I thought the new CBA and bball reasons were supposed to stop this kind of stockpiling.
Let's hear ya Dan Gilbert. How do you like them apples?! Haha. Hey, you got one at least. What up, Mark Cuban? What up, Pop? You guys got anything to say or are you just miffed when it's the LAKERS trying to acquire Chris Paul? According to them, it should be OK when the little guys succeed. We'll see. Hold your breaths.
Durant will get pissy somewhere along the line when the NBA milieu (fans, media, the old player corps, etc) dismiss his success there, dismiss his hard work, bring up collusion, say he couldn't do it on his own, yada yada, same as Bron after joining Bosh and Wade. I don't know how a title there wouldn't feel phyrric to a supposed world-class competitor and if he really is one at core, I don't think he'll miss that feeling after they do it while the sports world yawns.
Enjoy next season because we are probably headed toward a lengthy lockout.
Uh...I pretty much already came to the conclusion that enjoying next season was an impossibility. Utterly disgusting. NBA has instantly lost all of its surprise for at least the next few years. Unless injuries strike, and I wouldn't wish for it, but I don't know if I could muster a full tear if fate did blow their way, (not) sorry.
I just smirk at the Lakers being the boogeymen for the league to go straight to the Heatles and now this nonsense.
I don't think the league has ever had much surprise. You pretty much know which 3 or 4 teams are going to be in the running for a championship every year. The Lakers were that team just a few years ago.
Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 5622 Location: Los Angeles
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 7:20 pm Post subject:
The optics aren't good, but I don't bemoan his decision either. I think he should've given OKC another year after the way his team fizzled out against the Warriors. They could've and should've been in the Finals.
But I agree that Thunder ownership is to blame for all this. They had a legit "Big 3" and blew it big time. _________________ 1996-2016
Thank you Kobe for giving 20 years of yourself to the Purple and Gold. We are forever indebted to your greatness.
If Jerry West was in our front office right now, Keven Durant STILL wouldn't be giving the Lakers the time of day. We're rebuilding and he went to the team making back-to-back finals appearances. I guarantee you that last part was more persuasive than WHO he met with.
Let's face it, if Jerry West is in the front office, he doesn't trade future first rounders for Nash.
iF west was still in front office, our team would of never missed the playoffs for 3 seasons straight...
West is a very respected man in the NBA, not just within Laker nation. West, unlike other old timers actually supports the new age kids, while most of the old timers criticize them
He has the uncanny ability to stay forward-thinking and know where the game is going.
I love Jerry West, but he's not God. How many trophies did Memphis win?
Jerry has not been the hands-on GM in GS, only a consultant. Would I rather have him as a consultant for the Lakers? Yes. But that's all he would be in L.A. for many reasons.
Every franchise has it's ups and downs and must rebuild when it's superstars leave or retire. We can play the "what if" game about D12, Nash, CP3 yada yada yada. But even as Jerry West and Jerry Buss made a lot of great decisions for the Lakers, they also made some crappy ones. But the wave of nostalgia that erases the crappy ones is something I feel the need to call out.
Love Jerry, but he wasn't cut out to be our "forever" GM (even if the whole Phil and Jim Buss stuff hadn't entered the picture). Jerry was so nervous he couldn't even WATCH Laker playoff games. He would drive around in his car and check the score on the radio, then poke his head in and out of the Forum. He was so high-strung about the Lakers he about gave himself a nervous breakdown. He realized that couldn't go on. He never felt the same about Memphis or GSW as he did the purple and gold so it's easier for him to advise in those situations without compromising his mental health.
His conversation with KD obviously had an impact. But Jerry didn't build the team that KD ultimately signed onto. Jerry advised them and it was up to them to build the team.
I wonder if the Warriors won the championship, would things be different? If Durant joins after the parade, would it even be worse? _________________ (❍ᴥ❍ʋ) ʕʘᴥʘʔ (⌐ ͡■ ͜ʖ ͡■) (┛◉Д◉)┛( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ༼;´༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽
Now rumor has it if Durant had committed to staying and recruited OKC might have gotten Horford. I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have given GS a run for their money with core of Durant, Westbrook, and Horford.
This is incredibly weak sauce. You just don't do that. This would be like Magic joining up with the Celtics after losing the Finals to them.
Even Lebron and Wade and Bosh had to create something, Durant just jumped ship from a team with a legitimate MVP candidate in Westbrook to a 73-9 regular season juggernaut that he had on the ropes 3-1 before choking.
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67317 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 8:30 pm Post subject:
DrWolf wrote:
terrible move for lakers to go with kupchak over west.. the guy is a genius
I believe West left because he and Phil Jackson didn't get along. I also believe we would have been fine if Mitch had been allowed to do his job.
Great deal him. Two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year. Took a page from LeBron's book. These kind of deals may become the norm for super stars. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Last edited by jodeke on Mon Jul 04, 2016 8:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
Now rumor has it if Durant had committed to staying and recruited OKC might have gotten Horford. I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have given GS a run for their money with core of Durant, Westbrook, and Horford.
This is incredibly weak sauce. You just don't do that. This would be like Magic joining up with the Celtics after losing the Finals to them.
Even Lebron and Wade and Bosh had to create something, Durant just jumped ship from a team with a legitimate MVP candidate in Westbrook to a 73-9 regular season juggernaut that he had on the ropes 3-1 before choking.
lol. Smh.
Or Jordan joining the Pistons. But we live in an age of fantasy leagues and video games. Some of these rosters and moves are becoming reality. Well, it's put up or shut up now for this new superteam. _________________ Smrek 2, Nevitt 1, Barkley 0
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67317 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 8:51 pm Post subject:
Have to disagree with SAS. Go where the money is, especially if there's a great chance to also get a ring. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Have to disagree with SAS. Go where the money is, especially if there's a great chance to also get a ring.
OKC offered the most money, but I think at this point in his career KD would rather go to an almost sure thing. Warriors is as close as you can get without joining Lebron....
I feel like a lot of people here would have no issues if for some reason our kids became legit all stars and then Kat decided to join us.
Lebron won all his rings by stepping on the "right team". He did not win anything with the cards he was dealt. Yet he dare not be touched or his precious legacy which is essentially NBAs legacy now along with alleviating Dan Gilbert's petulant demands.
Serves the NBA right for allowing this to happen, and only flexing their muscles when the lakers were involved.
Thunder GM Sam Presti confirms that Durant notified him of his decision to leave for the Warriors "a few minutes before the media" (and all of us) learned of Durant's plans, which essentially mirrors the advance notice LeBron provided to the Cavaliers when he left Cleveland in 2010 ...
The difference is other people weren't praying for Pau.
Considering the front office had basically cast him off the Lakers ship and left him hanging many seasons, I don't think theres much bad feelings among most of the fanbase.
the whole parity thing is very frustrating. the way it is playing out is almost comically the opposite of the whole spirit of everything.
That's the players union's doing. The league wanted to handle the big spike by dividing the new money evenly among the players so it wouldn't open up all these max spots on teams. In the long run, it will settle out, but it created a one-time opportunity where a team with a bunch of stars could add another max player.
That said, there will never be a way to stop players from joining together if they are smart and willing to sacrifice. All you can do is create incentives for them not to.
SuperboyReformed wrote:
at least one thing should be clarified now: next time people think about who the greatest of all time and stuff is...just imagine any of the other greats teaming up like this. in their primes and stuff.
Most of the most successful greats in NBA history did team up with talent like this!
Bird was teamed with McHale, Parish, Johnson, Walton -- four Hall of Famers and three guys on the all-time Top 50 Team.
Magic was teamed with Kareem, Worthy, McAdoo, and Cooper -- three Hall of Famers and a DPOY.
Jordan was teamed with Pippen, Rodman, and Kukoc.
Wilt teamed with West and Baylor.
Moses Malone joined with Dr. J, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones, and Andrew Toney.
The 70s Knicks collected Hall of Famers by the bushel -- Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Jerry Lucas, Bill Bradley, Willis Reed. They had 6 Hall of Famers age 27-32 -- they started 5 Hall of Famers and had one coming off the bench.
Obviously the mechanisms of how the teams were put together were different because of different rules, but teams have been stockpiling disproportionate amounts of talent since the league started.
SuperboyReformed wrote:
Durant will get pissy somewhere along the line when the NBA milieu (fans, media, the old player corps, etc) dismiss his success there, dismiss his hard work, bring up collusion, say he couldn't do it on his own, yada yada, same as Bron after joining Bosh and Wade.
It's better to have a success that some people dismiss than to have no success. And Lebron has shown that those kinds of dismissals tend to fade and in the end the winning is all that matters.
SuperboyReformed wrote:
I don't know how a title there wouldn't feel phyrric to a supposed world-class competitor and if he really is one at core, I don't think he'll miss that feeling after they do it while the sports world yawns.
I don't think there is a superstar in the history of the NBA who wouldn't love to be surrounded by more talent than anyone else. These guys want every advantage they can get; they are interested in an even playing field.
And no one will yawn. For all they complain, fans love superteams.
yo av...i appreciate your detailed breakdown. but you're quoting npz on a couple of these and crediting me for it, lol. I take it as a compliment, of course.
Now rumor has it if Durant had committed to staying and recruited OKC might have gotten Horford. I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have given GS a run for their money with core of Durant, Westbrook, and Horford.
This is incredibly weak sauce. You just don't do that. This would be like Magic joining up with the Celtics after losing the Finals to them.
Even Lebron and Wade and Bosh had to create something, Durant just jumped ship from a team with a legitimate MVP candidate in Westbrook to a 73-9 regular season juggernaut that he had on the ropes 3-1 before choking.
lol. Smh.
I don't think players get worked up about the notion of "rivalries" the way fans do. The players are all buddies these days, and they text and hang out. They play hard against each other, but when the games over, they don't really have a particular passion about beating any particular player or team.
It's more like a pickup game mentality; you play against a guy at a gym, trash talk him while you play; but tag him to be on your team the next game.
They just want to go where they'll have fun, be around guys they like, and have a great chance to win.
If any star (current or retired) talks about how he would never do what Lebron or Durant did, I'm always going to be skeptical. Durant tweeted this in 2010:
Quote:
Now everybody wanna play for the heat and the Lakers? Let's go back to being competitive and going at these peoples!
So even Durant was one of those guys criticizing players for joining the best teams. But when he became a free agent, he joined a 73 win team that had recently won a championship instead of staying with an elite team that nearly knocked them off in the conference finals.
If Jerry West was in our front office right now, Keven Durant STILL wouldn't be giving the Lakers the time of day. We're rebuilding and he went to the team making back-to-back finals appearances. I guarantee you that last part was more persuasive than WHO he met with.
Let's face it, if Jerry West is in the front office, he doesn't trade future first rounders for Nash.
iF west was still in front office, our team would of never missed the playoffs for 3 seasons straight...
West is a very respected man in the NBA, not just within Laker nation. West, unlike other old timers actually supports the new age kids, while most of the old timers criticize them
He has the uncanny ability to stay forward-thinking and know where the game is going.
As a complete aside, does anyone ever use the term canny?
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