Any hint of discourse on a dominant team will grab headlines. Not too long ago, there were some rumblings about Tom Brady’s trainer and Patriots management. The Yankees have a history of supposed team crippling dugouts and front offices. How many World Series titles do they have?
The latest involves the Warriors two most polarizing figures. On one side you have the ultra sensitive Kevin Durant and on the other you have the protypical “under your skin guy” in Draymond Green.
With Durant on the cusp of an opt out, their end of the game dust up has everyone talking like this is the end of the Warriors. Trust me, it isn’t. The Warriors will be just fine because Durant and his 2,000 burner accounts will eventually get over it. Draymond Green will move from aggravating Durant to aggravating Steve Kerr. Ultimately, it will be fine.
What the incident does remind you is that the Warriors did win a title without Durant. Now, you can easily argue they wouldn’t have won the last two without him. Heck, they might not have been in the Finals without Durant’s killer instinct on offense and his underrated rim protection on defense. Had he stayed in the West, we could’ve been treated to, at least, one Oklahoma City-Cleveland NBA Finals reboot.
You have to understand today’s players to get it. This isn’t the days of the likes of Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley etc where their was an established “the man” on each roster. In today’s NBA, there’s a lot of sharing. In fact, put a young Carmelo Anthony in today’s culture and he’s probably still in Denver. If not there, he would certainly be on a team with another superstar. In other words, Anthony would’ve never forced his way to the New York Knicks.
It’s part of the reason why this is much to do about nothing. At the end of the day, Durant and Green like winning titles and all that comes with it, to let this break them up. Heck, Steph Curry took a backseat to Durant that last two seasons allowing KD to be the face of the organization. No way that happens in the 90’s. Players would have been to “me” and “I’m the man” to do that. Same goes for Klay Thompson. The drop dead three-point shooter/above average defender would be looking for a place where it would be “his team”. In today’s NBA, almost everyone expects Thompson to re-sign with the Warriors.
After winning as much as they have, Durant has no reason to want to go to another situation. Guys like Curry, Thompson and Green have known nothing but being a title contender for the last few years. Why rush to run to Philadelphia, Houston or any other fake contender?
So lets chill on the “impending doom” predictions of the defending champs. They will be fine. It’s much to do about nothing.
