College Football

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

No need to look down on Durant

Photo creds to www.sportingnews.com
Is this article biased? Maybe a little bit. But I am going to try my best to put the Kevin Durant situation into perspective.

I'll start by saying that I feel for the basketball fans of Oklahoma City. It's never fun losing a local hero, and the Thunder fan base has a right to be disappointed. That said, the hate that Durant has been receiving (Burning jerseys, shoes, etc.) is out of bounds. Not only is it uncalled for but it is also hypocritical.

In case you have been living under a rock, Kevin Durant will play basketball for the Golden State Warriors next season. On our countries birthday, KD signed a 2-year, $54.3 million contract with Curry and the boys. It was a shock to most people, as Durant's friends assured the public that their buddy boy was ''about 90% likely'' to come back to OKC. But that's not what happened. Durant is with the Warriors and not the team that blew a 3-1 series lead against them in the Western Conference Finals.

Now, let's talk about what it means for both the Thunder and Warriors. For the Warriors, a great team got better. Yes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezili, and Harrison Barnes are all gone, but if getting rid of those role players means bringing aboard one of the 5 best players in the world, you take that every time. As for the Thunder, there is still hope. This is not like the Cleveland Cavaliers when Lebron James left for South Beach in 2010. OKC still has a talented group of players led by point guard Russel Westbrook, who is my early pick to win league MVP next season. It's Westbrooks team now, so let's see what he can do.

Although the Thunder still have a solid team, the Warriors are better than them, as well as everybody else in the league. Games are not played on paper, but if they were, the Warriors would be champs again. Time will tell how this plays out, but for now, Golden State fans should be stoked.

The two major issues, aside from possible injury, that I see for the Warriors are;
1. Durant won't fit into the Warriors system
2. Chemistry and what not

It is hard to say whether or not Durant will fit into the Warriors style of play. However, I feel that a player of KD's caliber will excel no matter what. As for the chemistry issue, I do not see Kevin Durant being a cancer. He is not Dwight Howard. Durant is a good teammate, and all he wants to do is get a ring. Nothing will get in his way.

Has KD taken a bit of a shortcut to winning an NBA Championship? You could argue. But I think it was time to move on. Durant gave everything he had to the Oklahoma City Thunder for nine seasons, and it's time for him to try something else. Durant owes Oklahoma City nothing, as he gave them everything, and considering that he did not leave Oklahoma on any disrespectful terms, there should be no animosity. The hate of Durant is hypocritical. As sports fans, we often complain about athletes putting money ahead of glory and winning. Durant is doing the opposite of that here, which means that the hate that he is getting is a contradiction. To make things real simple, Durant went to where he feels he has the best chance to win a ring that has eluded him for so long. What's wrong with that?

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