Disagree with ESPN superstar system used by Stephen Smith Commentary

[NHHillbilly]

Stephen Smith called Durant's decision to go to Golden State Warriors "the weakest move by a superstar ever" ... "I don't think there is any way to deny that.."  "He ran away from the challenge that he faces ... to jump on a bandwagon."
I think that the value system that Smith uses to judge Durant is a nebulous creation of the media that has more to do with comic books than real life.
The superstar system only values the unique talent of individuals and the way they impress their will on the game. 
I think that Durant wants to be part of a team that plays team basketball and not be the hero atlas trying to beat a whole team by himself.
The bandwagon that is Golden State is not just the talent of the players:  it is how they play, how they enjoy playing basketball, being good teammates, and how the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  One could argue that Durant-Westbrook are more talented than Curry-Green-Thompson, but it is not just talent that wins:  it is playing the right way as a team that wins.
Celtics are headed in the right direction with team building and having a winning culture.  No shame in being 2nd or 3rd choice for Durant.  Picking Curry, Thompson, Green over Smart, Bradley, and Crowder as teammates makes a lot of sense.

[guava_wrench]

GS won the previous year and set the wins record this season. Don't try to romanticize his move. He wanted guaranteed wins. Plain and simple. I don't blame him, but there is nothing noble about that.

[makaveli]

all true, but common man, where's the fun in that. the whole world was behind GSW and hoping they would win every game, now the whole world will be against them just to see Durrant fall, but hey, they don't care about that.
he should have stayed in OKC or joined us.

[passesofftodj]

PLAYED, not play.  They'll be losing their size, depth, and lead assistant coach.  It will be a superstar team.  Do you really think Durant is going to just be Barnes?

[knuckleballer]

I agree with Smith here.  Whatever happened to wanting to beat the best?  Kevin Coward should be his name going forward.

[Who]

Durant is a spineless coward.

Stephen A Smith is dead on with his commentary.

[jpotter33]

I agree with Smith here.  Whatever happened to wanting to beat the best?  Kevin Coward should be his name going forward.

Durant apparently felt that way towards everyone joining Miami and LA, but not himself joining GS. There's a word for that - hypocrite.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Durant is a spineless coward.

Stephen A Smith is dead on with his commentary.

This.

[TheFlex]

Durant is a spineless coward.

Stephen A Smith is dead on with his commentary.

Couldn't agree more.

[CelticSooner]

Listening to Spears talk about his conversation with Durant I was disgusted. Dude apparently was all giddy and couldn't come off more of a beta. What Spears said about Curry showed him out to be beta as well. Throwing out the term unselfish doesn't work in this situation when your MVP of the league.

[MBunge]

And it needs to be emphasized that as much as LeBron was looking for an easy way out by creating a super team in Miami, he was trying to build something new.  Durant is flatly trying to bandwagon his way to a ring with someone else's team.

Mike

[Monkhouse]

Curry and Durant aren't leaders of their respective teams or alpha dogs.

They clearly can't lead by example, so what better than to go join one of the most stacked teams in NBA history, just so you can prove a point that you can win championships by being a force of nature?

[jpotter33]

And it needs to be emphasized that as much as LeBron was looking for an easy way out by creating a super team in Miami, he was trying to build something new.  Durant is flatly trying to bandwagon his way to a ring with someone else's team.

Mike

Yep. It's a sad, sad day when Celtics fans are having to line up to defend Lebron's actions.

[knuckleballer]

And it needs to be emphasized that as much as LeBron was looking for an easy way out by creating a super team in Miami, he was trying to build something new.  Durant is flatly trying to bandwagon his way to a ring with someone else's team.

Mike

Yup.  What Lebron did was lame.  This is lame times ten.  It is ouright cowardly, anti-competitive, and hypocritical.

I hope Kevin Coward scores less than 20 per game and mopes when he doesn't finish in the top ten in MVP voting.

[Kane3387]

Nike was behind both of lebrons decision and Kevin Durants. In both cases they made decisions to take the easiest possible route to win rings. Why? Nike sells champions. Nike is their biggest piece of revenue. Nike is ultimately their bosses. These guys want to be relevant just like Jordan far after their careers are over. Nike can provide that if you win rings. Nike can also market you to max and make tons of more money off you internationally if you win rings too.