For the second time in two months, the Golden State Warriors have ripped out the hearts of Thunder fans. It wasn’t enough that they defeated them in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, but now they have stolen away their beloved Kevin Durant.
The backlash has already begun. The majority of the media is spinning this as The Decision 2.0, Thunder fans are burning their Durant jerseys, and every NBA detractor is pointing to this as yet another example of why they don’t watch or root for their home team, because unless you live in a “destination city” what’s the point?
Do I blame Kevin Durant for leaving OKC for the Warriors in hopes of winning a championship? Not Entirely. He made a business decision that he thought was in his best interest. More power to him.
Do I hope this latest “super team” fails miserably?
Absolutely.
Before I delve into my newfound disdain for the Warriors, let us first direct the blame for this to the real culprits. First and foremost on this list is the NBA and the NBA players union. I won’t pretend to be an expert on all the rules and regulations regarding free agency, etc. I am, however, an expert fan of the NBA and this is not good for the league. They have to figure out a way to keep players from building super teams and leaving the small market teams out to dry. Maybe a franchise tag?
If things continue this way, the NBA should just contract 15-20 of the teams that have no shot at ever winning a title because they will never be “destination”. Minnesota and Utah, I’m looking at you…
But that’s a topic for another article, back to who I’m blaming.
The NBA is highly successful and will probably never change anything to prevent this type of thing from happening. But there is one other person that may be even more directly responsible for Durant bolting to Oakland…
Russell Westbrook.
The biggest winner in all this isn’t the Warriors at all. It’s Westbrook. Now he will either be traded or he will walk away a free agent at the end of next season, and no one will blame him. He won’t get the backlash that Durant or LeBron got and he’ll get to go where he wants. If Westbrook had come to Durant and said, “Hey, I’m going to re-sign with the Thunder if you stay here. We traded for Victor Oladipo and there are some more moves we can make, let’s win a championship for Oklahoma City.” Kevin Durant would still be a member of the Thunder.
But he didn’t. And Durant left.
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Like I said above, I had no issue with Durant leaving to go somewhere he thought he could win a championship, in fact, if Westbrook told Durant that he planned to leave next year anyway, then Durant leaving was a smart decision. Victor Oladipo and Kevin Durant, with no Westbrook, does not make it to the Finals. My issue is not why he left but where he went.
To the Warriors.
The team that came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat you and thwart your chance at that coveted championship. The team that sent you home in the playoffs — again. Why join them? Is there no competitive spirit left in athletes these days? Michael Jordan would have never left the Bulls to go play for the Pistons after losing to them in consecutive years. Jordan just got better, and more determined to beat them.
When he ultimately did defeat Isaiah Thomas and Co., it was a much greater achievement than had he left to go play for an established championship caliber team. Every superstar gets compared to Jordan these days and they think it’s just championships that made “Jordan”… well… Jordan, but it was his desire, his competitive spirit, and his will to be the best not join the best.
I know what you are thinking. “Well, if Westbrook was leaving anyway and Durant couldn’t win in OKC, then where should he have gone?” Easy. The Warriors most bitter rival not named the Thunder.
The Clippers.
Think about it. The Clippers were the Thunder before the Thunder were the Thunder. They were the team smashing their heads against the better teams in the West unable to break through. The Clippers and Warriors regular season games were epic battles that often boiled over into some extracurricular activity after the whistle was blown. Imagine this statement at the press conference after Durant signs with the Clippers;
Reporter: “Kevin, why did you choose to go to L.A. over Golden State?”
Kevin: “Those guys took something from me last year. A chance at a championship. I want to exact my revenge on them for that. I knew that Thunder would be unable to retain all their free agents in the coming years (He won’t say Russell Westbrook, but we all know what he means) and coming to the Clippers gives me the best shot to defeat them. Teaming up with the best point guard in the league (an off-handed shot at Stephen Curry) and a championship winning coach (a shot at Steve Kerr) seemed like my best option. I love OKC and all my fans there, I wish them the best and I hope that if it’s the Clippers and Warriors in the Western Conference Finals in the near future, that they’ll be rooting fo me.”
Now he has covered all his bases. He is still chasing a championship on a really good team. He shows remorse for not being able to bring a championship to OKC, and indirectly shifts blame towards Westbrook for why he is leaving. Most importantly, the fans of the NBA get treated to an awesome rivalry for years to come and the regular season becomes a bit more interesting.
That would be a perfect way to spin it to appease even the most loyal of Thunder fans. And here is the kicker…
Russell Westbrook likely signs with the Lakers in the off-season, and Durant and Westbrook are reunited on the same court — playing for opposing teams.
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