Brief Keef
Superstar
yall wouldnt have DuFlockaRant and Boogie right now either if that didnt happen
We've SWEPT the 3-1 jokes away, NOW WE SMELL LIKE CHAMPAGNE AGAIN(OFFICIAL WARRIORS 18-19 THREAD)
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I'm not a GSW fan.yall wouldnt have DuFlockaRant and Boogie right now either if that didnt happen
But good for them
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
Likewise.
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
that clickbait headline.. this is nothing we don't already know, but they try to pass off the article like they have some new information.
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
It doesn't really say anything new or of note, more (IMO) click-bait stuff. I hope KD stays and I think based on some of his previous comments (especially the "they're going to build statues of us at the Chase Center...") that his plan is to be here. However, if he leaves, I won't be upset.....We got 2 and counting with him, I'll take it.
On Day 8 of Kevin Durant’s media silence, the superstar small forward demonstrated an impressive burst of speed, right off the completion of an intensive workout. KD cruised across the practice floor as two Warriors public-relations officials beseeched him to turn back. Reporters had gathered with intent to ask questions of a man who’d gone underground concurrent with loud rumors of a New York Knicks future. The Warriors know how this looks and want KD answering questions rather than dragging this out. Instead, Durant shook his head as the PR officials flanked him. He easily split the double team, dodging through the doors of the glass-walled weight room. His pursuers lost him somewhere between kettlebells and a hex bar. KD had left the building.
The only other time this season where Durant has made himself scarce was after the famous Nov. 12 spat with Draymond Green. Since then, tensions have cooled. The issue is that such tensions likely had little to do with Durant’s future, which, as Draymond indicated back then, was probably already a fait accompli. And that was all before the Knicks used a 7-foot-3 Latvian as their battering ram for cracking open a giant-sized pocket of salary-cap space. The Knicks might have a poor free agency track record, but nobody in the know says they did this blithely. To reference the season that just ended, this looks more like a timing route than a Hail Mary.
Let us be frank, with the caveat that the choice lives inside the head of one guy who can and does change his mind: Insiders around the league think Kevin Durant is leaving the Warriors for the Knicks. Most people within the Warriors either think Durant is leaving or profess not to know one way or the other. His teammates recognize this reality, can handle it and merely want one outcome: Win a championship, absent too much drama. The main concern, at the moment, is whether he’ll commit in the short term to what he may have already left in the long term.
With Durant, the open book nobody can read, it’s hard to know what exactly happens next. Last playoffs, when it looked like the season was slipping away early in both Western Conference finals elimination games, KD looked disconnected from the action, floating on defense and getting shoved out of the way for rebounds. Eventually, he woke up at end of Game 7 and closed the door on the Rockets. After that, he dominated another Finals. His vicissitudes don’t map neatly onto ready-made “clutch” or “choker” narratives. He’s often an assassin in the tensest of moments, and other times fades from view, inexplicably.
Some teammates believe that his biggest successes are indivisible from what currently ails. Or moreover, the reception of such successes. Sources say that Durant believed his besting of LeBron James in the 2017 Finals would get him hailed as the game’s top player, a mantle he’s craved for some time. While LeBron averaged a 33.6 point-per-game triple-double in that Finals, Durant was superior defensively and hit the series’ biggest shot right in the King’s face.
Instead, there was no grand reordering of rankings, and only so much credit to be had for a dominant playoff run. KD, who was “tired of being second” way back in 2013, was still stuck there reputationally, even in ultimate victory. He was still behind LeBron in the eyes of pundits, basketball Twitter, and perhaps most importantly, at Nike, who’s employed Durant longer than any team. Then, the next Finals unfolded in much the same way, with much the same result, all while Warriors fans cheered loudest for the smaller MVP’s baskets.
Whatever KD caught might be going around. The league is currently replete with superstar angst, guys with one foot in decent situations and another foot in the possibilities of some distant city. Even when guaranteed more money with the home team, grass in other pastures looks greener than the promised cash. It’s all prologue to what is, now, on its face, an incongruous situation of a team clicking as its free-agent superstar broods. The Warriors are rolling, having won 12 of their last 13. The return of DeMarcus Cousins has brought good cheer to many, yet Durant appears to outwardly sulk. Beyond the exasperated on-court gesticulations and media avoidance, he’s made a habit of drifting far from the huddle during timeouts, electing to stand alone by the stanchion.
It’s quite the power huddle he’s standing apart from. With Cousins, the Warriors have effectively amassed an All-Star team as their starting lineup. While Cousins likely cannot be retained, this team’s future would remain bright for as long as Durant commits to it. At bottom, the Warriors would open up Chase Center with a core that can win titles for years to come. This is not the 2014 Miami Heat, who were reliant on a deteriorating Dwyane Wade. When your stars can shoot, they tend to age better.
Sources say teammates would understand if KD left what looks like perfection. It’s just a harder sell to the public writ large. What’s the PR-friendly reason for leaving a favorite that appears primed to reign for ages? KD’s catch-22, or catch-35 if you will: He’ll likely be criticized for ring avoidance by the same people who ripped him for ring chasing. None of this would be a problem if Durant tuned out criticism, but few are better known for bathing their own wounds in salt.
In speaking to Warriors’ brass, you can detect a calm about the situation that belies its stakes. This is because there’s not much the Warriors can do right now. There’s a comfort in that. It’s a silver lining in a time of stress for multiple teams, as others cobble together trade ideas under significant time pressure and publicity. Given contract constraints, the Warriors can’t trade Durant even if they wanted to. Both parties know each other well enough by now. If KD wants to leave, there isn’t some magical cinematic pitch that will reverse that choice. The only option is to wait on his decision and prepare for the worst.
The Warriors have already made their choice. They want KD. They’d love if he decided to stay for longer, but can appreciate what he gave up to this point. If it all goes down as Draymond predicted back in November, it still will have been a hell of a ride. If this is the final Durant season for the Warriors, they just wish it to be more of a last hurrah than a painful divorce. In that, just as he does with his upcoming free agency, KD holds all the cards.
The only other time this season where Durant has made himself scarce was after the famous Nov. 12 spat with Draymond Green. Since then, tensions have cooled. The issue is that such tensions likely had little to do with Durant’s future, which, as Draymond indicated back then, was probably already a fait accompli. And that was all before the Knicks used a 7-foot-3 Latvian as their battering ram for cracking open a giant-sized pocket of salary-cap space. The Knicks might have a poor free agency track record, but nobody in the know says they did this blithely. To reference the season that just ended, this looks more like a timing route than a Hail Mary.
Let us be frank, with the caveat that the choice lives inside the head of one guy who can and does change his mind: Insiders around the league think Kevin Durant is leaving the Warriors for the Knicks. Most people within the Warriors either think Durant is leaving or profess not to know one way or the other. His teammates recognize this reality, can handle it and merely want one outcome: Win a championship, absent too much drama. The main concern, at the moment, is whether he’ll commit in the short term to what he may have already left in the long term.
With Durant, the open book nobody can read, it’s hard to know what exactly happens next. Last playoffs, when it looked like the season was slipping away early in both Western Conference finals elimination games, KD looked disconnected from the action, floating on defense and getting shoved out of the way for rebounds. Eventually, he woke up at end of Game 7 and closed the door on the Rockets. After that, he dominated another Finals. His vicissitudes don’t map neatly onto ready-made “clutch” or “choker” narratives. He’s often an assassin in the tensest of moments, and other times fades from view, inexplicably.
Some teammates believe that his biggest successes are indivisible from what currently ails. Or moreover, the reception of such successes. Sources say that Durant believed his besting of LeBron James in the 2017 Finals would get him hailed as the game’s top player, a mantle he’s craved for some time. While LeBron averaged a 33.6 point-per-game triple-double in that Finals, Durant was superior defensively and hit the series’ biggest shot right in the King’s face.
Instead, there was no grand reordering of rankings, and only so much credit to be had for a dominant playoff run. KD, who was “tired of being second” way back in 2013, was still stuck there reputationally, even in ultimate victory. He was still behind LeBron in the eyes of pundits, basketball Twitter, and perhaps most importantly, at Nike, who’s employed Durant longer than any team. Then, the next Finals unfolded in much the same way, with much the same result, all while Warriors fans cheered loudest for the smaller MVP’s baskets.
Whatever KD caught might be going around. The league is currently replete with superstar angst, guys with one foot in decent situations and another foot in the possibilities of some distant city. Even when guaranteed more money with the home team, grass in other pastures looks greener than the promised cash. It’s all prologue to what is, now, on its face, an incongruous situation of a team clicking as its free-agent superstar broods. The Warriors are rolling, having won 12 of their last 13. The return of DeMarcus Cousins has brought good cheer to many, yet Durant appears to outwardly sulk. Beyond the exasperated on-court gesticulations and media avoidance, he’s made a habit of drifting far from the huddle during timeouts, electing to stand alone by the stanchion.
It’s quite the power huddle he’s standing apart from. With Cousins, the Warriors have effectively amassed an All-Star team as their starting lineup. While Cousins likely cannot be retained, this team’s future would remain bright for as long as Durant commits to it. At bottom, the Warriors would open up Chase Center with a core that can win titles for years to come. This is not the 2014 Miami Heat, who were reliant on a deteriorating Dwyane Wade. When your stars can shoot, they tend to age better.
Sources say teammates would understand if KD left what looks like perfection. It’s just a harder sell to the public writ large. What’s the PR-friendly reason for leaving a favorite that appears primed to reign for ages? KD’s catch-22, or catch-35 if you will: He’ll likely be criticized for ring avoidance by the same people who ripped him for ring chasing. None of this would be a problem if Durant tuned out criticism, but few are better known for bathing their own wounds in salt.
In speaking to Warriors’ brass, you can detect a calm about the situation that belies its stakes. This is because there’s not much the Warriors can do right now. There’s a comfort in that. It’s a silver lining in a time of stress for multiple teams, as others cobble together trade ideas under significant time pressure and publicity. Given contract constraints, the Warriors can’t trade Durant even if they wanted to. Both parties know each other well enough by now. If KD wants to leave, there isn’t some magical cinematic pitch that will reverse that choice. The only option is to wait on his decision and prepare for the worst.
The Warriors have already made their choice. They want KD. They’d love if he decided to stay for longer, but can appreciate what he gave up to this point. If it all goes down as Draymond predicted back in November, it still will have been a hell of a ride. If this is the final Durant season for the Warriors, they just wish it to be more of a last hurrah than a painful divorce. In that, just as he does with his upcoming free agency, KD holds all the cards.
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
I find myself analyzing pics recently and wondering why KD be the only one that don't be smiling
LOL! Don't get caught up breh. The media is trying to make KD an issue.....I honestly don't think he's leaving, but if he does it will work out. But he's said a number of things that (IMO) point to him re-signing with us. The Chase/Statue thing, the "we're going to be Bay Area legends" comment from that same article, wanting to make the most money possible, etc.....
I don't think he's going anywhere, but I do think he's still hurt (feelings) by what Dray said and he's a little stand-offish right now. But I believe we're going to be fine (and KD stays).