Friday Bolts – 2.10.17
Lucas of The Lost Ogle with seven other reasons to boo KD: “His goatee is really dumb. We
could never talk about it while he was playing in OKC, but it’s fair game now: Kevin Durant’s goatee looks like shit. If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you’ve had some piece of shit manager who picked on everyone and tried to fuck the barely legal hostesses. He always had a scraggly goatee that barely looked fitting for a Three Doors Down roadie. Kevin Durant has always had that gross facial hair, and we can finally call him out for it.”
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com: “This summer, after spending weeks recruiting Durant, Green felt like the only thing keeping him from joining the Warriors was guilt over leaving Oklahoma City. Durant knew some people would never forgive him. Fans would burn his jersey. His career would forever be linked to both the decision and the costar he left behind, Russell Westbrook. But Green wondered: Did Durant really have it in him to break hearts? These have always been the central questions with Durant: Is he too nice? Does he have it in him to be ruthless in pursuit of a championship? Would his desire to be liked keep him from doing what was necessary to win? Durant still doesn’t have the answers to those questions. He might never.”
My story from last night’s win.
Brett Dawson: “It can look laborious, the Russell Westbrook takeover. The Thunder guard ducks under defenders and comes up gunning. He dribbles into the heat of a defense, rises and fires from midrange. Even when he’s scoring in bunches, Westbrook shows his work. And he keeps getting the job done.”
Zach Lowe of ESPN.com: “Belinelli is threatening to surpass Russell Westbrook as the league’s most notorious arm- and leg-splayer on 3-point attempts. Belinelli isn’t the speediest guy, so his defender is often right on his tail when Belinelli curls around a pick, catches the ball, and rises to fire. His answer to tight coverage: Flail all four limbs like a spastic, bearded starfish in hopes of hitting someone and tricking the refs into thinking the victim fouled him.”
Good video from the Sports Pickle.
Russ says its up to fans if they want to boo.
Fran Blinebury of NBA.com: “Up and down every sidewalk and in the aisles of supermarkets, they are split, torn, turned upside down and inside out. They remember 2010 when James left Cleveland with the fanfare of a national television show and “taking his talents to South Beach” and the rest of the hullabaloo. Barely a week later, Durant had quietly signed a contract extension to remain with them as part of the only professional sports franchise in the state and they believed back then that the bond was different. That’s why a few felt especially betrayed last summer and reacted to the news by taping over Durant’s name on the back of their replica jerseys and writing in ‘Westbrook’ or ‘Oladipo’ or ‘Traitor’ and, in some cases, even burning them.”
Andrew Gilman of The Franchise says don’t boo: “You don’t hate Kevin Durant. Impossible to do. Not after he gave the greatest MVP speech you ever heard and played the best basketball you ever saw – right in your state, for your team. Felt real. You know it did. You don’t hate Kevin Durant. You hate he doesn’t play here anymore. It’s maddening and frustrating and it hurts and stings and burns that he’s part of one of the elite teams in the league and the Thunder aren’t. That’s OK. It’s understandable. Feels normal. So, when you stand there Saturday and they call Kevin Durant’s name, you won’t be booing him, because you don’t hate him. You never have.”
ESPN Stats: “Of Westbrook’s 27 shot attempts in the game, 24 of them came when he had to create the shot on his own without a teammate’s assist opportunity. He was 8-of-15 on those shots in the second half compared to 1-of-9 in the first half. The other key to the Thunder’s win was that they slowed Cleveland down. The Cavaliers scored 20 points on 8-of-11 in transition shooting in the first half, but only four points on 1-of-4 in transition in the last two quarters.”
Durant tried to explain his 2011 tweet on the BS podcast: “Let me clear this up, because a lot of people talk to me about [it and say] “I took a shot at him on Twitter.” If you go back and look at when I posted that, I posted that later in the month, you want to know why? Penny Hardaway came out and said, “I would love to play for the Heat, I think I could help them win the championship.” And I’m like, “Come on, Penny. You’ve been out of the game. I played against you my rookie year, it’s like three years later, man. What are you doing?” But it was a fake article. So I tweeted that. And now everybody’s like, “Well, you was criticizing LeBron.” I signed an extension right after LeBron decided to go to Miami and a lot of people asked me about that, I said, “Cool, for [the Heat]. We play them three times, I can’t wait to play them, it’s going to be cool.” I didn’t criticize him, I was criticizing Penny Hardaway in this fake article I read. So a lot of people took that and ran with it.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “But there won’t be concerns over his safety. There won’t be a nervous edge to the crowd. The emotions will be real — this isn’t just another sports villain — but the feelings will also be mixed. Oklahoma City issued nothing but recognition for Durant after the decision. No comic sans for OKC. James blazed an awkward, painful, ugly trail until he came into his own in 2012. That path has made it easier for Durant, even if he doesn’t feel that way with the amount of negative attention his decision generated. James walked through the fire so that Durant only has to deal with the embers. It may still sting, but the smoke has cleared for Durant.”
