Kevin Durant: Should I play or should I go?
Credit to Author: MICHAEL ANGELO B. ASIS| Date: Sun, 09 Jun 2019 16:15:54 +0000
The latest on Kevin Durant, a day before Game 5 of the NBA Finals to be held in Toronto, is that he is joining the team on the flight.
That may sound like good news, but the first-hand accounts of personalities like Jalen Rose and Brian Windhorst, both of ESPN, went from “It doesn’t look good. No way he is returning in the Finals.” The Warriors are frustrated, and it reflected on Coach Steve Kerr’s refusal to give any more updates.
There were rumblings that Durant actually suffered more than a calf strain. If he did, he would have already been playing now. The Warriors did not need to push him for the Western Conference Finals, they obviously do not have that luxury now.
Durant was walking off after a made shot. There was no contact with another player, he just felt pain and suddenly limped off the court. That was the worst type of injury. Some even suspected an Achilles tear, like Kobe. It may not be that extreme, but a calf strain would not take a month.
Change of demeanor
Steve Kerr has never sounded so peeved, or even desperate. Not that he’s never been on the ropes, but they were already planning the farewell celebration at Oracle, the Parade, the ring ceremony when they open next season at the Chase Center. They placed too much weight, and now they might be crumbling.
For 1,100 days, since Kevin Durant made the announcement at the Player’s Tribune in 2016, the Warriors have been the title favorites. You can’t fault them for expecting too much. But all of that has come to an end. They expected to face life without Kevin next season, but not in the Finals.
The Warriors went from “No Kevin, No Problem” to “No Kevin, No Title.” This is the new reality they have to face. The Toronto Raptors have brought this to Golden State. Fred Van Vleet described Head Coach Nick Nurse as a “mad scientist” who’s always tinkering, like Frankenstein unleashing his new monster named Kawhi. The Splash brothers alone simply could not match.
Who can read the mind of Kevin Durant?
The season could be down to one game, and the wildest offseason will start. This is probably the biggest free agent market ever—with two game changers (Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant) and two of the best second tier players (Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson—one has shown incapable of carrying a team, the other hasn’t had the chance) and great stat performers on bad teams (Kemba Walker, Nikola Vucevic) and other All-Stars (Jimmy Butler, Khris Middleton) among others.
Teams and players have a chance to change their career paths, and the dominoes will fall based on the choice of one Kevin Durant. Once believed to be sure of choosing the Knicks, the atmosphere has become murky.
First of all, there are two New York teams, and the other team (Brooklyn Nets) just placed themselves in position to sign two Max players, just like the Knicks, after trading away Allen Crabbe. Now, Kyrie Irving has tilted his flat earth to the other side of the Big Apple.
However, for Durant, the dilemma is no longer as clear cut. There are things that he can’t control—whether he can play or not. But he can control how to react. Now the Warriors have shown that they unequivocally need him to win a title, will that change his mind?
The idea that this is Steph Curry’s team is no more. The storybook ending of KD swooping in to save the Warriors in the next three games may not happen—but they can write another story.
Durant has made himself the hero by not playing. Let me clarify that I’m not insinuating that he intentionally did not want to play—that’s too much of a conspiracy theory, even for me. It’s strange but it is what it is. He can make the most money and have the best chance at a title in San Francisco—and he has a two-time MVP as a sidekick.
Who would say no to that?
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