Much of the fallout from Kevin Durant’s Monday decision to sign with the Golden State Warriors has centered around the new league-wide perception of Durant. The video showing the expressions of the kids was posted on social media by the Warriors.
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Rather they have a strong opinion that Russel Westbrook is the actual reason behind Durant’s decision of leaving Oklahoma City Thunder towards Warriors.
Durant made his announcement on The Players’ Tribune website. Fans seem to want to point to LeBron James joining the Heat and now Kevin Durant going to the Warriors as some novel concept.
However, you can not read him talking about players teaming up and not immediately freak out and ask “But wait, you demanded to be traded to a contender, not once, but twice, first with Phoenix and then again to Houston where you joined Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler”.
Unfortunately, for the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant wouldn’t even grant them a meeting.
“They should feel thankful, grateful”, he said.
For one, Oklahoma City loved Kevin Durant, and Kevin Durant loved Oklahoma City.
Though Barkley is bothered by Durant’s decision to join the best regular-season team in National Basketball Association history, the outspoken broadcaster also understands it, believing players are under unfair pressure to earn a ring to validate their careers. I was disappointed like I was disappointed when LeBron went to Miami.
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The strings he’s pulled to make the Thunder a perennial contender the last half-decade make KD’s departure probably sting a bit more, but you couldn’t tell in his message to reporters yesterday, just hours after Durant bolted for Golden State. But when you all get together and say “let’s dominate the league” and try to cheat your way to a championship…don’t you want to compete? The 2014 MVP led the Thunder to the NBA Finals in 2012, and to the Western Conference Finals in four of the past six years – and he’s only 27. Charles Barkley – a man who famously never won an NBA Championship – thinks Durant is taking a helicopter there. Although they did lose Evan Turner in free agency they should be favored to finish in the top two of the east next year. The Golden State Warriors were already something of a superteam when they won 73 games last season and employed Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. He went to the team that defeated him in the Conference Finals.
