc... ... whatever, I'm not going to go through it all. I'm as big a fan of Dirk as any native Houstonian Rockets fan could possibly be. I could even potentially argue for Dirk in the same league as Kobe, where most would laugh in my face. But Dirk over Charles because one year he had a great playoff run that ended in a championship as the new Big 3 Heat struggled to figure out their "closing"/"leader" mojo (whether it was Lebron's team, or Wade's) is cherry picking. Is Dirk a better defender than Charles? No. A better rebounder? Absolutely not... that'd be laughable. A better creator for others? No (Charles has higher assist numbers however you look at it). Was his playoff run that ended in the championship even better than Barkley's best playoff runs? I don't think so... But the narrative is Dirk has a ring, and did it without all time greats beside him, so he must be the better leader. Never mind the 8 first round exits. The getting beat as a dominant seeming #1 seed, etc. As has been discussed by various journalists this week... it's this supreme elevation of those with rings over those without that has led to this superteam chase I love this reasoning of "who should have that type of pressure anyway?". Basically, saying they couldn't do it and needed it to be easier. Which is the kind of the whole point. KD's team had plenty of talent around him, ESPECIALLY this past season and coming up this season. The point is he's admitting to not being able to do it as the leader alpha dog. That's what he's saying. I'm not faulting him for his choice... I'm just judging him and his legacy in light of this decision. I'm putting it in context. As for KG, no I don't think he was the "man" of that team. I don't think anyone was the "man" of that team. It was a team effort, ala the Pistons a few years earlier. He was clearly a big part of it. It's not to say his ring means NOTHING, its just again to put in in context. Again, we're talking CONTEXT. Rings are rings. Championships are championships. Having them is better than not. But Lebron's one ring in Cleveland is, simply, more impressive than his two in Miami. Similar doesn't mean the same. Barkley was part of something similar, but nowhere near the same. In his case, of course, we also have the context of what happened afterwards... which was their Big 3 didn't even make a Finals. But that wouldn't have been impossible to gamble on in the moment either. We're talking about 3 guys past their primes. We're talking about a trade which crippled other parts of that Rockets team. We're talking about a team he moved to that wasn't 73-9, didn't have 3 top 15 players, didn't have the two best backcourt shooters in history on it, hadn't just been to the Finals (and lost in crazy fashion) and won a ring the year before. Without Durant joining the Warriors, which Western Conference team would you expect to make the Finals next year if you were forced to bet? Which team was poised to be a dynasty anyway? And again, this is a guy in Barkley now past his prime. And a guy who history will have noted won his ring - had he achieved that in Houston - as part of a group, and not a lead dog. As for the Phoenix trade... I don't think Barkley is saying not to chase rings. He was by far the key guy on those Suns teams, from day one, even if KJ was very very good. KJ wasn't a two time MVP, coming off a unanimous vote, lol. Their analogous, but completely different situations.
I think Lebron got roasted a lot more for "the decision" and how he handled that interview than what he did in going to Miami. I mean the phrase I'm taking my talents to xyz is part of our culture now.
And Durant isn't getting nearly as roasted as Lebron did. Not even close. Lebron still would have gotten criticism for forming a super team, no matter how he does the decision. I mean think about that letter from the owner again -- just for starters. It's people going out of their way to protect Durant, and his legacy, from any criticism is what is weird. And some people are acting like it's weird when anyone criticizes him....which is also weird.
