If you where Durant

Every fan thinks about superstars and what they would do differently if they was in their position. What makes it hard to relate to professional athletes is that they make millions of dollars so the average fan thinks if you make millions you should no longer have worries in life. So what I want to do to make this story hit home, is take it out of context of millionaire athlete and bring it back in to the realm of 30 thousand dollar employees. Imagine if you where the most skilled worker on your job but instead of getting praised for your skill and the value you bring to the company they treated you like a slacker or a person who brought no value. Imagine being the best salesman in the world and doing so well in sales that you take a small mid western company with no track record to heights never seen only to be talked about as if you showed up to work did your 8 hours and that was it. Imagine being a stockbroker and leading your firm in transactions only to be compared to another stockbroker who was the best seller in the 90’s when the SEC rules are different. If you can relate to any of this then you can relate to Kevin Durant. Coming out of high school and college everyone was high on Greg Oden and looked at Kevin Durant as a consolation prize. The thing is Kevin Durant even then was a better prospect than Oden. Durant is a 7 footer with a skill set unmatched in any error in basketball. The closest players skill wise to Durant are Kobe, Jordan, Bird, and Melo. The thing is Kevin Durant has a bigger wingspan and is much taller. Dirk was a good early comparison but the way Durant handles the ball and his quickness at his size has never been matched. When Oden failed out of the league and it was clear Durant was superior to just about everyone else in the league the Lebron hype train reached a level that no other player could compete with. Along side that with the media expecting every talented player to win a championship every year in the league and the OKC Thunder disbanding their big three to save money, Durant went under appreciated. As good as Lebron is when it comes down to getting a bucket their isn’t a single player more likely to capitalize then Kevin Durant. His offensive game has no weakness at this point. When he first got into the league he was way to in love with his jump shot and over dribbling now you can see he is a pure assassin. Most including me hated that he joined the Warriors because it sealed the fact they would win the title before they even played a game. Not only that instead of the Warriors embracing him like the Lakers embraced Kareem in the 80’s they decided to go along with the social media taunts and disrespect Durant. Last year when they won a championship and the owner made the jab at Durant I thought he was going to leave. The thing about the Warriors that allowed the world to see how dominate Durant was is that they actually provided spacing to eliminate the opportunities for defenses to throw double teams at him. This freed him up to basically toy with defenses. In OKC they never had the right amount of shooters to free him up to win the championship level games. When he left OKC I wasn’t mad that he left I was mad he chose the Warriors. The reason being in my mind Durant had every chance to pass Lebron as the games greatest player and I knew once he went to the Warriors no matter how many championships he won the media would have never given him credit. Due to all this Durant who came into the league as a fan favorite and a humble person is now the villain of the league.

The Next Chapter

When Durant decided to go to the Nets and team up with Kyrie I thought their couldn’t be a better match. Durant and Kyrie are the two most skilled individuals in the entire NBA. Unfortunately for both fans and media a like underrate both due to the situations they have been put in. The Cetlics was never a great fit for Kyrie. He like Durant needs to be surrounded by shooters and good defenders. That is why him and Durant going to Brooklyn was a great move. On the Nets they already have the three and d players who have playoff experience and fit in well with Durant and Kyrie. Not only that Kyrie and Durant’s skill set is a match made in heaven. If you need a bucket to seal the game either one can do it plus Joe Harris is a knock down three point shooter and Deandre Jordan is the kind of rebounding glue guy that can push teams over the top. Add in their head coach and this is a match made in heaven. Even though Durant will be out for the next season in 2021 the Nets will be my favorites to win it all as long as Durant is able to get back to at least 90 percent of what he was as a player and Kyrie doesn’t get hurt either. Durant going to the Warriors has made him the villain of the league but don’t be surprised when he becomes the darling of the league in 2021 after people experience a year without him and stop taking his talents for granted.