No big surprise. It’s what we all knew would happen back on July 4th, 2016 after reading of Durant’s departure to the Warriors in the Player’s Tribune. This won’t be Kevin Durant’s only ring if he, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala stay together. This is a dynasty of draconian proportions in this salary cap age of the NBA.
Putting aside the other twenty-eight teams in the league, I’m not really sure how LeBron can beat these guys. LeBron James played superbly in these Finals and his team won but one game. The talent gap between these Warriors and the rest of the league is immense. Maybe Adam Silver will have to devise a B Flight champion to give us NBA fans some sense of emotional competitive connection to the league and its seasons moving forward.
I sat dumbfounded watching Doris Burke do her postgame interviews. She appeared to be crying. Why? There was no drama attached to this championship whatsoever. The only drama attached came way back when in the Hamptons when the Warriors won the Kevin Durant lottery.
Kevin Durant is a beautiful basketball player. I watched him play at the University of Texas and I watched every game he played as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He’s a generational player who through hard work has turned himself into an utterly complete basketball player. Plus, I don’t think he’s a bad dude. He was good to the people of Oklahoma. Always polite, always generous with the community, and an easy interview for the local OKC scribes who’d never covered the NBA until the Sonics were moved to Oklahoma City.
I have no problem whatsoever that he left. The words ‘free agent’ imply just that–the freedom to play wherever you want. I’m happy he won a ring, but sad that he ruined the league in doing so by going to the talent laden Warriors. As a fan of the league, it somewhat diminishes the interest of the overall league although from what I’ve read the NBA’s post season television ratings were good.
So while I’m happy Kevin Durant has his ring, I’m sad for the league and the fans of the other twenty-nine teams who pay money for tickets attached to the hope of competitive emotional involvement in a basketball season.
There won’t be any of that with these Warriors intact. Someone please tell Doris Burke there won’t be any need for crying next June unless she’s going to be crying for the fans of the other twenty-nine teams.