Friday Bolts – 8.8.14
: “So, for the first time on the national stage, Durant put himself first. In the USA Basketball press release he said, “I need to take a step back and take some time away, both mentally and physically in order to prepare for the upcoming NBA season.” Although he didn’t cite George’s injury, the timing of this move is telling. It’s not as if he just looked at the schedule and saw there’d be up to five more weeks of work. He knew the level of commitment going in. And this is from a guy who seems indefatigable in the summers, showing up to play anywhere there’s a rim and a net.”
John Schuhmann of NBA.com: “The U.S. still has a relatively clear road to the gold medal game. Not only will Spain be on the opposite side of the bracket (after group play is completed), but so will Argentina, Brazil and France. Lithuania could be the biggest challenge out of the USA’s side. But only the winner of the World Cup (along with Brazil) qualifies for the 2016 Olympics. If the U.S. doesn’t win, it would have to qualify via the FIBA Americas tournament, to which it hasn’t sent a team since 2007.”
I wrote a thing about Durant’s withdraw.
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “Whether it played a role or not in Durant’s decision, George’s injury already had jump-started the conversation about whether NBA stars should be playing internationally anymore. The best players tend to be on playoff teams, logging 100 or more games during the eight-month grind of the regular season and playoffs. Frankly, I don’t blame a single one of them — Durant included — for needing a break. For those with a year left on their contracts, such as Love and Aldridge, I don’t blame them one bit for shying away from the injury risk. Nor do I blame the owners for being skittish about lending their precious investments — their stars — to the cause.”
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider on shooting: “On the whole, good shooters tend to get paid more money. Duh. As you might suspect, there is a small link between free-agency money this offseason and how many 3-pointers they made in 2013-14. But its effect is more muted than you might think. The math gets a little more serious from here on out, so if numbers make you queasy, you might want to sit the next couple of plays out. For the statisticians out there, the correlation coefficient between the two key variables (annual contract dollars and 3-pointers made) stood at .22 where zero is completely random and plus-1 is a perfectly positive relationship (one variable goes up, so does the other) and minus-1 is a negative relationship (one goes up, other goes down). That relationship was much cloudier in both the 2013 offseason (correlation coefficient of 0.081) and 2012 offseason (0.095), indicating that the market might be tilting somewhat toward shooters.”
Lang Whitaker of NBA.com on playing for the national team: “I get the outcry over George’s injury — he’s one of the best players in the NBA and somebody who is impossible to replace. But I don’t understand all the questions about the basket stanchion at UNLV being a few inches shorter form the baseline than usual. Nobody had a serious injury playing on the same basket at summer league, right? The hard truth that nobody wants to accept is that injuries are going to happen. Sometimes during the NBA season, sometimes off the court. When Kevin Love broke his hand doing push-ups, I don’t recall anyone suggesting a ban on push-ups. If you can’t risk the injury, don’t play. But I think the majority of guys will still want to play high-level competition while representing their country and be willing to take that risk.”
Berry Tramel: “My friend said the best reason to play basketball is to play for God, which I assume he means something like Athletes in Action. Second on the list is playing for country. It’s a compelling argument. But we don’t really feel that way as fans. We put the Thunder, or the Pacers, or the Spurs, or whatever team to which you hold allegiance, at the forefront. Which is why Durant’s decision Thursday was very good news.”
And naturally, Chris Sheridan with the hot take: “Here is the news story on Durant quitting. Yes, quitting. This is shameful, in my opinion. No national team anchor has ever done this. The fact that it comes at the same moment that Durant is leaving Nike and finishing details of an unbelievably lucrative $325 million sneaker and apparel deal with UnderArmour makes it fishy. Nike is a major Team USA sponsor.”