Many fans are saying KD did not have much effect on winning in Phoenix, which is stupid beyond description. Since he's already stepping into a winning situation with the Rockets, they won't give him credit at all. The media will probably be more generous.
The media has been very generous towards KD and his impact on the Rockets, in my opinion. As for fans looking for reasons to "talk down" KD due to his age? Some of that is driven by jealousy. We just got stronger by trading for a future resident of the Hall of Fame for a surprisingly low price, who still has game enough to transform a weakness the Rockets had into a strength, assuming the "Gods of Basketball" allow Durant to stay healthy, especially during the playoffs. In other words, I think you make a good point. It's up to our Rockets, and Durant, to prove them wrong. We have a good chance of doing that, in my opinion. We really improved our depth, and we were already a deep team.
100%! If team health holds up, this is gonna be a very fun season with lots of blowouts and plenty of playing time for the vaunted 10-man rotation some here have wanted for a while.
Yet Udoka would still play tons of Okogie, Dorian Finney, Holiday and Adams/CC. Tate, Uncle, Davison and Crawford stuck in no man's land.
Media landscape is concerned about his legacy, at this point he can't shake his mercenary status, it's about collecting chips or bust....he knows it. He is not better than Steph Curry. Udoka has been a god in the East but he would see how much harder it would be coming out of the West.
You're right, he's not better than Curry. But couldn't this be from the narrative around him? If it had been KD on GSW with Klay, Drammond, and Kerr as the coach, might he be the more highly respected player. I think the mercenary label has hurt his legacy even if that's not the word that the media uses. The fact that he left GSW I think was an indication he wanted to forge his own legacy as the lone 1A on a championship team. I think the Rockets are the best shot at him doing that. Even more than PHX. We can't rewrite history, but if he collects 2 championships as the best performer on a mostly young Rockets squad, it's got to change the narrative a bit, right? And if GSW get bounced in the first round this might effect the narrative even more. I can imagine him being remembered as a much greater player than Curry. Like a film that has a great opening, a muddled but interesting middle, but an awesome ending, those are the ones that stick with you. At least they stick with me. Again, I don't disagree with either the idea that Curry is the better player, or KD has a reputation as a mercenary. I'm just suggesting that his legacy is still being written, and lucky for us, it's even a discussion. Can't wait to see where this goes. Please be a happy ending! But for some reason now I can't get Midsommar out of my head. Please don't be Midsommar.
if Stone can get KD to sign an extension around 100-110 and we atleast make Western Conference finals then I think he deserves GM of the season. Sidenote: I’m really getting worried now because whenever a Houston Pro sports team actually get positive vibes and high expectations from the media, they tend to always choke or something happens. It’s like a city personality trait at this point. Hopefully this won’t be the case this year
Good point , I made a thread in the basketball area that if somehow LeBron 2-3 more rings would it change his legacy? because at that point he surpasses the greats in stats and he would be on par with the elites with championships too finally
I doubt that really, yes, the narrative would swing that KD is the same tier or better individual player. But you cannot discount Curry playing all his career, or 99% of his career for one single Franchise. That is the Bonus KD will never achieve. Having done that for 2 decades. The Narrative would also factor in that KD browsed thru the NBA to find Star players that fit his style while Curry was sitting ducks being at the whim of the General Manager. He just failed with a few different teams (Phoenix, Brooklyn a little etc)
What Lebron did to an extent, and what Harden and KD did was just scavenging the NBA landscape for contenders after contenders. What precisely is honorable about that whoring out?
