Durant refuses SI cover unless joined by teammates

[Giuseppe]

But, when it counted, he'd learned from the Phoenix event and shoveled to Artest.

Just like that.

[ALVAREZ6]

Anyone but Kobe, that is...I do get your point though.


I just cant believe someone would shoot 4/13 (31%) against Angola. Kobe has been horrible in the olympics and yet the media made it appear like he's the savior. Its disgusting.

Well this is one of my purposes for posting in this thread... the media.


And quite honestly it's only one game. It's against Angola but who cares...it's still one game. We see Manu come out and shoot terribly relatively often, I referenced Duncan going 1 for 10 with only 5 points on night not too long ago, but we know they're still great players.

Also, the roster in 2008 was pretty absurd...
Kobe, Lebron, Carmelo, Chris Paul, Howard, Bosh, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, LMAO are you kidding me. Point here: who gives a if he shot 31%, the team is not going to lose with all of these players on it.

I noticed he went 0-8 from three...and kobe tends to do this, chuck 3s to be the man and rack points when he isn't the best 3 point shooter.

[Giuseppe]

But, when it counted Bryant closed out Westbrook.

[ajh18]

Alright, lets get some things straight. Is Durant a perfect angel? I'm sure he's not. Has he done anything yet to demonstrate that he's arrogant, selfish, lacking empathy, not a team player, or anything else? Nope.

Sure, he's probably aware that these statements and actions are good for his image. But frankly, we don't know that he's not being totally genuine, and he hasn't given us any evidence to the contrary. Innocent until proven guilty, I say. So we give him the benefit of the doubt.

How can you throw your teammates under the bus if you're an unrestricted free agent?..interesting theory..

Durant clearly tries too hard..this is the same guy that said he isn't a top 20 player in the NBA so that he can look more humble..clearly tries too hard..

As for this, AGAIN, it's not WHAT Lebron did that's a problem, it's HOW. You can throw your teammates under the bus by treating them like fans and making them wait for your self-promoted tv special to learn what kind of work environment they'll have the next year. It's a lack of respect. That SHOULD be the problem that cleveland fans have too. So Lebron left. You deal with it. But he didn't have to do it on national tv, he didn't have to refer to himself in the third person five times in and hour, and he didn't have to claim that all that self promotion was done on behalf of the kids.

That's the saddest part of the Lebron situation. Until this summer, I gave him the benefit of the doubt too, and was a Lebron fan. After all the stuff that has come out this summer, and watching his behavior myself, I feel that he has demonstrated a degree of selfishness and ego promotion that make me no longer admire him.

Until a time when that happens to Durant, I'll support his actions. If even ONE kid is inspired by Durant to put his teammates first, be humble, and respect his community, then even if he is "trying," it's worth it.

And as a Spurs fan, I haven't lost faith that a pro-athlete and champion can be a genuinely good guy. After all, I grew up on David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

[MannyIsGod]

How can you throw your teammates under the bus if you're an unrestricted free agent?..interesting theory..

Durant clearly tries too hard..this is the same guy that said he isn't a top 20 player in the NBA so that he can look more humble..clearly tries too hard..

@ your first statement as if the bonds of teammates are only created for the duration of a contract. I know that you go to extraordinary lengths to see just how far you can shove Lebron's down your throat but this is amazing even for you.

Whats clear here is that you think Durant tries too hard. Whats also clear here is that your judgment on these issues is incredibly suspect so I'm pretty you feeling that he tries too hard is an indication he's doing the right thing.

[MannyIsGod]

Alright, lets get some things straight. Is Durant a perfect angel? I'm sure he's not. Has he done anything yet to demonstrate that he's arrogant, selfish, lacking empathy, not a team player, or anything else? Nope.

Sure, he's probably aware that these statements and actions are good for his image. But frankly, we don't know that he's not being totally genuine, and he hasn't given us any evidence to the contrary. Innocent until proven guilty, I say. So we give him the benefit of the doubt.



As for this, AGAIN, it's not WHAT Lebron did that's a problem, it's HOW. You can throw your teammates under the bus by treating them like fans and making them wait for your self-promoted tv special to learn what kind of work environment they'll have the next year. It's a lack of respect. That SHOULD be the problem that cleveland fans have too. So Lebron left. You deal with it. But he didn't have to do it on national tv, he didn't have to refer to himself in the third person five times in and hour, and he didn't have to claim that all that self promotion was done on behalf of the kids.

That's the saddest part of the Lebron situation. Until this summer, I gave him the benefit of the doubt too, and was a Lebron fan. After all the stuff that has come out this summer, and watching his behavior myself, I feel that he has demonstrated a degree of selfishness and ego promotion that make me no longer admire him.

Until a time when that happens to Durant, I'll support his actions. If even ONE kid is inspired by Durant to put his teammates first, be humble, and respect his community, then even if he is "trying," it's worth it.

And as a Spurs fan, I haven't lost faith that a pro-athlete and champion can be a genuinely good guy. After all, I grew up on David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

Absolutely agree 100% on the 2nd part of your post. I wonder if Halem thinks that David Robinson "tries too had".

[LoneStarState'sPride]

Goddamnit, I ing love this kid! We gotta find a way to get him in a silver and black jersey eventually.

[Poirot]

@ your first statement as if the bonds of teammates are only created for the duration of a contract. I know that you go to extraordinary lengths to see just how far you can shove Lebron's down your throat but this is amazing even for you.

Whats clear here is that you think Durant tries too hard. Whats also clear here is that your judgment on these issues is incredibly suspect so I'm pretty you feeling that he tries too hard is an indication he's doing the right thing.

I agree with HarlemHeat on this one. Just take the picture and shut up.

I'm not in any "camp," and I like Durant quite a bit. However, one thing about the NBA that turns me off is it's full of attention s trying to make a non-story into a story. And the "nice guy" act is really overrated (Dwight Howard for instance). All I want is for these guys to stay out of trouble and play basketball. I don't need a constant PR campaign by Stern and the players themeselves reminding me what great personalities they have.

[picc84]

Durant is trolling Lebron.

[Poirot]

Until a time when that happens to Durant, I'll support his actions. If even ONE kid is inspired by Durant to put his teammates first, be humble, and respect his community, then even if he is "trying," it's worth it.

One of those dreaded buzz words in sports. Makes me gag. There's nothing "humble" about drawing attention to what should be a simple photoshoot.

[Ace]

Durant is making himself seem like a giant puss...

[Giuseppe]

...he watched the tapes of Artest showing him how.

[nkdlunch]

Yeah Lebron and Kobe wouldn't be able to post re ed numbers against Angola....

My point is, he had a much better team with him than everyone else, which is always the case when USA plays. It's expected. Leading USA in minutes...is that something impressive? No, that team had a lot of players at each position and they were a balanced team so it didn't matter as much for who surrounded Durant on the court. They had 5 guards that are 6'3"...that shows the rotation they had. And they all can ball. Take your pick, freak athlete a, freak athlete b, ...etc, etc. No he lead in minutes, he's the best scorer on that team and one of the best in the world. And for those two reasons, being the best offensive player and leader in minutes, of course he lead the team in scoring. This was obviously a concentration for that team.

On the other hand, Manu played with Nocioni, Scola, and Oberto. Not Billups, Rose, Westbrook, Curry, Odom, etc. Manu played against the United States, not for them...further illustrating he faced stronger teams with a weaker roster, not weaker teams with a stronger roster.


But back to the original point, I'm not taking anything away from Durant, I'm only giving my "meh, who cares, is this really such an accomplishment as media made it out to be" opinion. Further, Durant being the dominant offensive player that he is, the team was built around him. Clearly the goal was to surround him with many athletic players to complement him (and why wouldn't it be, he's arguably the best offensive player in the world). Given these obvious ideas, is it really a surprise that he lead the team in minutes (no), or in scoring (no)???

Was it that impressive that the by far best player in the tournament, surrounded by the by far best role and bench players, led his team to victory???

I don't think so.

again watch the games and you will see that USA opponents were actually compe ive if not beating USA with Durant on the bench. Put Durant on the floor and USA starts tting on everyone.

I don't understand how you post on the subject if you obviously did not watch the games.

here, I found Durant's plus minus in Turkey round 1. Now you gonna tell me he was not the difference maker by a mile??? USA is - vs some teams with Durant on the bench.

btw, in the later rounds the +/- are even more dramatic.

[MiamiHeat]

Kevin Durant.

He's playing people now. He's riding this anti-LeBron "The Decision" stuff to get people to like him. It's fake as and I used to like KD, but now I think he's acting like a ing .












Hey Kevin Durant,

go suck a you ing pussy.

[Giuseppe]

That's just the worry wart in ya, Heat.

[SomeCallMeTim]

@ the LeBronfanz and Kobefanz uniting to hate on Durant because KD is stealing some shine from their hero.

KD seems to be as genuinely a good guy as there is among stars in the NBA.

Hating him for it is like hating "Supers ion" or Unforgiven. I guess everyone's en led to their own opinion, but when people hate certain things it reveals more about the hater than the hated IMO.

[Venti Quattro]

No Krstic and Thabo, no deal. Rings a bell

[MiamiHeat]

@ the LeBronfanz and Kobefanz uniting to hate on Durant because KD is stealing some shine from their hero.

KD seems to be as genuinely a good guy as there is among stars in the NBA.

Hating him for it is like hating "Supers ion" or Unforgiven. I guess everyone's en led to their own opinion, but when people hate certain things it reveals more about the hater than the hated IMO.

[ezau]

Class or not Durant this summer has already surpassed anything Lebron and Kobe have done in the world stage.

He will probably surpass Lebron's NBA accomplishments in a couple of years and suprassing Kobe's will be tough as he probably will not play next to a HOF center every championship run.

But I tell you this out of those 3, my money is on Durant to be the first to get his team to a championship as the team's true leader and most important player.

He needs two rings to equal what Kobe has achieved.

[Giuseppe]

He also needs to get Artest out of the same pair of Fruits he's occupying.

tee, hee.

[ezau]

He also needs to get Artest out of the same pair of Fruits he's occupying.

tee, hee.

The Viets

[Giuseppe]

The Viets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MannyIsGod]

at the Lebron fan butthurt in this thread. It really gets funnier every time someone makes another post about it.

[PM5K]

I like Durant but he's over doing it. He makes David Robinson look like a thug, lol.

[Poirot]

at the Lebron fan butthurt in this thread. It really gets funnier every time someone makes another post about it.

Yeah, whatever. Take your pick of NBA superstars, as almost all of them all prima-donnas. There are a few exceptions - Duncan, Nash...