Durant to the Warriors

[nashman]

Golden state is the best team in the league, and they proved it all season. It's not nonsense Sunsfan it's fact, the best team didn't win the finals doesn't discount they are still the best team. The Cavs get to breeze thru the pathetic east and still could not get close to GS win total. Just because the finals were officiated like a street ball game and the Cavs took advantage doesn't make them the best team. Cleveland got their tainted ring and will stay on top of the pathetic east but that's about it!

 

[AzStevenCal]

Cleveland got their tainted ring and will stay on top of the pathetic east but that's about it!

There's no such thing as a tainted ring unless you're talking cheap jewelry. The Cavs got lucky, they faced a tired and injured squad and the refs let them play the style of ball that suits them best. But guess what, all champions get lucky. And the year before GS got lucky to win their first (recent) championship over a very depleted Cavs squad. It happens all the time.

 

[PDXChris]

OK so where should Durant have gone then? Where would it have been acceptable for him to go?

I mean it's hard for me to not think part of this is Lakers fans thought Durant would sign a 1 year and then go to the Lakers next year with Westbrook and since that now seems unlikely, Lakers fans are mad at Durant.

Boston? I was kind of rooting for him to go there.

 

[sunsfan88]

David West and Pachulia sign with Warriors for basically vet minimum contracts.

So much for this drastically hurting their depth.

Im sure more players are lining up to sign for cheap and ring chase with the Warriors.

 

[Russ Smith]

Boston? I was kind of rooting for him to go there.

That goes back to the point Greenie made this morning and I said too. People are so used to stars ending up in Boston or LA that when they don't, they seem to automatically blame the player for it.

Greenie said it flat out he said if the Lakers had won 73 games, lost to the Cavs and then signed Durant I don't think the reaction would have been the same. People expect guys like Durant or Westbrook to go to the Lakers or Celtics, they don't bat an eye when they do, when Durant didn't, he is getting blasted for it.

I think Durant's comment 6 years ago about LeBron now makes him look hypocritical but as that article I posted says, he learned something in that time. He learned that OKC simply can't or won't compete at the same level it cost them harden and even with the massive new capspace they were going to lose Westbrook so why would Durant stay.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

People need to quit spouting this nonsense. It's beyond disrespectful to the Cavs and LeBron James.

The Cavs won the Finals. The CLEVELAND CAVALIERS are the best team in the league. And no, Durant did not sign there.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were ultimately the better team in that finals series, but do you honestly believe they would be the favorites over GS next season even if they didn't sign Durant? GS absolutely would have been the odds on favorite to win the title next year. Now they just moved into the spot of overwhelming favorite.

 

[Russ Smith]

The Cleveland Cavaliers were ultimately the better team in that finals series, but do you honestly believe they would be the favorites over GS next season even if they didn't sign Durant? GS absolutely would have been the odds on favorite to win the title next year. Now they just moved into the spot of overwhelming favorite.

I've been saying for weeks I would have picked OKC not the Warriors. Now if OKC knows Westbrook is gone then I won't pick them but if they were bringing back Durant and thought Westbrook was staying, I think OKC is the better team.

Basically they choked and the Warriors played unreal in game 6 and still barely won. Maybe Curry wasn't 100% I don't think he was but still OKC outplayed the Warriors most of that series. They were the better team they just didn't win it.

Hell I thought San Antonio not the Warriors were the best regular season team they just rested starters more during the season and cost themselves some wins.

I assume the warriors are the favorites now but I don't think they were before they got Durant.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That goes back to the point Greenie made this morning and I said too. People are so used to stars ending up in Boston or LA that when they don't, they seem to automatically blame the player for it.

Greenie said it flat out he said if the Lakers had won 73 games, lost to the Cavs and then signed Durant I don't think the reaction would have been the same. People expect guys like Durant or Westbrook to go to the Lakers or Celtics, they don't bat an eye when they do, when Durant didn't, he is getting blasted for it.

This is even MORE insane. When Payton and Malone went to the Lakers EVERYONE said they were gravy training and bandwagon jumping for a title... And that was when they were FAR past their prime and playing on BAD teams.

I have to wonder if you didn't follow basketball closely until the Warriors got good to continue making such outlandish statements/comparisons.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I didn't mean on this board I meant on the national media approach to this.

There is this perception that certain franchises are supposed to get the star players and lots of people apparently expected Durant and Wetsbrook to end up as Lakers.

I happen to know I'm not the only one who thinks that because Greenie said it on Mike and Mike this morning. He said he gets some of the backlash here but he thinks in some way some of it is due to people simply not believing the Warriors are supposed to get a windfall like that it's supposed to be the lakers or celtics.

Again... What NBA are you watching that the Celtics are predestined for great players? They literally had ONE great offseason in the last 30 years that produced the big 3 (NONE of which were FA) and got to two Finals in three years. Otherwise they've been a complete non-factor for the better part of 3 decades.

And the Lakers are a complete national joke and have been for four years.

You're making less sense with every post you make here.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Not picking on you I'm trying to find where the line is. Was Shaq a bitch move leaving Orlando for the Lakers?

Don't feel picked on.

No, he went from a better team to a worse team. And he went knowing he would still be the MAN. All bullseyes on him. And he wanted it that way. Durant is pussing out going to a team where he's not the man.

Whenever raised the rec gym comparison was spot on. You've got a competitive team you don't try to jump on the best team who runs the court the entire afternoon with no competitive games. That's a bitch move.

Shaq left for big market and Hollywood. He wanted to make movies. And that era and this era are incomparable in terms of opportunity for endorsements and fame. The top guys get all they need in small, mid, and large markets now.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

It's not about great player playing with other great players. It's about the situations they are entering. Shaq didn't join the best team in the league when he joined the Lakers. As for HS kids it is all about exposure to scouts when they go to prepschools like that and thus it is the right decision. For most of these kids in HS or college it is all about making it to the NBA and making a good living for themselves playing ball. This is about winning NBA championships and a top 3 player going to a team that is already the favorite to win and is one of his rivals to boot is a weak move from a competitive stand point.

A more equivalent hypothetical situation would have been Jordan leaving the Bulls in 1990 so that he could join the Pistons.

Bingo. Jordan would've been a bitch too.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Don't feel picked on.

No, he went from a better team to a worse team. And he went knowing he would still be the MAN. All bullseyes on him. And he wanted it that way. Durant is pussing out going to a team where he's not the man.

Whenever raised the rec gym comparison was spot on. You've got a competitive team you don't try to jump on the best team who runs the court the entire afternoon with no competitive games. That's a bitch move.

Shaq left for big market and Hollywood. He wanted to make movies. And that era and this era are incomparable in terms of opportunity for endorsements and fame. The top guys get all they need in small, mid, and large markets now.

It would appear that Durant doesn't really care about being the man and I think he may very well have gone to GS because he saw it as an opportunity to release some of the pressure of everything being on his shoulders. Obviously there is the fact that it will be easier to win the title, but I think he also went there because he likes the way they play as well.

 

[Dback Jon]

Is OKC losing money?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Sure but he left because he'd just been swept 2 straight years,. 4-0 in the finals to Hakeem, and then 4-0 in the conference finals against the Bulls. he decided he'd rather go join the Lakers because he was more confident the Lakers would add the pieces needed to win a title than he was Orlando would. I'd say he made a smart decision but he left because he didn't think he was going to win a title in Orlando.

He spent 2 years with harris, didn't get to the finals and then they brought in Phil Jackson and won 3 straight with him and Kobe. Note. I'm not saying him leaving Orlando was bad, I'm just trying to understand why it's ok for Shaq or Kareem to force their way to a franchise with a long history of being good but it is bad for Durant to do it to a franchise that had gone 40 years between titles before winning in 2015.

That magic already HAD the pieces and showed willingness to add to it. They had penny, Scott, nick and traded for grant. They were young. He didn't bolt bc he thought the lakers were more likely to add pieces in chase of championship he did it for Hollywood and big market. Lame but not bitch.

Durant bitch. I understand he's your bitch now, Russ, and you feel compelled to defend him, but I think other than Steve everyone thinks he's a bitch. That pretty much makes him a bitch. And it's not like Suns fans were jilted. So this isn't personal. It's objective. I was a big durant fan. Now . . . not really.

 

[Chaplin]

Is OKC losing money?

If they weren't already, they certainly will now.

 

[Russ Smith]

This is even MORE insane. When Payton and Malone went to the Lakers EVERYONE said they were gravy training and bandwagon jumping for a title... And that was when they were FAR past their prime and playing on BAD teams.

I have to wonder if you didn't follow basketball closely until the Warriors got good to continue making such outlandish statements/comparisons.

Nope been a fan since 75 and that was Greenie that said that not me. as I was watching it I said what about Malone and Payton, everyone ripped them for jumping on the Lakers at the end. I get his point though, Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, none of them were drafted by the Lakers and yet all of them wound up on the Lakers because they wanted to play in LA. Even Dwight Howard managed to play a year for the Lakers. People are so used to dominant players, in their prime, winding up with the Lakers that they just assumed it was going to happen with Durant too.

I'm a UCLA fan, many of them are Lakers fans and UCLA boards right now are full of Lakers fans complaining that Durant wimped out, the same fans that a week ago were predicting Durant and Westbrook would both wind up with the Lakers. They were fine with it when they thought he was going there, but he didn't and now they're mad. On BRO right now threads how the Lakers and Clips have changed places, how Westbrook now might not end up a Laker, how the Warriors will never catch the lakers greatness. On Bruinzone same thing will Westbrook still become a laker. Will Durant opt out after 1 year to join Westbrook with the Lakers etc. It's a mindset with Lakers fans on both boards they just assume great players will choose to play there because it's Los Angeles and the lakers have such great history. they are dumbfounded that he picked the Warriors. go on Warriors world right now huge threads about this exact thing, if Durant had gone to the lakers or celts in identical circumstances people wouldn't be blasting him.

My first year following basketball closely saw both the Warriors and UCLA win titles. 20 years to the next UCLA one, 40 for the next Warriors one so I've stayed loyal despite LOTS of down years.

I didn't post here for a long time but I explained that in the past. There was a time here when discussing any NBA that wasn't about the Suns wasn't welcome. Now thats not the case I've been on here the last several years.

 

[Russ Smith]

It would appear that Durant doesn't really care about being the man and I think he may very well have gone to GS because he saw it as an opportunity to release some of the pressure of everything being on his shoulders. Obviously there is the fact that it will be easier to win the title, but I think he also went there because he likes the way they play as well.

If you read the article on ESPN it says right in there Durant has been complaining for years about how OKC played offense. He got tired of all the isos he wanted a free flowing offense that passed the ball. At times they did it this year and he loved it, but when push came to shove in the series with the Warriors, even Donovan reverted to the Scott Brooks offense of isos and even though it meant more shots for Durant, he hated it.

 

[Russ Smith]

That magic already HAD the pieces and showed willingness to add to it. They had penny, Scott, nick and traded for grant. They were young. He didn't bolt bc he thought the lakers were more likely to add pieces in chase of championship he did it for Hollywood and big market. Lame but not bitch.

Durant bitch. I understand he's your bitch now, Russ, and you feel compelled to defend him, but I think other than Steve everyone thinks he's a bitch. That pretty much makes him a bitch. And it's not like Suns fans were jilted. So this isn't personal. It's objective. I was a big durant fan. Now . . . not really.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/laker...neal-regrets-magic-lakers-20150328-story.html


"I wish I would have had more patience," said O'Neal. "I wanted to be protected from the bashing. What I mean by that is, I wanted to win then. Even when I got [to the Lakers], I still got bashed.

"It took four years to win, but I was very impatient. I was very young, and I thought that if I go there, with those guys out there, I could win right away, and that wasn't the case. Now that I'm older now, I wish as a youngster I would have had more patience."

not a single mention of Hollywood or big market. He said he picked the Lakers because he wanted to win right away and figured it would be easier with the Lakers than with the Magic.

I'm not saying Shaq should have stayed in Orlando(he said it) I'm saying he left for the Lakers to win and nobody bashed him for doing that because people are used to dominant players in their prime wanting to play for the Lakers.

 

[Russ Smith]

Don't feel picked on.

No, he went from a better team to a worse team. And he went knowing he would still be the MAN. All bullseyes on him. And he wanted it that way. Durant is pussing out going to a team where he's not the man.

Whenever raised the rec gym comparison was spot on. You've got a competitive team you don't try to jump on the best team who runs the court the entire afternoon with no competitive games. That's a bitch move.

Shaq left for big market and Hollywood. He wanted to make movies. And that era and this era are incomparable in terms of opportunity for endorsements and fame. The top guys get all they need in small, mid, and large markets now.

Actually he said himself last year that he left in large part because he was tired of being bashed in Orlando for not winning the big one and thought it would be easier in LA because of the Lakers history of getting great talent.

He literally admitted he left so he wouldn't have to carry a franchise.

 

[Mainstreet]

Because they said their medical people advised them not to trust Amara

I would rather have kept Amare than sign Childress, Turkoglu and Warrick as replacements.

Sarver made a terrible GM.

 

[Russ Smith]

For some reason the new software won't let me quote it but someone said a better comparison is Jordan leaving the Bulls for Detroit in the mid 90's. That I would get but the Bulls lost to the Pistons THREE years in a row, OKC lost to the Warriors once, not 3 years running.

 

[Mainstreet]

For some reason the new software won't let me quote it but someone said a better comparison is Jordan leaving the Bulls for Detroit in the mid 90's. That I would get but the Bulls lost to the Pistons THREE years in a row, OKC lost to the Warriors once, not 3 years running.

Use the "+" option at the top of your reply if you haven't already tried it to add a quote.

 

[mojorizen7]

At least he didn't sign with the Lakers. There's that.

I'm not as invested in the NBA as i once was, but Durant to the Warriors doesn't really help the league IMO. It hasn't been a league of parity for a long time and that's another reason why i prefer the NFL.
Then again, these super teams in all sports tend to always fall a bit short of the hype after it's all said and done. Chemistry doesn't trump talent but it's awfully important. GS has had excellent team chemistry.
We'll see.

 

[devilalum]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/laker...neal-regrets-magic-lakers-20150328-story.html


"I wish I would have had more patience," said O'Neal. "I wanted to be protected from the bashing. What I mean by that is, I wanted to win then. Even when I got [to the Lakers], I still got bashed.

"It took four years to win, but I was very impatient. I was very young, and I thought that if I go there, with those guys out there, I could win right away, and that wasn't the case. Now that I'm older now, I wish as a youngster I would have had more patience."

not a single mention of Hollywood or big market. He said he picked the Lakers because he wanted to win right away and figured it would be easier with the Lakers than with the Magic.

I'm not saying Shaq should have stayed in Orlando(he said it) I'm saying he left for the Lakers to win and nobody bashed him for doing that because people are used to dominant players in their prime wanting to play for the Lakers.

Revisionist History 101

sent from a fone

 

[AzStevenCal]

For some reason the new software won't let me quote it but someone said a better comparison is Jordan leaving the Bulls for Detroit in the mid 90's. That I would get but the Bulls lost to the Pistons THREE years in a row, OKC lost to the Warriors once, not 3 years running.

And there was a rivalry between Detroit and Chicago that just doesn't exist with the Golden State area and Oklahoma City. Not just in basketball either, Chicago and Detroit fans hate each other in many sports.