Sam Avolis
Hans Gruber, Justin Beiber, Martin Shkreli, Grayson Allen.
….the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers?
All are some of the most hated people in the world, and even if you don’t have a problem with the last two yet, you will. The Cavs and Warriors have not only made a mockery of the NBA as a whole, but have begun to show apathy for any integrity to the game at the lowest level.
I tried to bite my tongue for a long time. When LeBron came back to Cleveland, I tried to appreciate the story. When Kevin Durant rightfully chose to form a super team in Golden State, I did not vilify him. How could I, in an era where we strictly judge a players success on championship rings, blame Durant for sealing a title for himself? I even went so far as to find the humor in Draymond Green kicking every Dick, Bob and Tom in town right in the family jewels. This has all changed in a few short days as these entitled superstars continue to alienate themselves from the common fan.
I’m not sure why Durant thinks all of the sudden it’s Kevin Durant vs. the World right but like, it’s not. People want to like KD, and early in his career he was the tall lanky kid that helped put a small market team on the map in Oklahoma City. People found the fact that he could not bench 185 pounds at the combine charming, and gushed over his MVP speech where he put his mother on a pedestal. That was all nice guy Kevin.
Now we have this Kevin.
Kevin Durant on the amount of blowouts this postseason: "If you don't like it, don't watch it." pic.twitter.com/WaqGEt93k5
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) May 21, 2017
“If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” While I get where Durant is coming from here, it’s an awfully bold statement to make to the fans. Rather than understanding the question and joining in on the national discussion of how lackluster this playoff season has been due to the top heavy nature of the league, KD goes full heel and employs a “I’m gonna take my ball and go home” strategy. Odd choice Kev, and this just furthers the trend of arrogance that has accompanied Durant as he has aged.
In fairness, he did apologize. Kinda.
“I mean, life can be simple, man, Durant said. “If you don’t like the way the game is going, just turn it off. If you’re enjoying it, just keep it on. Life is simple. I didn’t mean it to disrespect anybody, but if you felt disrespected, I’m sorry. But if you don’t enjoy the game, turn it off [and] turn something else on. If you do, enjoy the rest of it, man.”
“I thought teams would compete a little harder,” Green said. “I just watched San Antonio-(Houston). I like to watch good basketball. When you watch Cleveland play, you only watching one side of good basketball. That’s kind of weak. I like watching a good game, not even necessarily that it’s going to be a close game. I like to watch teams playing good basketball. When you watch them, you watch one team playing good basketball and everybody else just…do something. I don’t know what that something is.”