I like to consider myself a die-hard hoops fan. I’ve been playing and watching basketball for most of my waking life. This past season, I saw my fandom evolve further as I made the move to purchase NBA League Pass, giving me access to virtually every NBA game (there’s a plug, League Pass, sponsor me!).
Yet, I’m simply a fan of the league. My fandom doesn’t reside with one particular team. Regionally, I’m tied to the Milwaukee Bucks, yet I’m admittedly a fair weather fan. I’ll shamelessly claim them when they’re looking good (though a rare occasion) and will shun them with an equal absence of shame when they linger in the bottom of the standings. I certainly don’t bleed purple and green…or red and pine green…or tan and pine green, with a touch of blue…or whatever their new color scheme is.
So as a general fan of the league as a whole, Kevin Durant’s free agency departure is bound to draw a reaction. The same can be said about the rest of the fans of the NBA, based upon the social media reaction and the conversation content of the sports world’s news rotation the day the news dropped that he was joining the Warriors.
Yet, despite the magnitude of the move, the biggest free agent move of the last decade not involving LeBron James is not a positive thing for the league. Having a top-five player join the best regular season team of all time is not something that many fans should be happy about.
Now, to Kevin Durant’s credit, he did say that his move would be “a basketball decision.” And from a basketball standpoint, the move makes a lot of sense. Kevin Durant fits the philosophy of the Warriors, when considering his skillset as a shooter and his preference to ball rotation. He’s likely the third best shooter in the league, with the only better shooters already on the Warriors. His driving ability will be enhanced with a wide open floor, spread out due to the presence with Klay Thompson and Steph Curry on the floor, and his slashing ability will also benefit from a post distributor like Draymond Green.
Yet, this move eliminates one of the only other contenders in the entire league. The Eastern Conference is a one-man show with fourteen teams competing for the honor of losing to LeBron James in the conference finals. The Western Conference contained more competitive balance before the Durant move with four strong reasonable contenders at the top of the conference. The Thunder will now fall back into NBA oblivion as a middle-of-the-road team minus Durant, evidenced by their absence from the playoffs two years ago during an injury riddled season. This move further condenses the scope of contendership in the NBA. Parity in the NBA seems like a distant memory, last seen during the days of the mid-2000s when five Piston players could upset a Laker superteam, made up of five Hall of Famers.
What if Durant had stayed put? What’s the worst that could have happened? Let’s say he never won a championship staying in with the Thunder. What would his legacy look like? Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley? With zero championships as initial thoughts? I would say no.
His legacy would look more Allen Iverson-like. Two one-of-a-kind players, who are incomparable to anything before them and who were trailblazers (NBA pun intended) for other similar type of players to base their respective games off of, despite a lack of a championship. Nate Robinson and Isiah Thomas can thank Iverson for the inspiration and the created confidence from teams in short players. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brandon Ingram, and even raw projects like Bruno Caboclo can thank the created confidence in teams to invest in tall, lanky, skilled players, despite their prevalent status as a project.
Instead of “We talkin’ bout practice,” we would have “You da real MVP.” Instead of the signature sleeve and headband, we would note the lack of accessories and the cleverly placed, non-visible tattoos. If the worst case legacy scenario for staying in Oklahoma City is one that is near AI status, KD is in pretty good shape.
The only initial positive outcome that has come from this free agent move from a general fandom standpoint is the emergence of the ever-valuable NBA villain. Draymond Green has been the closest thing to a consensus league villain since LeBron James returned to Cleveland. With the instant rising of Kevin Durant into full heel mode, the Warriors may be the next team to receive hate from the general NBA fan population. A villain is good for the league. It gets the fans talking. This frustrated fan’s rant disguised as an article is exhibit A.
