Nick Piccone
Kevin Durant deciding to sign with the Golden State Warriors has polarized the NBA again. It’s reminiscent of LeBron James leaving Cleveland in 2010 in pursuit of an NBA Championship by joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. There’s been no shortage of opinions, and that includes Charles Barkley. While he didn’t go on a Stephen A. Smith-esque rant on Durant for choosing to leave Oklahoma City, Barkley did say he was disappointed that Durant went to the Warriors. [ESPN]
I was disappointed. I was disappointed like I was disappointed when LeBron went to Miami. Kevin is a terrific player, he’s a good kid. But just disappointed with the fact that he weakened another team and he’s gonna kind of gravy train on a terrific Warriors team. Just disappointed from a competitive standpoint. Because just like it meant more to LeBron to win one in Cleveland, it would mean more to Kevin to win one in Oklahoma than it would be in Golden State.”
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“We develop this thing where you keep telling these guys, ‘Hey man, if you don’t win a championship you’re a bum.’ I don’t feel like a bum. I’m pretty sure Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone and John Stockton — we think we’re pretty damn good. We could have played with some of those other guys and kind of cheated our way to a championship. But there is this thing that started with this new generation where these guys feel so much pressure. Everybody wants to win.”
“I’m a big Chris Paul fan. I’m sure Chris Paul wants to win a championship. And he could, when his contract is up, go join one of these super teams and get a championship. But it won’t be the same as leading your team where you’re the bus driver instead of the bus rider.”
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“I think it’s a scapegoat move. You know, you can use any word you want to. I think it’s a scapegoat move to try to ease your way into a championship. Let’s be realistic. Golden State is probably gonna win a couple championships in the next three or four years.”
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“We’re gonna have guys on bad teams making $25 million a year. And we’re going to have three or four competitive teams. That’s the negative of LeBron going to Miami, KD going to Golden State.
“First of all the fans love their teams, they love sports. But they’re not going to go see Sacramento, Indiana, Miami, these bad teams where guys are making 10, 20, 30 million dollars a year and they don’t have a chance to compete. I mean, that’s where we’re going. We’re going to kill the golden goose. Everybody’s going to be making a lot of money, but other than five teams we’re going to be putting a shabby product out there. That’s what’s going to kill the NBA in the next few years in my opinion.”
Do you think Barkley’s right? Should Durant have tried to win a championship with the Thunder? Does it matter where an athlete wins a championship?
If you’re a professional athlete, the main end game is to win a championship, right? I mean, it should be. That’s what we were taught growing up playing competitive sports through high school and college. At least that’s how I saw it. When superstars get that chance, maybe it becomes different. Maybe it’s not about the championships as much as the brand anymore.
For Durant, it seems like it was about the elusive ring. He wants to be a champion and this was his best opportunity at a ring next season. The same reason James left for Miami six years ago. Why’s it such a big deal?
On the other side, I completely understand why people would want Durant to either stay in Oklahoma City or going to another up-and-coming team and helping them to an NBA Championship. To me, it’s all about the story in the NBA. In a superstar-driven league, where my city’s basketball team has been out of contending for 15 years, I follow the story. When the Warriors went up three games to one on the Cavaliers last month, I was pretty pissed. I wanted the story to be James bringing his city their long-awaited championship. I’m a story guy. The Warriors had won a championship last year. Why should they get another one?
And when James brought his team back from three games to one and gave Cleveland its first championship since the 1960s, I was thrilled for him. You could see the emotion on his face. That was a storybook ending. Durant winning an NBA Championship in Oklahoma City might have been a storybook ending for some people. Certainly not for the people in Seattle. But, Durant was a free agent and had the choice to go where he wanted to go. He chose championship over everything else. Why should he be hated for that?
As always, there are no shortage of opinions on this topic. You can listen to Barkley’s entire interview here, or listen to some of it below.