Kevin Durant failed again...#nba
There were two players in my mind with the most to lose these playoffs. Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant, because for KD specifically, he’s got what he wanted, he got a winning culture on the Suns, he got the star teammates. And they were healthy. But not the result.
Kevin Durant started his career winning 4 scoring titles in his first 6 seasons, he was on path to be potentially the GOAT and after becoming the villain by joining the Warriors, what he’s done in the past 5 years has only hurt his legacy. I have never seen a player this talented fail repeatedly like this. The situation has changed, but like I said, he still has one choice remaining after all the failure, all the drama and if he takes it, there’s a chance of redemption. So I think it’s time to look at the 3 pieces on why Durant has failed, will continue to fail, and how he could fix it because otherwise, we are seeing the slow downfall of one of the greatest players in history *right in front of our very eyes.*
So when KD was done with the BS, done with the state of the Nets that he was partially responsible for, he demanded a trade 1 year after signing a 4 year contract. And the teams on his list, the Heat or Suns, two teams where he would still be the clear number 1 but also now with established cultures, two teams that had just recently been to the NBA finals.
But maybe bro didn’t realize that getting traded to a team typically means decimating their assets? So when he got traded to the Suns they were not the same team that made the finals. But that didn’t stop the entire NBA world from collectively losing their minds.
So they said let’s get Bradley Beal who has only played 58% of his games in the past 3 years.
Here are all the scoring champions in NBA history and here are all the ones that won a championship in the same year. Only 5 players since 1947 have managed to win the scoring title and NBA championship in the same year.
Including Michael Jordan 6 times…but only 11 times in over 75 years so scoring isn’t the end all.
So where do we go from here? What does Kevin Durant do?
The Suns are frustrated, because they threw their entire future for Kevin Durant. Mikhal Bridges, Cam Johnson, 4 first round picks. And it only gets worse.
To get Beal, they traded CP3, Shamet, 4 first round pick swaps and 6 second round picks. The Suns don’t have assets to make moves.
And to make matters worse, the Suns can not do anything this offseason. The Suns have $150 million committed to just Durant, Booker, and Beal. That alone is more than the total payroll of 14 other teams. Bradley Beal has a no trade clause which leaves the Suns with nothing.
But the solution is staring at KD right in the face, Piece #3. But we need to go back to 2011 to see it.
The Heat brought together the most insane, villainous big three together. LeBron, Wade, and Bosh, they were supposed to run through the league, how many rings are you going to win LeBron? They dominated until the NBA finals where it all fell apart.
But instead of blowing it up, instead of trying to add another star, the players and coach looked at themselves and how to improve. Erik Spoelstra went to Oregon college head coach Chip Kelly and learned an entire new offense that included a revolutionary idea, running Chris Bosh at the 5. It was the spread offense and Bosh worked on 3s the entire summer to add it to his arsenal to space the floor. LeBron and Wade figured out ball handling responsibilities. And went on to win 2 straight championships. *The moral of the story, teams need time to gel, but Durant hasn’t let that happen.*
Only if the players give up will this team be done. And the problem for the past 4 years has been that KD has given up on his team without even 2 full seasons in place. Durant is 35, the average age of retirement of stars is 34. I understand the need to do it quickly, but it’s not about taking accountability, it’s about giving yourself the best chance to win. We live in a world today filled with immediate gratification, with everything at our fingertips, but that approach doesn’t work for basketball. *Cut the noise and go off.*
29 апр 2024
