Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors?
The rumour first surfaced in May 2015, when Mychal Thompson, former Showtime Laker standout and father of current Dubs’ superstar Klay, told a reporter he’d “heard it on good authority” that Golden State would aggressively pursue Durant in the summer of 2016.
For a star-laden team coming off a championship it seemed far-fetched and, frankly, unnecessary. But as reports escalated during this past season, the notion went from laughable to plausible.
The recent Western Conference Finals put the possibility to bed, it seemed. After coming within 10 minutes of eliminating the best regular-season team in NBA history, Durant and his Oklahoma City Thunder looked poised to finish the job next season. The Durant-Russell Westbrook duo had proven they could go toe-to-toe with the best the NBA had to offer, and breakout performances from the likes of Steven Adams and Andre Roberson were encouraging. Factor in last week’s draft-day trade with Orlando for Victor Oladipo, and the Thunder were bona fide championship contenders—provided Durant returned to the team.
Twenty-one teams had the cap space to go after Durant, but the safe money always had him signing a one-year deal that would give OKC another crack at advancing past the Warriors and to their second NBA Finals.
Why join ‘em when you can just beat ‘em? Even 2010 KD seemed to know the latter is the way to go:
As we now know, announced via The Player’s Tribune on Monday, Durant did not choose to beat his rivals. He didn’t fight the machine. He became part of it. And, in the process, he and the Warriors, basketball darlings and the favourite team of every bandwagon fan on Earth, have now become the NBA’s biggest villains.
A stunning turn of events, to put it lightly.
Aesthetically, Durant joining the Warriors creates what should already be considered simply the most watchable basketball team ever assembled, which you’d think would be the end of the story. But, as previous powers like the 2010 Heat, ’07 Celtics and ’04 Lakers have proven, NBA fans embrace competitive basketball and have always fought against “super teams” (unless, of course, they play in your town).
As a result, much of the online reaction to Durant’s decision has been overwhelmingly negative (it is the Internet, after all). By choosing to sign with the Warriors, his legacy is instantly brought into question. “Would Jordan have joined his rivals?” many are asking (we already know that LeBron James would). “Are the Warriors now too good?” ponders a fan base that scoffed at the 2016 Finals for the first five games for it’s lack of close scores.
Both are fair questions.
Golden State already played like they were plugged straight into Nigel Tufnel’s Marshall amplifier, cranked all the way to eleven when every other amp on the market only goes to ten. Now? They’ve blown the volume knob off altogether.
In Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors now boast arguably the top three shooters in the league today and three of the best five ever. Throw Draymond Green in the mix and Golden State’s roster features four of the NBA’s top 15—and that’s being conservative. Their new murderers’ row lineup of Green, Durant, Thompson Curry and Andre Igoudala is, well, terrifying.
But in the immediate hours following Durant’s decision, it’s hard to ignore the NBA’s changing dynamics, the shift from good to evil.
Durant’s decision is a story straight out of pro wrestling. This is Shawn Michaels super-kicking Marty Jannetty and throwing him through the barbershop window back in ’92.
In the early ‘90s, the Rockers had established themselves as one of the most exciting tag teams in the WWF. The duo of Michaels and Jannetty was fresh, exciting and at times dominant. Like Durant and Westbrook, they were ready to run roughshod over the rest of the company for years to come.
But, as always, egos came into play. Michaels’s ceiling as a performer was always higher, but it seemed Jannetty was never willing to acknowledge that fact—a dynamic surely familiar to Thunder fans. Michaels took control of his own destiny, blind-sided his partner and broke up a fan-favourite team with one swift motion.
Given Durant is notoriously private, we may never know how much his decision was motivated by cutting ties with Westbrook, or how many times this weekend he rewatched this video:
The simplest explanation for what transpired Monday is that Durant went to Golden State because it gave him the best chance to win a title. If he does, all may be forgotten. But it’ll take time.
Shawn Michaels was hated for breaking up the Rockers. (Jannetty, it should be noted, never recovered, winding out his career as a mid-carder. Here’s betting the same won’t be said of Westbrook.) But as the Heartbreak Kid established himself as a solo wrestler, capturing championship belts and headlining pay-per-views, soon enough he became a good guy again. Winning does that.
But for now, Durant is no longer the underdog. Instead, he’s taken LeBron James’s place as the self-interested bad guy—basketball’s latest perceived “traitor”.
Before today I would have never guessed at this outcome for Durant, the prodigious kid from Seat Pleasant, Md., who warmed our hearts when he broke down thanking his mother after winning the MVP at age 24; the humble superstar who carried an underwhelming supporting cast to the Finals in just his third season in Oklahoma City.
In truth, the shifting balance of good and evil in the NBA might’ve even started before the season ended. Between his temper tantrum in game five and his general no-show with a title on the line, sentiment toward Curry was already subtly changing in the playoffs. Throw in a Draymond Green nut shot or three, and it’s possible the Warriors’ shine had worn off slightly by Game Seven.
But today the whole makeup of the league flipped over on its head.
You may not like Durant’s decision. Count me among those who would have preferred to see him exact revenge on Golden State. But don’t forget that it’s going to give us the most exciting team in memory.
Besides, everyone knows it’s more fun to root for the bad guy.