How ironic is it that on the Fourth of July, Independence Day, Kevin Durant sent the internet spiraling into a raging hissy fit simply by exercising his right to choose his future? The most coveted player in NBA free agency made the no-brainer decision to join the Golden State Warriors. He was offered a maximum contract to play for a team that should have could have won the NBA championship without him. Given the option of playing alongside one All-Star (Russell Westbrook) or three All-Stars (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green), for the same insane amount of money, Durant made the obvious choice.
Unsurprisingly, the haters crawled out of the deepest, darkest holes of the interweb to throw shade on Durant’s decision. First up was ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who’s head nearly exploded when he discovered the news. He attacked Durant in three separate rants on ESPN, Twitter and Facebook, calling Durant’s move, “the weakest move [he’s] even seen a NBA star commit.” Smith used the preposterous logic that because the Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Warriors in the playoffs, once during Durant’s nine-year career, that they should be off-limits for the former MVP.
Charles Barkley claimed he was disappointed by Durant’s decision. He accused Durant (and LeBron James) of “cheating” to win an NBA title by joining super teams. I guess Barkley forgot how he forced Phoenix to trade him to the Houston Rockets so he could chase rings with Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. FoxSports’ Colin Cowherd somehow surmised that both Curry and Durant have forever eliminated themselves from Top 10 consideration by their willingness to join forces. He also remarkably determined that Durant’s decision “solidifies LeBron’s greatness.”
Like Cowherd, many of the people criticizing Durant are the same individuals who worshipped and praised James for chucking deuces at the Cleveland Cavaliers when he took his talents to South Beach to form a super team and chase rings, and then again when he bolted Miami to go back to Cleveland. The same people who praise James for his three NBA championships (all with super teams) and six-straight NBA Finals appearances (again, with super teams) somehow find a reason to fault Durant for wanting to maximize his chances at winning a ring.
Let’s not be ignorant, James isn’t the first superstar to cement his legacy by winning titles on super teams. Bill Russell, the greatest NBA champion of all-time, played with seven other Hall of Famers in Boston (even though a few of those inductees are questionable) during the 1957-58 and 1962-63 seasons. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson’s Lakers featured as many as five Hall of Fame players, as did Larry Bird’s Celtics teams of the 1980s.
Even in the modern era, the Lakers failed at a title attempt with Hall of Famers Gary Payton, Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant (not officially in HOF yet). The Celtics won with shoo-in HOF candidates Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. James won in Miami with Allen, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, who’s HOF credentials are now questionable only due to recent illnesses and injuries.
Unlike the modern-era super teams, the Warriors are largely home grown. Curry, Thompson and Green were all drafted and cultivated by the Warriors. Andre Iguodala, the sixth man, is the only key player for the Warriors who arrived via free agency before Durant. Unlike many of the other superstars, who took less money to join a merry band of ballers, Durant is going to Golden State with a max-level contract. In other words, he got the money and the power. Now he and the Warriors must win NBA titles so he can earn the respect so that many fans and sports personalities claim to have “lost” for him by making the right choice.
Keep in mind, that while everybody was going crazy about Durant’s choice, future Hall of Famer Pau Gasol announced that he was heading to the San Antonio Spurs, a team that won 67 games this past season. Think the Durant and Westbrook would’ve beaten the Spurs with Gasol on board? Think again.
The most hilarious of the criticisms I see about Durant’s move are the cries for loyalty. I’m sure the people who say he shouldn’t have left his best friend alone in OKC make their career decisions based on their BFFs. The NBA is a business and players can be cut or traded at any given moment at the whim of an owner or GM. Why aren’t owners and franchises held to the same standard of loyalty as superstar players?
I’m sure that when Smith left the now-defunct CNN/SI network and FoxSports Radio for ESPN, it had nothing to do with the fact that ESPN was clobbering them all in the ratings and considered the worldwide leader in sports. Was that the ‘weakest move ever by a sports journalist?’ Why didn’t he lead his former employers to overtake ESPN in the ratings?
All the fuss about Durant is pure, unadulterated jealousy and nothing more. When Durant, Curry and Co. rack up rings, their legacies as all-time greats will be cemented just like James, Russell, Kareem, Magic and more. If the Warriors were the only super team in the league, maybe it would give some credence to the nonsense, but a quick look at the rosters in Cleveland and San Antonio prove they are not alone.
Owners lose their minds too
NBA fans and media personalities aren’t the only people to lose their minds during this year’s free-agency period. With the huge spike in salary cap money, team owners and general managers have lost their minds when it comes to some of the insane spending going on.
Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks made it rain on Warriors castaway Harrison Barnes, who was a primary reason Golden State choked away the Finals. With averages of 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, the Mavs offered Barnes a max-level contract of $94 million over four years. While Barnes’ numbers will certainly improve in Dallas, nearly $100 million dollars for a man who has never sniffed the All-Star game is just not a wise basketball decision.
The Memphis Grizzlies fell into the same boat by doling out the largest contract in NBA history to Mike Conley (five years, $153 million) and another max-level deal for former Mav Chandler Parsons (four years, $94 million). While it can be argued that Conley is an All-Star caliber player, despite zero actual All-Star appearances, committing that type of money should be reserved for perennial, unquestioned, automatic All-Stars, not hopefuls.
Let’s get one thing clear. I’m not criticizing the players for taking the money. They should get whatever they can. However, owners can’t complain about the formation of super teams and scream about unfairness in terms of competition and then flush cash down the toilet as so many franchises have already done this off-season.
Yes, the billionaire owners have money to spend and the players responsible for the exciting product deserve to be rewarded richly. Still, poor drafting and owners throwing big money at average players has more to do with perennial struggling franchises than media markets or anything else.
Follow Ishmael on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk
