Matt Moore on Kevin Durant

what the hell is this:
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/the-su...lly-begun/

Quote:Kevin Durant is not a kid anymore.

In the wake of the Thunder's 96-88 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday night in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, that fact rings through as clearly as ever. His face was a solemn mask of disappointment and regret as he walked off the floor, no longer the pained man-child at 22 years old struggling with his first real adversity -- as he was in 2012 when his OKC team that was supposed to be in the infancy of a dynasty lost in what remains their only NBA Finals appearance. He's a veteran now, an established star, and he knows where his career is.

The gangly, paper-thin youngster from Texas is gone, replaced by a man who had hoped to control his own championship destiny. Instead, Durant, who shot 10 of 19 from the field for 27 points in Game 7, heads into the summer earlier than he'd hoped, and earlier than a lot of people had come to expect after the Thunder went up on the Warriors 3-1 in pretty stunningly dominant fashion. In less than four weeks, he'll become the most coveted free agent in recent memory not named LeBron James.

Quote:For Durant, who turns 28 next season, this is his prime, right now. He has been elite for going on six seasons. But the man who famously told us he was tired of being second is no longer even that, having fallen behind both LeBron and Steph Curry. After dismantling Kawhi Leonard in systemic fashion and pushing the Warriors to the brink, it seemed that Durant had made his move back up the ladder, sliding himself into position to jump Curry after a conference finals upset and do the same to LeBron if the Thunder could find a way to beat Cleveland. It was his time.

Instead, he tumbles back down, with his current and future legacy now in question.

What makes this OKC playoff run all the more disappointing, despite its phenomenal success, is how much more Durant showed beyond scoring. He defended Leonard and Draymond Green (and Klay Thompson, and Curry) better than Curry could ever play that end of the court, whether Curry is "underrated" or not. Curry's assist rate was higher, but Durant consistently made plays to find teammates up until Game 6 against the Warriors, and averaged 40 minutes per game to Curry's 33.

He didn't shoot well, though. So Curry cancels all that out. And that matters within the context of his place in the modern hierarchy of superstars. In the easiest area of the game for the casual fan to point, Durant shot just 43 percent from the field this postseason. That's the crown. That's the weight. You have to be all those other things (if you're Durant), and you have to score lots of points on lots of shots while being wildly efficient. You must be all things to all people.

This is what I say:

I dont see that the Durant/OKC Choked.  I saw that they were beaten by a better team which ran straight into great form when the chips were down..their backs against the wall.  OKC were flat out outplayed for 3 straight games and lost.

then again I am not worried about this winning thing and all het up about it. 

This Moore article means absolutely nothing as far as I see it.  it takes a lot of people to make a winner.. and the most propitious flow of luck to make a winner.  it is not just the players on the court and the star players at that.

and in the NBA at that, an organized professional league of teams, owned by mercurial people, who emphasize that what they own and run is a business, subject entirely to business principles and no other consideration. 

and these owners do as they please with 'their' league, including invasion of the player spaces, seeking to control all they do in their collective interest, as the exploited labor central to the overall  gig... including their union

Durant is a champion to me already..so are Westbrook and all the  'stars' who survive and arrive at points at which they command huge salaries.  they have come through ranks/social gauntlets usually from ghetto situations that have already tested them to their cores, and made it to the pinnacle of an organized sport as already described, which in itself is a major challenge... to which must be added the total real stories of how they got there.

given the truth of the NBA stories all those guys are already champions to me...all of them..especially the stars.  I am not concerned about actually wining NBA championships.  that is icing on the cake...if it happens.  but all considered it is truly hard to win championships in this kind of sports environment.

and I imagine it would be even harder to win in the alternative environment I have in mind ..for that would be a product of an equalitarian social reality in which total freedom would realize a level of genuine play and competition that would be awesome in itself, putting no impediment at all between players and the goal of championship.

human security would not be a problem in such an imagined alternative, so play would be unfettered by all consideration save winning and how to do so legitimately. Oh man!

but in this reality we live I am not bothered about winning championships given the nature of things.  yet the sports journos behave as if all is right with the way things are... and in such a right situation some of the players fail to play and/or win, and did not come up to spec and so must be dragged over red hot coals.

but them again we know who will be dragged over hot coals, if they do not drag the players over those coals before they are

let him sign with knicks