My video on why I'm still mad at Durant

[Who]

Fully agree. I'm not over it either. Not sure I ever will.

Such a pathetic cowardly move by Durant. Unbelievable.

[gouki88]

Fully agree. I'm not over it either. Not sure I ever will.

Such a pathetic cowardly move by Durant. Unbelievable.

He really has ruined the NBA. Absolute snake. Glad nobody really values his ring (soon to be plural) as a genuinely hard-earned one.

Moreover, Curry and to a lesser degree Klay have both become considerably more cocky and annoying since KD arrived. Coincidence?

[Spilling Green Dye]

I watched the first half of the video.  You did a good job, but I think you missed the biggest part of him being a snake - he failed to lead his team past the Warriors in the playoffs even though they were up in the series. 

To me, that's the biggest thing, and should have been like 1/2 the video.  Durant, instead of being a champion and coming through in the big game of the WCF, choked it away and shrunk from the stage.  Klay Thompson went off and the 73 win Warriors came from behind to go to the Finals.  And what does Durant do?  Gives up and goes to that team.  That's where the narrative really starts.

[Rhyso]

I took a bunch of ambien and woke up to a 13 minute video rant on why I'm still salty about Kevin Durant's decision:  https://youtu.be/4DSUEnBclQ8

Really need the Big 5 Celtics (Kyrie/Brown/Hayward/Tatum/Horford) to stop them next year

A+ for the video man, really entertaining and looking forward to seeing more!

[Big333223]

Subscribed, liked, and TP for the video.

But I don't really agree. First, I think the dominance of the Warriors is overstated. They're obviously great but in just their second year they almost got beat by the Rockets who lost Chris Paul for the last 2 games and Cleveland really should've won Game 1. I think a relatively healthy Celtic team beats them next year. After that, the pay cuts these guys take would have to be insane to continue to stay together. I think it breaks up within the next 3 seasons.

Second, sports talking heads always preach winning is the only thing that matters and fans always complain that stars make too much money and should take pay cuts for the better of the team. Well, Durant took a pay cut to go somewhere he has the best chance of winning. It doesn't bother me.

[footey]

That was awesome, LB.

TP.

Very funny too.

[LarBrd33]

Subscribed, liked, and TP for the video.

But I don't really agree. First, I think the dominance of the Warriors is overstated. They're obviously great but in just their second year they almost got beat by the Rockets who lost Chris Paul for the last 2 games and Cleveland really should've won Game 1. I think a relatively healthy Celtic team beats them next year. After that, the pay cuts these guys take would have to be insane to continue to stay together. I think it breaks up within the next 3 seasons.

Second, sports talking heads always preach winning is the only thing that matters and fans always complain that stars make too much money and should take pay cuts for the better of the team. Well, Durant took a pay cut to go somewhere he has the best chance of winning. It doesn't bother me.

Yeah a lot of people seem to be referencing the Rockets as proof the Warriors are beatable.  I just don't see it.  In a 7 game series the most talented team generally finds a way to win.  I don't consider the 2008 Atlanta Hawks our equals just because they took us to 7 games.  Likewise, I don't consider the 2012 Philly team that took us to 7 games in Round 2 (they were the 8th seed) our equals - nor do I consider the 2012 Celtics an actual contender despite taking Miami to 7... but nonetheless...  It's tough to say considering Chris Paul got hurt, but I fully expected the Warriors to get it together and win that series.  The last couple games weren't close.  And again, you can blame that on the Chris Paul injury.  I think those last two games wouldn't have been close no matter what.  Golden State is historically stacked.

On the second point, I don't know if you watched my video all the way through but I posed a hypothetical at the end.  If taking a paycut to join a winner is ok, are you fine with LeBron hypothetically joining the Warriors for the vet minimum this Summer?  Technically there is nothing preventing him from doing it.  He'd be the MVP of the team over Durant and Steph.  He'd win a lot of championships.  He'd probably surpass Jordan.  Would you credit LeBron with those championships and chalk up his successes as valid in the record books?

[RodyTur10]

I was mad at the time. He seemed like such a coward. But I'm not mad at Durant anymore.

The only thing I'm mad at is the league. The huge salary cap increase was a terrible decision. It totally disrupted a well working system. If they had gradually raised the salary cap this would never have happened. And this scenario with the Warriors will never happen again. I will just call it 'the Mistake'.

Before the summer of 2016 everybody loved the Warriors (myself included). They had drafted extremely well, played a fun style of basketball and had a great crowd. They deserved the success they were having. In a normal environment they would've had a tough decision to make whether to resign Barnes (and probably would have) and they would have continued to be a great (yet beatable) team. Nothing wrong with that. 

I'm rooting for players, coaches and organizations who prioritize constructing a winning basketball team in a fair way. The Warriors team is exactly that. All players make sacrifices to achieve greatness. The recuitment and signing of Durant is a part of that. They didn't bend the rules. Without 'the Mistake', the Warriors never would have had the opportunity too sign Durant, but due to 'the Mistake' the Warriors had a unique chance to become the best basketball team in history. I don't think you can blame them for that.

On Durant's part, I'm convinced that he would have parted ways with OKC anyhow. And that's on the management of OKC. They made so many mistakes (most noticably the Harden case) that Durant had all the reasons to have lost faith in the leadership to create a championship team, even though they were close in beating GSW in the playoffs.

I think Durant would have been a Celtic without 'the Mistake'. You can call it a cowardly move to choose GSW, but it made a lot of sense. Every star player wants to win a championship and thats why they want to play with other good players to achieve that. Therefore All Stars like to play with each other, that's completely natural. It always has been like that. But only a few Stars get that possibility, because of all the restrictions the NBA has. Which is just a way of regulating the market.

Of course with a superstar like Curry already present there's some pride and ego to give up to play in his shadow, which not every Star is willing to do, but you could also praise him for that as a sign of character to put the team before him. Wade did the same thing in Miami. In a different way the salary cuts players like Duncan and Nowitzki took can be viewed the same. Other then that Durant is a great fit on that team. The Warriors needed a two-way SF. And the adaption was almost smoothly.
 
'the Mistake' created the problem. Not Durant. Not the Warriors. In 2-3 years the NBA will have adapted to the new salary climate and most absurd contracts will be gone and every team will have to face the same restictions like they've always been. But the Durant signing can't be undone. I think Thompson and Green will take pay cuts to make the continuation of this Warriors dynasty possible and I think they absolutely should.

[PhoSita]

Fully agree. I'm not over it either. Not sure I ever will.

Such a pathetic cowardly move by Durant. Unbelievable.

Sounds to me like you should be mad at the players association, if anybody, for not agreeing to cap smoothing.

You can't blame the player or the franchise for taking advantage of a situation that allowed them to gain a huge competitive advantage over all comers.

Blame the league for allowing that situation to be possible.

[KGs Knee]

I fully support Kevin Durant choosing to join GSW, he was the player that put them over the top and allowed them to beat a fully healthy Cavs team last year (remember the Cavs won the year prior and probably would have won again if not for KD joining GSW).

People who hate on KD for joining the Warriors sound jealous more than anything.

I'm glad he did join them, it will just make the Celtics beating them next year even more satisfying.  Also, super teams are good for the NBA's bottom line, and I like when they exist, even if it's not my team.

[Big333223]

Subscribed, liked, and TP for the video.

But I don't really agree. First, I think the dominance of the Warriors is overstated. They're obviously great but in just their second year they almost got beat by the Rockets who lost Chris Paul for the last 2 games and Cleveland really should've won Game 1. I think a relatively healthy Celtic team beats them next year. After that, the pay cuts these guys take would have to be insane to continue to stay together. I think it breaks up within the next 3 seasons.

Second, sports talking heads always preach winning is the only thing that matters and fans always complain that stars make too much money and should take pay cuts for the better of the team. Well, Durant took a pay cut to go somewhere he has the best chance of winning. It doesn't bother me.

Yeah a lot of people seem to be referencing the Rockets as proof the Warriors are beatable.  I just don't see it.  In a 7 game series the most talented team generally finds a way to win.  I don't consider the 2008 Atlanta Hawks our equals just because they took us to 7 games.  Likewise, I don't consider the 2012 Philly team that took us to 7 games in Round 2 (they were the 8th seed) our equals - nor do I consider the 2012 Celtics an actual contender despite taking Miami to 7... but nonetheless...  It's tough to say considering Chris Paul got hurt, but I fully expected the Warriors to get it together and win that series.  The last couple games weren't close.  And again, you can blame that on the Chris Paul injury.  I think those last two games wouldn't have been close no matter what.  Golden State is historically stacked.

On the second point, I don't know if you watched my video all the way through but I posed a hypothetical at the end.  If taking a paycut to join a winner is ok, are you fine with LeBron hypothetically joining the Warriors for the vet minimum this Summer?  Technically there is nothing preventing him from doing it.  He'd be the MVP of the team over Durant and Steph.  He'd win a lot of championships.  He'd probably surpass Jordan.  Would you credit LeBron with those championships and chalk up his successes as valid in the record books?

There's 2 questions there. The first one, I would be ok with Lebron joining the Warriors for the vet minimum. Whatever weird taste that kind of move would leave in my mouth would be greatly outweighed by the hilarity of Lebron James making the vet minimum and getting to watch he, Durant, Curry, and Draymond all try to be involved in the offense.

The second part, about crediting Lebron with those championships: everything needs context, right? The Celtics championship in '76 isn't viewed quite the same way the '86 title is, is it? Robert Horry winning 7 rings isn't thought of as better than Moses Malone winning 1, given their positions on the team. If Lebron were to go there for 3 years and win 3 more rings, he will have had to beat other good teams to get there so he will have earned it the same way any champion earns their ring. But if won't be thought of the same way, for sure.

Especially because Lebron taking the minimum isn't the same thing as Durant leaving a couple of million on the table.

[jambr380]

Great stuff, LB! Glad to see you sticking around CB even after the Philly series. Looking forward to your next video 

[green_bballers13]

I took a bunch of ambien and woke up to a 13 minute video rant on why I'm still salty about Kevin Durant's decision:  https://youtu.be/4DSUEnBclQ8

Really need the Big 5 Celtics (Kyrie/Brown/Hayward/Tatum/Horford) to stop them next year

Nice video. I love the passion and well thought out. I just don't agree. For KD to become a top 5 player in NBA history, he's going to need to win 4+ rings. He has 1 with Golden State and is about to get a second. In the previous 9 years, he won 0 times. He wanted to win quickly, and he can win 5 in a row if he and Curry stay in the zone. I don't blame a great player for wanting to play with great players. GS was his best chance to win 4+ championships in a row.

[Beat LA]

You sound like Donnie Wahlberg .

thanks

Forgot to mention that I also found your pronunciation of Draymond as "Dray-minned" to be particularly amusing, hehe .

[tarheelsxxiii]

3:06 : "I went through tha wiki..."  Lol.

Well done, LB.  I blame KD less for his move now than before.  He seems like a decent human being, I appreciate the camaraderie he seems to have developed with Curry, and it's hard to envision other guys not leaping at the same opportunity. 

I appreciate what GS has created too.  They were a juggernaut without KD, built on as much acumen as fortune.  They've created the winning model for the league, and Boston is the frontrunner in copying it.  Makes me think they've honestly deserved the reward of the cap spike and KD.   And if healthy, Boston should be very competitive with them next year.

So we're all winners in my book.  Even Sully and his 14 bastahds.