The NBA playoffs were full of mixed emotions for me — boredom from the early blowouts, then excitement in the back and forth games later on — all of which culminated in perhaps the most improbable comeback in the history of basketball. The Cleveland Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA title.
After the playoffs, there is always somewhat of a lull for basketball fans. Sure, the NBA Draft happens, followed by free agency and summer leagues, but those things don’t usually match up to the regular season or playoffs.
However, this summer has been full of drama with the biggest question being about where Kevin Durant would sign.
The 2013-14 NBA MVP was a big fish on the free agent market. Most people assumed he would negotiate a one year contract to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and then he would hit the free agent market again next summer when the NBA’s salary cap spikes to over $100 million; but were we wrong.
Durant spurned the Thunder, and he decided to join the Golden State Warriors. In doing so, he became public enemy No. 1.
The outcry was harsh, many fans of his former team burned their jerseys and left negative reviews of a Durant-owned restaurant on Yelp. One young fan’s tearful reaction was captured on film and posted on social media.
Thus began the intriguing possibility of having the NBA’s greatest superteam — one built with four All-Stars, three NBA MVP’s, a former scoring champion and, in my opinion, the greatest shooter in NBA history. In order to sign Durant, the Warriors needed to clear out a lot of their depth to get the money to work. One of the casualties was former Runnin’ Ute Andrew Bogut, with whom the Warriors were already frustrated.
The problem with this, though, is how it adversely affects the rest of the league. Since Durant joined the Warriors, the group of real NBA championship contending teams shrunk from four teams to two — the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Warriors.
I’ve never believed much in ring chasing. Call me old-fashioned, but I’ve always valued loyalty above anything else. I believe when it comes to professional sports, you owe the team that drafted you, especially if you are someone as talented as Durant. After spending eight or nine years with the same team, growing with the community, delivering success after success on and off the court, you owe something to that team, to those fans and to that community.
Ultimately, this is a bad thing for Durant’s legacy. Doing this makes him look weak and petty — as it did with LeBron James six years ago — to leave your team when you were within one game of making it to the Finals, and leaving it for the team that beat you, is weak.
What would the league have been like in the 80’s if Magic Johnson decided Larry Bird was someone he would rather play with, than against? What if Michael Jordan thought that after losing twice to Isaiah Thomas and thought leaving Chicago for the Detroit Pistons was the right call?
Now, I can hear what people may say — Dwayne Wade just left Miami to join the Bulls. Karl Malone left to go to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics assembled a super team in 2008 that went on to win it all. So what’s the difference between those situations and now?
First, Wade reportedly left the Heat because of disputes with the GM and owner about back pay. He even took pay cuts in order to better the team. Now, he’s past his prime, and he already delivered three titles to Miami.
Secondly, the Mailman, who after spending his entire 19-year career with the Utah Jazz and watching his best friend retire, decided to take one last run with another one of his friends, Shaquille O’Neal. Malone went to LA, and he got injured in the last season of his storied career. After taking the Jazz to the finals twice, he had given everything he had to the franchise that drafted him.
Lastly, the situation with Boston happened because of a series of insightful trades made by the Celtics.
The difference between those three scenarios and the one with Durant is that KD is still in his his prime, and he has plenty of time to win a title. He could have stayed in Oklahoma City. He could have overcome the obstacles in his path and reached the top of the mountain. He was so close to doing it this year, only one game away from the Finals. Instead, he opted for the path of least resistance, making a super-team instead of doing the hard work.
Ultimately, it makes the sport less appealing. What’s the excitement of watching a super-team run through the competition?
The story of sports is about competition, about never knowing how a team will perform. That’s the excitement we all love, because in the end, we would all rather watch close games than blowout victories.
The thing that makes it even worse, however, is that Durant actually believed these things. In 2010, Durant tweeted out his frustration with players wanting to join forces with the Lakers and Heat, and asked why players didn’t want to compete against each other to prove who was the better man.
Isn’t that what we all want to see in sports?
There’s a difference between having a ring and being a champion. In the end, Durant may very well end up with a ring in the Bay Area, but he’ll never be a champion, until he proves he can do it on his own.