“The Snake”
After leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant shocked most NBA fans by signing with the Golden State Warriors. This sent shock waves throughout the basketball world, immediately causing an uproar of hate on social media. Of all days, he chose to announce his independence from OKC and Westbrook on the 4th of July.
Taking away from celebrating the independence of our country, the day was no longer a celebration of the country and more of a debate and argument of one of the most shocking moves in sports history. This was a selfish and ignorant move by KD, he eliminated the possibility of equal competition in the NBA, he joined what was already the most talented team in Golden State, and decided to join the team who beat him the previous season instead of staying in Oklahoma City or going somewhere else so he could beat the Warriors.
The NBA is no longer competitive, the Cavaliers and Warriors are almost guaranteed to meet in the Finals
Golden State was already the most talented team in the NBA, with three all stars and quality members on the bench. Coming off of a 73 win season, they did not need another star to contend for championships. They were already unstoppable on both sides of the ball, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are easily some of the greatest shooters in NBA history. Once they get on a shooting streak, they are deadly from deep and are nearly unstoppable to stop. On defense, the 2017 Defensive Player of the year Draymond Green is versatile enough to guard anybody on the court. Javale Mcgee has added dominant shot blocking to contest talented scorers in the west.
The Warriors had three all stars in Curry, Thompson, and Green. Adding Durant led them to the 2017 Championship with a 16-1 record. This is the best playoff record in NBA history. Their are teams in the West such as the Trailblazers and Spurs that would contend in the East for the finals, and were already being swept by the Dubs. Adding Durant made it even easier for Golden State, they have gone 29-6 in the playoffs. They are such a dominant team, it makes it way too predictable each season since Golden State is almost a sure bet to reach the finals.
This year is the fourth consecutive year the Warriors and Cavaliers meet in the Finals. Before these teams met and the two years of the Heat and Spurs different teams met in the Finals every year since 1998. This made for intriguing competition, and even though teams such as the Bulls and Lakers made it often, it wasn’t the same teams in the Finals every year boring fans and making the NBA predictable.
If you can’t beat them, join them
In 2015, Kevin Durant was in the playoffs with the Oklahoma City Thunder. They faced the Warriors and were up three games to one. Golden State went on to win the series in game seven, and win the Finals defeating Cleveland. To join the team that just beat you just so you can almost guarantee yourself a championship is selfish and ignorant. Instead of joining another team such as San Antonio or the Clippers to beat the Warriors and gain revenge, take the easy way out and join three all stars to form an unfair amount of talent in Oakland. The Thunder still had Westbrook, and if they could’ve signed another star they could have a chance to beat the Warriors.
The Warriors are so much more talented than every other NBA team. Them winning the title was almost obvious. Championships are supposed to be difficult. You beat the top teams to win it all. The saying if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best applies here. Instead of trying to beat the best team to win a title, KD decided to just take a ring. Can you really feel like the best team without beating the best team?
This championship will have an asterisk next to it for Durant. He won but did he really win? Jordan faced Jazz teams with Malone and Stockton, and battled with the Pistons to earn his six rings. LeBron came back from 3-1 to bring Cleveland a championship. Durant joined the NBA version of the Harlem Globetrotters. The team that always wins and is significantly better than their opponents.
You don’t have to be on a superteam to win the Finals
The 2013 Spurs are a great example of this. Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker were still great players, but were no longer superstars and past their primes. The only player that was a star was Kawhi Leonard. But together, the group as a whole had enough to knock out LeBron and the Heat. Instead of stars like Curry and Durant, they won with quality players like Danny Green and Patty Mills.
The 2006 Miami Heat had a superstar in Dwayne Wade, and an aging Shaq. Other than Gary Payton who was towards ending his career, no one on the Heat roster made an all star team. It is very possible to win a championship without a super team. Kevin Durant could have won a championship with the Thunder, or went to another powerhouse like Houston or the Celtics to beat the Warriors. The championship was more important than revenge. By heading to Golden State, he made the entire NBA season not important, since the Warriors and Cavs are bound to be in the finals.
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