I took all his podcasts in the exact opposite way. I think he's so full of shit and one of the least self aware superstars in sports today. He is unique, I'll give you that, but he's neither sincere nor likable.If anyone has heard the Simmons podcasts with Durant - and if you a sports fan, let alone NBA fan you should - you would know that the guy is pretty unique. Setting aside what he did via social media - mostly because it was a big nothingburger where nobody really got hurt - the guy has been a model NBA citizen. And in the Simmons podcasts, the guy comes off as very thoughtful, sincere and likable.
It's really not. The story here is that he referred to himself in the third person because he's been pretending to be other people while he defends himself on social media.That's one of the most sincere-sounding apologies I've ever heard out of a professional athlete.
It's a slow news cycle for NBA reporters; they have to write about something. But, yeah, it's not the best look for KD. Confirms the common suspicion that he's hypersensitive and can't just enjoy his current situation. LOL, Sam Ray Ban -- KD will still be figuring himself out in his early 30s, his mid-30s, his late-30s, etc.. I've heard that line before.I don't know why the world needs this constant barrage of KD stories but I wish they would stop. Dude you play basketball for a team that can't be beat. Just STFU already.
I don't care how down to earth you are or how much of a flawed superstar you try to portray. You joined a 73 win team you were up 3-1 on months prior, the people who've made up their mind on you aren't changing their minds because you play Xbox and have acne. Take a walk with all this pandering bullshit.
Did you watch the event where he said this or did you just read what was said? Because if you watched the video and came away with that impression then you must think all other athletes are completely full of shit.That's one of the most sincere-sounding apologies I've ever heard out of a professional athlete.
Completely agree. The whole thing is worse because anyone with a fucking shred of common sense could see there would be backlash to this decision. Yet Durant acts completely indignant and blindsided by the whole thing. Its honestly kind of sad and pathetic to watch play outI don't like KD any more or any less due to this, but he comes off as insincere, thin-skinned, and immature. With a proper villain like Kobe I wanted him vanquished on the court in the most demoralizing way possible. For Durant I just want to stop hearing about him and his feelings about leaving OKC for the Warriors. The whole thing is just insufferable.
Yes, I do think most athletes' apologies are full of shit, said for PR purposes without any sort of remorse for their words or actions. I also think people are far too quick to take offense, but such is life for famous athletes. I don't much care whether he thinks highly or otherwise of Oklahoma City, or whether people were offended by his remarks, but he apparently did: I was quick struck by the vehemence and seeming sincerity of his apology.Did you watch the event where he said this or did you just read what was said? Because if you watched the video and came away with that impression then you must think all other athletes are completely full of shit.
It’s pretty obvious that Durant uses burner accounts on all social media platforms. I would also wager a lot of money that the only reason we got that extremely sincere apology was because he got caught red handed.
It's worse than this, tho. He's explicitly come out and stated the prospect of winning a potential championship never even entered into the equation when it came down to him choosing Golden State.Part of this is that Durant has never come out and just said "I went to GS because I wanted to win a championship and playing with them gave me the best chance to do that." He's been beating around that bush for over a year now by offering a bunch of alternative reasons for going to GS, but for most people including myself, they know that the real reason even if Durant never admits it.
I think you are vastly underselling what he did. He didn't tweet "Ya know, OKC just wasn't for me". He effectively said that Billy Donovan sucked as a coach and that the OKC roster apart from Russ was barren. That's pretty dangerous terrain, especially coming from Durant, because since he left OKC he has consistently stuck to the script that OKC had a good team but GS was too good of an opportunity to pass upYes, I do think most athletes' apologies are full of shit, said for PR purposes without any sort of remorse for their words or actions. I also think people are far too quick to take offense, but such is life for famous athletes. I don't much care whether he thinks highly or otherwise of Oklahoma City, or whether people were offended by his remarks, but he apparently did: I was quick struck by the vehemence and seeming sincerity of his apology.
I think you are vastly underselling what he did. He didn't tweet "Ya know, OKC just wasn't for me". He effectively said that Billy Donovan sucked as a coach and that the OKC roster apart from Russ was barren. That's pretty dangerous terrain, especially coming from Durant, because since he left OKC he has consistently stuck to the script that OKC had a good team but GS was too good of an opportunity to pass up
Goodell spoke out today:It's striking how different the NBA and NFL are in their handling of such things. Immediately this morning, multiple NBA players have spoken out supporting Curry, including the league's most famous player in LeBron.
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/09/23/nfl-commissioner-roger-goodell-says-trumps-attacks-show-an-unfortunate-lack-of-respect-for-the-nfl/23220421/NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that Trump's "divisive comments" showed "an unfortunate lack of respect" for the league and players.
"The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture," Goodell said. "There is no better example than the amazing response from our clubs and players to the terrible natural disasters we've experienced over the last month."
100% of NFL owners voted for Trump, as did an overwhelming majority of sponsors and fans, so Goodell can only say so much.Weak response from Goodell.
It's hard to compare the NFL and NBA. The NFL is a militaristic sport with no guaranteed contracts and Trump supporting owners.
The post-LeBron generation of NBA players on the other hand have a lot of power and moral courage.
I don't think any of this is accurate.100% of NFL owners voted for Trump, as did an overwhelming majority of sponsors and fans, so Goodell can only say so much.
Tweet from Don Van Natta:I don't think any of this is accurate.
Only a few owners donated to Trump. A couple donated to Clinton. The rest were pretty silent, and it is very likely that a whole bunch of them did not in fact vote for Trump. Clinton got 2.9 million more votes than Trump.
Hi Kevin!If anyone has heard the Simmons podcasts with Durant - and if you a sports fan, let alone NBA fan you should - you would know that the guy is pretty unique. Setting aside what he did via social media - mostly because it was a big nothingburger where nobody really got hurt - the guy has been a model NBA citizen. And in the Simmons podcasts, the guy comes off as very thoughtful, sincere and likable.
Yeah, Klay's pretty clearly the "fourth wheel" — advanced metrics like RPM suggest as much — but I think advanced metrics with a boxscore component (RPM, e.g.) fail to fully capture the greatness of Klay.Klay also seems like he'd be the easiest player to replace and the least likely to be missed of the big 4. I don't think the team would be that much worse without him. Durant and Curry would pick up more of the offense, they'd just need to find a competent 3 point shooter. Also, where would Klay play in Portland? SF? CJ McCollum is pretty deadly himself. Not to mention they are in cap hell for the foreseeable future.
I mean, the regular season has to be downright boring for these guys. The West also looks like it’ll be pretty competitive this year so they’re not going to be able to sleepwalk to as many wins as in prior years.Maybe an overreaction, but I think the widespread assessment that they were going to cruise to 65+ wins was a little off-base. Study any great team in history and you will find out that most of the time they peak in wins rather early in their run. It's so tough to grind out three or four seasons of going to the finals every season, and also one of the lessons you learn is that the regular season is less important. I would still take them over the field in the playoffs, assuming everyone is healthy, but it wouldn't surprise me if they finished with like, 58 wins and didn't get the number one seed.