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Words of a 24 year old who had years of prime left on a great team thinking he had plenty of time to win a ring, not a 30 year old who has watched the majority of his best years go by with nothing to show for it.

 

When he retires, do you think he's going to look at the rings he might win and think "man, I know I put in years of my life into these, but man, I should have done it in a harder way?" Nobody wants to be Karl Malone, the "great player who never got a ring". It sucks. 

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When Payton finally won a ring in 2006 nobody cared. It wasn't his team. He was an afterthought on a team with Shaq and Wade. But at least he knew he was past his prime and he helped any way that he could. 

All these excuses you are dreaming up hold no water. Durant is still in his prime and still a top 5 player in the league and now he's joining a 73-win team. Winning a title on Golden State changes nothing. He'll still be the guy who failed to do it against LeBron and Curry.  LeBron is very aware of what his legacy would have been if he just stayed put in Miami.

Durant claimed to be a competitor and this goes against what he previously said. Joining a record-breaking team is not being competitive.

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3 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

When Payton finally won a ring in 2006 nobody cared. It wasn't his team. He was an afterthought on a team with Shaq and Wade. But at least he knew he was past his prime and he helped any way that he could. 

All these excuses you are dreaming up hold no water. Durant is still in his prime and still a top 5 player in the league and now he's joining a 73-win team. Winning a title on Golden State changes nothing. He'll still be the guy who failed to do it against LeBron and Curry.  LeBron is very aware of what his legacy would have been if he just stayed put in Miami.

Durant claimed to be a competitor and this goes against what he previously said. Joining a record-breaking team is not being competitive.

The difference is, not many people (myself included) even remember Payton was on that Heat team.

If Golden State win this year, Durant will be a prominent factor, if not the primary one.

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Once more: Who gives a shit about legacy? If Durant stays in OKC, plays out his entire career there and doesn't win a title, he's STILL "The guy who failed to beat LeBron and Curry". And, furthermore, who thinks about players that way? Does anyone here think of Karl Malone and John Stockton as "really good players, but fuck em, couldn't beat the Bulls." I don't think so.

 

And, here's the thing about Payton in 2006: HE CARED. He wanted a ring. Because he's a competitor, and at the end of the day, the name of the game is "win a title" not "win a title, but, you know, make sure your team isn't too good or else I'll look bad". 

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I still want to know how chasing a ring is the opposite of "being a competitor".

"Oh man, I'd love to win a title, but I can't contradict a six year old tweet. Oh well."

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Lebron going to Miami ended up being the right move imo; easy way out or not.  I can't only imagine the Cleveland years if he had stayed.

As for the next year, you still got to play the games, man.  Yeah, on paper, they're clearly the most talent starting 5 (Iggy isn't probably starting but still), but it hasn't even been two weeks since the 73-9 team who people legitimately pencil in winning the championship the whole season lost a 3-1 lead to the team who was getting nothing but roasted by most media and fans throughout the year.  Shit happens.  Things change fast.  Of course, I would bet on them being great next season, but I'm not sure I would take that next bet on both Durant and Curry's bodies holding up all season.

I'm glad this happen because it makes the NBA more interesting and dramatic  to me.  All this huffing and puffing from people about the death of the NBA because superteam killing small market teams (sounds familiar and shout out to Cleveland), and even some saying they are done watching it anymore will likely be the first people ready to tweet and have their mocking memes ready to go when the Warriors go on any losing streak.  Sport fans like watching the supposed it "bad guy/team" fail.  Maybe even more than they like being self-righteous about players.  You can book the highest ratings in years if the Cavs and Warriors face each other again in the Finals.

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Just now, Lawful Metal said:

Isn't Harrison Barnes a RFA? Can't GS match Dallas's offer and bring him back?

Jesus.

 

Yes but no. They'll need the space for KD.

 

Celtics fans: been playing on the trade machine: would you give up Thomas and Johnson and a generous picks package for Westbrook?

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Bird wouldn't have left the Celtics and joined the Lakers. Go watch the Magic and Bird documentary. The name of the game was to be the best and to be the best you had to beat the best. You didn't lose to Magic and then go join him.  

Jordan didn't want to join the Pistons. He wanted to beat them.

Before someone says "yeah but free agency blah blah".  No, these guys were competitors.   Fuck, Kobe wanted to run Shaq out of town and did so successfully because he wanted to be the man. then he won two more titles.

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It's easy to say that when you're on the Celtics and the Lakers, though. What about all those great players from that era who weren't and are largely overlooked?

Too much focus on the player and not enough on the organization here. Thunder weren't willing to do what LeBron and Curry's teams were to win. If they were, Durant would still be there and probably would have a title by now.

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5 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

Bird wouldn't have left the Celtics and joined the Lakers. Go watch the Magic and Bird documentary. The name of the game was to be the best and to be the best you had to beat the best. You didn't lose to Magic and then go join him.  

Jordan didn't want to join the Pistons. He wanted to beat them.

That's great. Larry Bird had won an NBA title before at around age 25. Magic had won two titles in his first 3 seasons. It's a lot easier to make the decision to want to stay with your team when you have already won titles there. Also, it's the damned Celtics and Lakers, were the heck else were they gonna go?

 

As for Jordan, 2 titles before his 30th birthday, and also the best supporting cast you can ask for. 

 

Also, the "past players didn't do it" argument would hold more water if you would name players who made big statements who DIDN'T win a title at some point. Malone went to the Lakers to try to get himself a ring, because it's about the fucking ring.

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6 minutes ago, Charlie M. said:

It's easy to say that when you're on the Celtics and the Lakers, though. What about all those great players from that era who weren't and are largely overlooked?

Too much focus on the player and not enough on the organization here.

So what Thunder are a shitty organization. Durant could have gone to any team in the league and he chooses a team that broke records.  Nobody has ever done something like that. Only LeBron's decision is comparable and even that's a stretch.

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5 minutes ago, El Dragon said:

Also, the "past players didn't do it" argument would hold more water if you would name players who made big statements who DIDN'T win a title at some point. Malone went to the Lakers to try to get himself a ring, because it's about the fucking ring.

Yes, when he was past his prime and wanted to be a role player.  MVP Karl Malone didn't do that.  So no. It's not just about the ring. Malone and Stockton competed for years. Malone didn't have much left in the tank at all when he went to LA.

 

Durant had more than enough in OKC to win by the way. It's ridiculous that you are trying to downplay the talent he had around him there.

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He had Scott Brooks playing Kendrick Perkins. He had a guy who had never coached in the NBA. He had ownership who traded away James Harden because they didn't want to pay the luxury tax. They brought in such wonderful names as Derek Fisher and Anthony Morrow to play crunch time minutes.

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1 hour ago, _MJ_ said:

I don't see KD ending up as with the Lakers.  Didn't even take a meeting with them and he's already in California now.

I'm not sure the Westbrook show in OKC is going to be pretty or last long.  We saw a preview of it when Durant when down, and Thunder fell fast.  Westbrook is a free agent after next season so OKC management will be desperate if they start slow next season.  Maybe even open to trading him if it gets real bad.

 

The Thunder fell fast because in fairness, Westbrook was out 16 games or so too when the season started, and the Thunder had to play catch-up all year after a 4-12 start.  Thunder still was able to win 45 games that year thanks to Westbrook (only 10 less than this past season.)  

Obviously Thunder aren't contenders anymore, but I still think they are a top 5 West team with what they've got.  

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10 minutes ago, El Dragon said:

I love how you delete the parts of the quote that you have no argument against. Thanks for that.

And of course Malone didn't do it then. He got to play with a HOF PG for most of his career. Why leave what was most likely his best shot at a title? 

What the hell are you talking about? Westbrook is a hall of fame point guard. Steven Adams is one of the best young big men in the league. They just added Oladipo. They were going to be great. This move had nothing to do with not having talent around him. You're lost.

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25 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

So what Thunder are a shitty organization. Durant could have gone to any team in the league and he chooses a team that broke records.  Nobody has ever done something like that. Only LeBron's decision is comparable and even that's a stretch.

To be fair, nobody's ever had the opportunity to do something like this before.

The closest parallel I can think of is Shaq leaving Penny to go to LA.

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No one. No one has ever been in this situation before.

This situation only exists because Steph Curry is so grossly underpaid and the cap jump hitting this year.

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