The 2017 NBA Playoffs: This Is A Recording

[FinsUp1214]

Regarding Durant, I agree with most of what has been said as well as it cracks me up how much he has gone from pretty likeable guy to arrogant fart seemingly overnight. In OKC, he came across as more confident than anything, which hey, that's perfectly fine. Ever since he got to Golden State, though, he's rapidly turned a whole lot more smug and then just throws these unwarranted ridiculous lines out there that ooze with this odd sense of cocky entitlement that he never had in OKC. Stuff like how "everyone wants (him) to be miserable" and crap. No, no one wants you to be miserable dude, we just want you to stop being this suddenly astronomic prima donna. 

 

 

 

 

[HedleyLamarr]

31 minutes ago, OnWis97 said:

It's amazing that he's garnered about a 100th of the criticism LeBron did.  OK, LeBron is supposed to be "the" guy and his "decision" production was off-putting, but at least he helped an average team get better after leaving a pretty hopeless situation in Cleveland.  Durant had the opportunity to get another crack at these guys and try to right the wrong of the 2016 Conference Finals.  And he could have done it with only a one-year commitment.*  Instead, he skipped out on the challenge of trying to make that happen and joined a team that probably could have won it all without him.  It was the ultimate coattail-ride.  

 

*And I think that's the part that bugs most...that he could have had one more shot at 'em before having to make a long-term decision.  At that point, I'd be a bit less hard on him.  Part of it is about the laziness of counting rings (and ignoring circumstances) from fans/media that he probably bought into; maybe there is no extra satisfaction with a hard-earned effort to finally get your team over a huge hump than there is just joining a juggernaut.  

 

And LeBron's still the villain.

Let's tell the whole story, eh?

 

LeBron, Wade, and Bosh conspired two years in advance about teaming up together in Miami.  Also known as "three of the first five players taken in the 2003 Draft" and "three of the top 10 players in the league at that time".  It's not like LeBron joined a team of stiffs and made them better.  He left a competitive situation to go ring-chasing. 

 

There's three reasons why you make your choice in free agency: Playing time, money, and ability to win a championship.  LeBron established that it's acceptable to jump to another team, while in your prime, to go ring-chasing.  Durant basically did the same thing, except he didn't go on ESPN for an hour-long "It's all about me" TV show to say where he's going in free agency.

 

The only ones saying what Durant did was worse are the LeBron jock-sniffers.

[Lights Out]

Double post.

[Lights Out]

1 hour ago, OnWis97 said:

It's amazing that he's garnered about a 100th of the criticism LeBron did.  OK, LeBron is supposed to be "the" guy and his "decision" production was off-putting, but at least he helped an average team get better after leaving a pretty hopeless situation in Cleveland.  Durant had the opportunity to get another crack at these guys and try to right the wrong of the 2016 Conference Finals.  And he could have done it with only a one-year commitment.*  Instead, he skipped out on the challenge of trying to make that happen and joined a team that probably could have won it all without him.  It was the ultimate coattail-ride.  

 

*And I think that's the part that bugs most...that he could have had one more shot at 'em before having to make a long-term decision.  At that point, I'd be a bit less hard on him.  Part of it is about the laziness of counting rings (and ignoring circumstances) from fans/media that he probably bought into; maybe there is no extra satisfaction with a hard-earned effort to finally get your team over a huge hump than there is just joining a juggernaut.  

 

And LeBron's still the villain.

It's not that amazing. I'm sure this will draw a kneejerk emotional response from some people, but if we're being honest, LeBron has been the first real threat to Jordan's legacy since Jordan retired. Thing is, the league and its media partners still have a lot of money riding on the Jordan legacy. They're not ready for anyone to at least make the GOAT discussion a little more debatable, let alone actually surpass Jordan. So LeBron has been put under an excrutiatingly harsh microscope since before he even entered the league. Everything he says and does is nitpicked to either blame/criticize him or deny him credit. And when the media spends so much time doing this, it trickles down to the casual fans and affects his reputation there too. Instead of just chilling out and letting his career play out, the discussion around LeBron has always been about what he can't do and whom he'll never be better than. And there's no way to prove anyone wrong because it's all hypothetical and they'll just move the goalposts.

 

In contrast, Durant will never even be in the fringes of the GOAT discussion. He's good, but he's not that good. So it's "safe" for the media and casual fans to kiss his ass and give him an easy ride.

 

That, IMO, is why LeBron is still hated for going to Miami while Durant gets a free pass for a move that was so much worse. One of them is going up against old sportswriters' and fans' childhood memories, salty old players' eras, and a marketing machine that has been a license to print money for decades. The other one is just a basketball player.

[Lights Out]

25 minutes ago, FinsUp1214 said:

Regarding Durant, I agree with most of what has been said as well as it cracks me up how much he has gone from pretty likeable guy to arrogant fart seemingly overnight. In OKC, he came across as more confident than anything, which hey, that's perfectly fine. Ever since he got to Golden State, though, he's rapidly turned a whole lot more smug and then just throws these unwarranted ridiculous lines out there that ooze with this odd sense of cocky entitlement that he never had in OKC. Stuff like how "everyone wants (him) to be miserable" and crap. No, no one wants you to be miserable dude, we just want you to stop being this suddenly astronomic prima donna. 

He was pretty arrogant in OKC, to be honest. How soon we forget him calling Kawhi a "system player" while he was busy watching Kawhi win FMVP from the couch.

[masterchaoss]

23 minutes ago, HedleyLamarr said:

Let's tell the whole story, eh?

 

LeBron, Wade, and Bosh conspired two years in advance about teaming up together in Miami.  Also known as "three of the first five players taken in the 2003 Draft" and "three of the top 10 players in the league at that time".  It's not like LeBron joined a team of stiffs and made them better.  He left a competitive situation to go ring-chasing. 

 

There's three reasons why you make your choice in free agency: Playing time, money, and ability to win a championship.  LeBron established that it's acceptable to jump to another team, while in your prime, to go ring-chasing.  Durant basically did the same thing, except he didn't go on ESPN for an hour-long "It's all about me" TV show to say where he's going in free agency.

 

The only ones saying what Durant did was worse are the LeBron jock-sniffers.

Wilt was probably the first one to do that considering he had to come to the Lakers to try and get past Bill Russel and the Celtics and its not like there haven't been other hofers after that move that happened before Lebron. and I'm someone who think Durant's move was worse as some one who used to hate Lebron. I think you are also missing the big picture of Durant's move turning a title contender in to a mess. Lebron left a team that had no help and it was clear the management was trying very hard for a 5th seed heat team that whose second best player was Micheal Beasley and after he joined wasn't unbeatable, Durant left a team that was one win from the finals for said team whose second best player is a top 3 SG in the league that now has a good shot a sweeping the playoffs. Lebron's move made the league more entertaining, Durant's move made the league a lot less. I think its pretty clear Durant's move was a lot worse.     

[DG_ThenNowForever]

LeBron joined a big three after watching the big three Celtics beat his ass for three years. He didn't join the Celtics. There's some important context there.

[JayMac]

A flimsy salary "cap" is what makes all of this possible. I don't blame any player for the mess that is the NBA.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

18 minutes ago, jmac11281 said:

A flimsy salary "cap" is what makes all of this possible. I don't blame any player for the mess that is the NBA.

 

Everyone knew there was going to be a big cap jump in 2016. The players wanted it all up front; the owners and league wanted it to be smoothed over multiple years. The players won. It's one of the (several amazingly-timed) factors that allowed the Warriors to sign Durant.

[ninersdd]

Also which enabled guys like Solomon Hill to make 12 million a year.

[Sport]

"Super teams are good for the league" is something I keep hearing from some people, but even if that's true I don't know how anyone could argue that what Durant did wasn't super lame.  

 

I loved when the Pistons beat the Lakers because that felt like the correct cosmic result for that ring chasing Lakers team. Same for the Mavs-Heat finals*.

 

*edit: the 2011 one. Forgot about their 2006 matchup. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, ninersdd said:

Also which enabled guys like Solomon Hill to make 12 million a year.

 

Max contracts allow Solomon Hill to make 12 million a year. Owners want to be protected against themselves and they prove why every year.

 

On the one hand, no cap and no max would allow guys like LeBron to make what they deserve. On the other, Milwaukee and Minnesota would have even less of a chance to compete.

 

The only organization that really promotes parity is also the worst one; the NFL.

 

You can't fix the Durant situation because it was a glitch in the system. You can fix the rulebook next season though by doing things like making the 3-point foul less punitive and think about eliminating the corner three.

 

The Warriors maximized their team within the context of today's game and then they broke it. Now it's time to fix it.

[FiddySicks]

A couple things: 

 

I thought all of the hate Lebron got for leaving Cleveland to form a better team in Miami was SUPER lame. I think the hate Durant is getting is equally lame. There's been a lot of talk about how "This title won't count for Durant durr hurr", but I really doubt he'll care. And the history books won't care either. 

 

Golden State had a plan in place to

push for Durant since at least 2014, and I remember after the 15 title Joe Lacob talking about how they STILL planned on going hard after Durant. The fact that Curry, Thompson, and Green all turned out to have the astronomical ceilings they have is kind of just dumb luck. 

 

And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I'm having a blast watching this Warriors team play and feeling the excitement they generate around Northern California. I (along with everyone else who's enjoying this run) couldn't care any less how much some people hate them. Seeing how pissed people like DG and LO get over this run actually makes it even more enjoyable. 

 

Seeing up close and personal how quickly this Warriors team went from being "likeable" to absolutely hated is CRAZY. Sports fans are such a fickle bunch. And nobody is worse than NBA fans. 

[UnclearInitial]

While I can't fault either LeBron and Durant for putting themselves in the best possible position to win, there is a world of difference between joining a team that hadn't got past the first round in any of the four previous years (even while also adding Bosh) and that would have been a long shot contender for the title without him and going to a team that in the previous two years had  a title,  the all-time NBA regular season win record and were one game away from a second straight title. Even without KD the warriors would have been the favourites to win the West. I can't fault him for wanting to win a title, but when you swap Harrison barnes for kevin durant on what is already one of the best teams ever it really of taking the easiest path. Going to a middling team, even with the second best point guard in the game and with an all star PF joining isn't the same as joining forces with the unanimous MVP, two other All-NBA players, and a Finals MVP as sixth man.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, Bucfan56 said:

Seeing up close and personal how quickly this Warriors team went from being "likeable" to absolutely hated is CRAZY. Sports fans are such a fickle bunch. And nobody is worse than NBA fans. 

 

Especially Sacramento Kings fans.

[FiddySicks]

You've probably been closer to being a Kings fan than I ever have. 

[Dynasty]

2 hours ago, Bucfan56 said:

A couple things: 

 

I thought all of the hate Lebron got for leaving Cleveland to form a better team in Miami was SUPER lame. I think the hate Durant is getting is equally lame. There's been a lot of talk about how "This title won't count for Durant durr hurr", but I really doubt he'll care. And the history books won't care either. 

 

Golden State had a plan in place to

push for Durant since at least 2014, and I remember after the 15 title Joe Lacob talking about how they STILL planned on going hard after Durant. The fact that Curry, Thompson, and Green all turned out to have the astronomical ceilings they have is kind of just dumb luck. 

 

And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I'm having a blast watching this Warriors team play and feeling the excitement they generate around Northern California. I (along with everyone else who's enjoying this run) couldn't care any less how much some people hate them. Seeing how pissed people like DG and LO get over this run actually makes it even more enjoyable. 

 

Seeing up close and personal how quickly this Warriors team went from being "likeable" to absolutely hated is CRAZY. Sports fans are such a fickle bunch. And nobody is worse than NBA fans. 

 

I mean, I was a heavy supporter of the 2010-2014 Miami Heat (and still support the franchise to this day)... and I didn't care for the disdain they received. I was happy to see them dominate, and considering how rare it is to see a team actually win a lot in South Florida these days, that just made it sweeter.

 

Enjoy this while you can, because it may go by quicker than you'll realize.

[Sport]

Yeah, of course Warriors fans should feel good about this team. The Warriors were THE mark of irrelevancy for most of the time I've been following sports and now they're about to go undefeated in the playoffs and win their second title in 3 years. They had that one upset of Dallas in the playoffs, but outside of that they were never garbage, but you just never heard about them. Other than being the team with the community college sounding name I never really thought about them. And through all of those draft busts and terrible trades they always had solid and passionate fan support. The bandwagon perception has been caused by the douchebros in Curry jerseys at every day drinking bar in the country or the tech millionaires who priced out the real fans from the good seats. Their actual fans have always been there. I also like that they're in Oakland. 

 

My only gripe with them is Durant. He almost beat them last year, and yeah I get it - I'd also rather be rich in the Bay Area than be rich in Oklahoma, but from a competitor's standpoint how do you just go and join that machine when they're already a machine? It's just...weak. I don't know any other way to describe it. It'd be like if Ovechkin signed with the Penguins. Just lame. They won 73 games without him, won it all the year before that without him, and they did all of that with organic and smart moves. There was nothing hateable about the way they built the team. 

[Wings]

People don't like to bring it up but getting away from Russell Westbrook was also another big reason. 

[Rockstar Matt]

The only thing that really bothers me about all of this are the "Warriors Fans" who didn't give two s**ts about this team before 2013, suddenly are huge GS fans and talking trash. 

 

I don't care if their success has drawn you to the team and the sport, but don't talk s*** like you've been supporting them since the Mullen era in the 80's/90's, or the J-Rich dunking heydays during the 2000's. 

 

For the true fans (they've always had fantastic support), just enjoy and savor this run while you can. It's so much fun to be part of something so special and historic.