Stephen A. Smith had one final warning for Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
“You wanted this. Now you’ve got it.”
True enough, Durant clearly wanted nothing more than this, to be in true contention for the thing that has eluded him for a decade now, an NBA championship. After signing a two-year contract with the Golden State Warriors, the biggest free agency move since LeBron James headed to Miami in 2010, Durant put a huge target on his back and morphed overnight into the biggest NBA villain in recent memory.
A day after the highly publicized signing, we wrote this about him:
“Let’s get the obvious out of the way. By acquiring Kevin Durant, this Golden State Warriors are again the heavy favorites to win the NBA Championship. There’s no point in debating how easy it would be for them to bulldoze their way into the Finals.”
A few months later and here we are, with the Warriors all done in their bulldozing campaign in the playoffs that netted them an unscathed 12-0 record, the best since the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers. The regular season became their drill sessions and the playoffs became their scrimmages. Essentially, they destroyed the spirit of competitive basketball, even more so than the 2008 Boston Celtics or the 2011 Miami Heat.
The main difference Durant had that set him apart from the super-teams formed before him was the lack of shame behind the whole thing. Yeah, let’s call it that. The Celtics had to deplete their entire roster – 7 players and cash, to be exact – to trade for Kevin Garnett. The Heat were a 47-35 third-seeded team who lost in the first round of the playoffs before they acquired James. The Warriors, meanwhile, wrapped up a historic 73-9 season with an equally historic collapse in the finals before Durant came around knocking.
Kevin Durant, whose Oklahoma City Thunder also blew a 3-1 lead to the Warriors in the Western Conference finals, gave true homage to the saying “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” He not only left Oklahoma City without a championship but he left a perfect Thunder revenge story rotting on the table to join the very team that trumped them out.
Understandably, the backlash is stronger now than it was back when the world was first stunned by his decision.
But here he is now, playing the most efficient and complete basketball in his life with postseason averages of 25.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 blocks on a sterling 56% shooting and 42% 3PT shooting. All the carrying he has done for the Thunder has been replaced with unmatched expectations from fans and haters alike. No one needs the title right now more than Kevin Durant, not even the defending champions. Because if the Cavaliers lose, that’s just how things are honestly supposed to turn out.
With a disgustingly strong roster behind him, Durant is just supposed to win – no excuses. Anything less is a huge and laughable embarrassment, not just for himself or his team, but for the sport of basketball as a whole. He didn’t douse all manner of competitive fire from other teams only to still lose in the end.
Kevin Durant, the floor is yours. Time to dance. – Rappler.com
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