Let’s do this–this way. Let’s pretend I’m Mike and I live in Montana and don’t have an NBA team playing twenty minutes from my front door. I’m just Mike from Montana who for some strange reason follows the Philly Sixers as my favorite team and kind of adopted the Thunder when they moved to Oklahoma City from Seattle.
So– in essence, the Thunder are my adopted Western Conference team and the Sixers are my adopted Eastern Conference team.
The reason what happened today might make a difference to me as an avid NBA fan in Montana is that what the Warriors just pulled off is akin to an entity creating a private monopoly where in essence there’s really no reason to be watching the regular season and maybe not even the first two rounds of the Western Conference or Eastern Conference Playoffs or even the Conference Finals.
I don’t think I’m going over the top here. Consider this–if you took the eight best players from the remaining teams in the Western Conference do you think you could beat these guys.
Okay. My eight would be Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, Blake Griffin, Deandre Jordan, maybe DeMarcus Cousins if Popovich can control him, Marc Gasol, and the two guards from Portland or Harden. That would be my eight with Popovich coaching them. I want flexible bigs who can punish the Warriors inside, plus a big in Gasol who can pass from the top of the key, plus a point guard who can get to the rim. I went to ten, but that’s okay.
That being said—do I have enough? Can these ten beat the Warriors with no considerations whatsoever to a salary cap with the tax included?
I don’t think so and I’d wager Vegas wouldn’t either because what the Warriors have just done is combine three of the best shooters the game has ever seen.
I know, I know—defense wins championships, and even though the Warriors just traded Bogut to the Dallas Mavs they still have Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala and the potential for the most creative small ball lineups ever seen by humans in Montana. Plus, Thompson and Durant aren’t horrible defensively.
What I’m saying is if you combine an All-Star team from the rest of the entire NBA minus LeBron–I don’t think these guys are beatable.
I read Durant’s statement on some nonsensical forum called the Player’s Tribune which Derek Jeter has an interest in. Whatever.
My jaw dropped when I read the part where Durant cited the desire for more growth as a man as being part of the decision.
Oh, really.
Is Draymond going to teach you to kick, sucker punch, and rub other grown men in their genitals? Color me jaded if I roll my eyes on that one. I never really considered that as part of inner spirituality.
What was done here was simple. Two teams now have a chance to win the NBA championship as currently constructed.
Golden State and Cleveland.
Kevin Durant now has a more plausible path to an NBA championship because both Green and Iguodala can both somewhat defend LeBron James and Kevin Durant doesn’t have the body type to handle James defensively.
Will I hate Durant and burn my Durant T shirts? Of course not.
I would have to ask Durant this question though, if you hadn’t played so poorly in Game 6 would your decision have been the same today? I think that’s a very fair question.
I will admit when the NBA Finals roll around it’s not like I’m going to care who wins between the Cavs and Warriors.
If I were in Montana I’d be casting a fly on some tranquil stream in search of a trout or walking with the diva lab Pauli or maybe reading the most current edition of Helena Monthly.
I’ll watch, but in the end I won’t care who wins and that’s kind of sad even for the totally objective Mike from Montana who like so many Oklahomans had their hearts broken today.