Durant may not have had it in him

[celtics2030]

It boggles the mind, especially Celtic Fans who still don't know what went down when KG was traded here to the Celtics.

Some still think he was a Free Agent looking to get big money or get free rings lol. Amazing stuff here on the board. Disappointing at many posters here. Many lost credentials in this thread already.

[guava_wrench]

Durant is not the guy we thought he was. He will forever be known as the guy who aspired to be Scottie Pippen, not Michael Jordan. I hope Golden State fails to the Spurs, probably the only team with a chance. This type of anti-competitive behavior is bad for the NBA.

I never understood how people romanticized him.

[walker834]

It boggles the mind, especially Celtic Fans who still don't know what went down when KG was traded here to the Celtics.

Some still think he was a Free Agent looking to get big money or get free rings lol. Amazing stuff here on the board. Disappointing at many posters here. Many lost credentials in this thread already.

I'm fully aware of what went down.  Are you?  You just lost credibility though.

KG was stuck in Minny and waived his no trade clause to come here once we got ray allen.

Mchale was the GM and wanted jefferson in return and KG was not happy there.

[celtics2030]

It boggles the mind, especially Celtic Fans who still don't know what went down when KG was traded here to the Celtics.

Some still think he was a Free Agent looking to get big money or get free rings lol. Amazing stuff here on the board. Disappointing at many posters here. Many lost credentials in this thread already.

I'm fully aware of what went down.  Are you?  You just lost credibility though.

KG was stuck in Minny and waived his no trade clause to come here once we got ray allen.

Mchale was the GM and wanted jefferson in return and KG was not happy there.

Big differences in both players situations but you wouldn't know that. Honestly I am not going to explain it because I have quit trying to get through people who just don't get it.

[PhoSita]

It's funny how after the Thunder lost in the playoffs people were criticizing Durant for not being a closer, then he signs in Golden State and people criticize him for not wanting to be the man. Maybe the OP is right and he just didn't want to play that role. Maybe he recognized that he could be at his best playing alongside guys who live to take and make daggers.

[LarBrd33]

Durant is possibly the best player in the NBA.  Seriously.  He's incredible. In the right system, he could average 35+ points efficiently while leading a team to a champion.

I almost wonder if playing with Westbrook ruined him.  So many fools started saying Westbrook was better and it was Westbrook's team that maybe durant started believing it.   It wasn't true, though.  Westbrook is a ball hog who has the highest usage rate in the entire league.  He controls the ball, inflates his stats and is pretty inefficiently (something like 150th in the league in TS%).  That team was successful because of durant. He carried them.  Somehow he didn't realize that.   He could have gone to a number of better managed teams and had a better chance of winning a title than he did in Oklahoma.  But somehow the most gifted basketball player alive (arguably) was convinced that he needs to bandwagon onto a 73 win world-beater to ever be successful. 

I lost all respect for durant but part of me feels bad for him.  This must be what Tom cruise's friends felt like when he got conned into Scientology.  You don't need to audit your theatens, kev - you're amazing as is.

[jpotter33]

It's funny how after the Thunder lost in the playoffs people were criticizing Durant for not being a closer, then he signs in Golden State and people criticize him for not wanting to be the man. Maybe the OP is right and he just didn't want to play that role. Maybe he recognized that he could be at his best playing alongside guys who live to take and make daggers.

Then he's just a total waste of God-given talent that millions of young boys yearn for. He has all the tools to be the man to lead a team to the title. He just isn't utilizing them. That's on him.

[walker834]

Bill Russell also refused to play in St Louis and Rochester already had a big man.  The Celtics were too low to draft him at the time.  We were the better situation adn had our sights set on him and were the better organization but were struggling to get over the top and win a championship.  So we traded mccauley to St Louis for the second pick.

[CelticSooner]

It's funny how after the Thunder lost in the playoffs people were criticizing Durant for not being a closer, then he signs in Golden State and people criticize him for not wanting to be the man. Maybe the OP is right and he just didn't want to play that role. Maybe he recognized that he could be at his best playing alongside guys who live to take and make daggers.

I think that is exactly what he did. Regardless both he and Curry dropped a few rungs on my ladder of great players. Killer instinct matters quite a bit to me.

[Celtic_Pride777]

It boggles the mind, especially Celtic Fans who still don't know what went down when KG was traded here to the Celtics.

Some still think he was a Free Agent looking to get big money or get free rings lol. Amazing stuff here on the board. Disappointing at many posters here. Many lost credentials in this thread already.

I'm fully aware of what went down.  Are you?  You just lost credibility though.

KG was stuck in Minny and waived his no trade clause to come here once we got ray allen.

Yup, because KG and Ray Allen were both still in their 20s, and were joining a team that had won a championship in 2006, and had nearly won a second after winning 73 regular season games. Oh yeah, I forgot...we also had the 2-time reigning, unanimous MVP that year too! Yup, it's the same exact thing.

You should have stopped the moment you began to compare Russell to Durant

[walker834]

Durant is no different than Russell or KG is what I'm saying in that regard.  He went west. It happens. They have some good teams out there.

KG was in the same situation and came here.  He waived his no trade clause once we got Ray and we traded him Al J.

Russell was the same thing.  Didn't want to play in St Lous and we were  right on the verge and we traded Mccauley for the 2nd pick to put us over the top. 

What GS did is no different. It's free agency which didnt exist then but it's the same thing.

It does put us at a disadvantage because it's free agency.  He could have come here and been that guy.  He chose there instead.

Danny could have kept adding to that team with KG too but we were stuck in ways because of what the cap was. He ended up trading perk for jeff green.  West was able to unload Bogut and Barnes and get Durant.

[slightly biased bias fan]

Durant is possibly the best player in the NBA.  Seriously.  He's incredible. In the right system, he could average 35+ points efficiently while leading a team to a champion.

I almost wonder if playing with Westbrook ruined him.  So many fools started saying Westbrook was better and it was Westbrook's team that maybe durant started believing it.   It wasn't true, though.  Westbrook is a ball hog who has the highest usage rate in the entire league.  He controls the ball, inflates his stats and is pretty inefficiently (something like 150th in the league in TS%).  That team was successful because of durant. He carried them.  Somehow he didn't realize that.   He could have gone to a number of better managed teams and have a better chance of winning a title than he did in Oklahoma.  But somehow the most gifted basketball player alive (arguably) was convinced that he needs to bandwagon onto a 73 win world-beater to ever be successful. 

I lost all respect for durant but part of me feels bad for him.  This must be what Tom cruise's friends felt like when he conned into Scientology.  You don't need to audit your theatens, kev - you're amazing as is.

100% agree, my heart is still broken and I think it will take months to repair fully, I feel like this will be up there with 2010 finals as something that was right there and was snatched away from us.

Everything was here for Durant to be the leader of the perfect team for him and could have lead a dynasty in his own image for 5-10 years with 2-3 top picks coming in and so many assets.

Maybe he was afraid of more failure and didn't want to end up being a what if guy like Webber or Barkley but he has shifted his own narrative from the loveable sharpshooter to probably the consensus most hated man in the NBA now that Lebron has flipped his own script.

[celtics2030]

You are so wrong I don't even know where to begin. It would be too much.

[walker834]

I'm not wrong.  Different personalities and thought processes have been ingrained in peoples heads because of that stuff.  But it's the same thing.  We need to compete with that and find other ways.  That's the reality of it.  We don't we are going to lose.
 
We are going to end up like jerry west who was 0fer against us if we don't.

Peoples pride are up their butts on that one.

[guava_wrench]

Durant is no different than Russell or KG is what I'm saying in that regard.  He went west. It happens. They have some good teams out there.

KG was in the same situation and came here.  He waived his no trade clause once we got Ray and we traded him Al J.
...

So waiving a no-trade clause to let your team trade you to a team that has won nothing and didn't make the playoff the year before is the same as Durant choosing to join the team that is 1-1 in the last two finals and just set the record for most regular season wins?

You are taking the apologetics too far.

I have nothing against Durant's choice or any player's choice when they decide they would rather work somewhere else. But the KG trade is nothing like this Durant move. KG wasn't trying to leave Minny. KG wan't ring chasing. He would have continue to lay it all out there in Minny if they didn't trade him. Minny wanted to get value while they still could.