He wasn't really exhibiting poor sportsmanship. He literally said since it's a play against us he thinks it's bad, otherwise he'll give it props. It's the same when last year a reporter asked whether he was happy for Dirk, and Durant basically replied no because Dallas eliminated OKC. The competitive fire shown by Durant and the OKC are the competitiveness that we've lost and that the Superfriends have diluted.
It is impossible to stop that. Unless KD wants to get a flagrant foul because that's the only way to stop Blake at that instance.
Also, KD would have lost an arm trying to stop that. But yeah, I agree with other posters saying that this isn't unsportsmanlike. He technically gave it props without giving it props. KD is cerebral like that.
I think the comment about it being against his team making it bad is a slight redemption, and it's not like I turned into hating him. I still like him, but I just think he handled it poorly. As far as competitive spirit goes, nobody has to be a dick to be better on the court. Hakeem, when he was the best there was and won his first championship, was proposing that the 10 best centers in the league get together and actually show each other 2 new moves each. They would have a camp during the summer. Those are people who are on the other teams that he goes up against each night. His belief was that while you give away 2 of your moves, you learn 18 new moves and the game gets better. Hakeem won championships and was the best player in the league during the time he advocated this. He didn't need to adopt a dickish attitude and call it competitive nature in order to be the best or win games. Other players didn't agree to it, and it might have been their competitiveness that played a part. But it didn't make them better. Hakeem was still the best. I hate the misconception that if you are nice or gracious to an opponent that somehow you don't have competitive fire, and aren't really into it. It doesn't have to be that way. Plenty of competitive guys may need that motivation, but it is by no means a requirement.
I dont know. Hakeem was a real dick to David Robinson when he lost the MVP to him. Made him look like a child in front of the whole nation. Again, KD wasn't being a dick about it. Like I said, he complimented it without complimenting it.
^ This is a fair point, but two comments. 1. You can argue Blake's actions equally fail to support this kind of be competitive but friendly philosophy your espousing, by virtue of the fact that at every opportunity possible, he tries to posterize somebody. It should be noted, he doesn't always have to do so, and it's a "move" that isn't really teachable to anyone. 2. While the camp described is nice and all, wouldn't the best players be disincentivized to do this? If you're already the best, you are unlikely to learn as many moves from the others as they are from you. On a relative basis, they would benefit more from your teachings than you would from theirs. While Hakeem would be giving up 2 moves and gaining 18, so would everybody else, but since everybody likely starts with fewer moves, the gain (% wise) more. On top of that, this is 2012. There are certainly nuances to be learned. But much of what can be learned, can be studied on film. And, MOREOVER, being really good in the NBA as as much about physical or natural gifts as it is about moves. Don't get me wrong, you got to have the moves. But Hakeem had the moves as much because he was capable of doing it as because he knew how. It doesn't matter how much Hakeem teaches about the dream shake, if that person can't do it, he can't do it. Not that we have a lot of sample size to go by, but so far it seems to me that Hakeem's post-retirement teachings have been more effective for players like Kobe, Lebron than it has for players like Thabeet. This isn't surprising... Thabeet just can't do it. Points? Not sure. I guess that (i) KD's response to this seems appropriate to me. Perhaps a little dickish, but more dickish than Blake constantly trying to posterize everyone? And (ii) being friendly is fine, but as far as learning goes, not quite sure how much KD could possibly learn from Blake, or most other players on the planet, from an offensive perspective.
Hakeem outplayed David Robinson, and let his play do all the talking. That's where it should all take place in my opinion. After it's over, it isn't weak to acknowledge impressive play from an opponent. Hakeem wanted David Robinson included in his big man's camp.
Well in the era Hakeem did this there were more elite centers than now. Hakeem was the best of the big men, so he had more to lose by proposing the idea. And Thabeet wouldn't be invited to the top 10 big men camp in today's era or Hakeem's era. But the specifics of the camp can be for a different thread. In this case it's not seeing the forest for the trees. The point wasn't about which players would learn from the camp or whether or not they'd learn a million moves or two moves. It's about the broader point that you don't have to be stand-offish, dismissive, ungracious in order to be a better competitor. It's possible to be a fierce competitor who soars above the competition without adopting a persona of being a jerk and acting in way that is less than sportsman like toward the other team.
Of course... that's always true. I just question who's really being a jerk, and who is being more jerkish - Blake on the court, or KD in the press?
In fairness, I hope I've been clear that KD in the press was only slightly dickish, and that it isn't a major issue at all. Blake on the court is playing the game hard, and I like that and don't have a problem with it. If there was excessive showboating afterwards, or he played like Stockton it would be different. Posterising someone isn't a dickish thing, necessarily. It's part of the game. It happens. If it was against a little kid or old man and he did that, it would be different. I don't have a problem with hard spectacular play on the court.
^ agreed, but Blake definitely seeks out highlight plays that are neither here nor there with regards to how hard he's playing. I don't have a big problem with it, but can understand how it could be viewed as dickish.
Yes, I agree if it isn't helping pump his team up, inspire his teammates or isn't in the natural hard playing flow of the game, it could be dickish.
