Adam Silver didn’t think Kevin Durant’s move to Golden State was good for the NBA. Of course, he was speaking for the people he works for — the NBA owners. And 29 of them didn’t like that move because they didn’t get KD.
LeBron James is good with it.
LeBron was asked about Durant’s decision to go to Golden State in an interview with Business Insiders, and he said he was had no issue with it, and that it can’t be compared to moves he or other players made.So, I think it’s all great for our league. Our league is very competitive. It’s continued to grow, and [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver has done a great job of picking up where David Stern started, so it’s pretty cool....
Well, I think every decision is different. My decision to leave Cleveland to go to Miami and then go back is different from Kevin Durant leaving OKC [home of the Oklahoma City Thunder] and going to the Warriors. It’s different from Shaq leaving Orlando and going to the [Los Angeles] Lakers. It’s different from Michael retiring, coming back, retiring, coming back, and then going to the [Washington] Wizards. So I think every decision is different, and how much you have invested in that player, I guess, or how much you feel for that player is how you’re going to react. So everyone is different.
What did you expect him to say? Superstars are always going to have the back of other superstars switching teams — they either already have or will someday likely walk in those shoes.
I think Silver, and anyone else, saying this is bad for the league is wrong — this will be great for the league’s popularity and ratings. Love them or hate them, people are going to tune in to watch the Warriors. Look at it this way: When was the NBA its most popular? Where there was one dominant team in Chicago, with one dominant player (Jordan), and there was an entire league trying to play catch up. What was the second most popular time in NBA history? When there was one super team in Boston and one in Los Angeles — Bird and Magic — and they dominated the league with a brilliant rivalry. The NBA never thrived on parity, the NBA thrives on great stars and superteams, and that’s what it has now.
LeBron’s perspective shouldn’t be a surprise, either. Players back players. Not the older, get off my lawn generation of players who say everything was so much better back in the day (but often tried to do the same thing, and would totally back Durant if they played now).
Today’s players get that this is a business, and they should make as much money as they can now (because the owners sure are), and they should choose the working environment they want.Which is what Durant did. Fans shouldn’t have that perspective, they have emotional investments in cities and teams. Fans can say think KD took an easy path to a title — although you’re a hypocrite to use the “ringz” argument for judging a player’s career then complain he did the thing most likely to get him a ring — but players generally will have KD’s back. To them, this is a business.
