# Durant as a Warrior? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 22, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997 "2016-06-22T00:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/21 "2016-07-08T21:43:48Z")
I play a lot of ball and I can understand the appeal. GSW is a good team that plays (to me) a very fun style of basketball. Durant can go to GSW, have a lot of fun, win a ring, and be an important member of a team that is a strong candidate for GOAT. Then he can opt out and go help another team (like the Celtics!) If they don’t win it, though, it’ll be rough. ---
**Author:** ![ERON](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed8c4c/32.png) [@ERON](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ERON)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/22 "2016-07-08T21:56:29Z")
73-9 might turn to 74-8 or win it all! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/23 "2016-07-08T22:27:10Z")
> [@ERON](#): > > 73-9 might turn to 74-8 or win it all! It has been argued ( and I kinda agree ) that that is pretty unlikely next year. Not only is it extremely hard in of itself, but I think a championship is the goal. Given that three key players are going to be in the Olympics, conserving minutes and resting players is probably going to be a big deal. Plus no matter how well Durant fits, you also have to ease in Pachulia, West etc. into a new system - there will probably be a lot of experimental lineups thrown out there, especially in the first half of the season. I think a still very impressive 60-70 is more realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/24 "2016-07-09T14:20:58Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Durant is absolutely a great player, and I’m sure he’ll play very well. He’s simply not needed for that team to be a championship caliber team. His presence is unnecessary. So? You called his decision “weak”; you said it “disgusts you”; and you dismiss any contribution he has even yet to make as simply “participant”. That, to me, is a huge step beyond “well, they could (and did) win a championship without him”. I understand that Durant won’t be as necessary for wins with GSW as he was with OKC, but what I don’t get is the venom toward him that comes from you when expressing that opinion. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/25 "2016-07-09T14:43:36Z")
On one hand, yeah, it’s too easy to just join an already championship caliber team. But two points in favor of such a move: 1. The NBA, even more than MLB or the NFL, is more efficient than other sports in that the best teams usually win and there are fewer genuine surprises barring injuries. The teams that are supposed to contend for the title usually do. OKC was a bit short and was always going to be a bit short barring a blockbuster free agent addition. The last 30 years have seen a ton of HoF caliber NBA players never win a ring. So it’s understandable that the greatest players at some point will get fed up with waiting and join a team that can win. 2. Superteams are awesome. It’s all the more special when a superteam gets beat. Parity may be good for some pro sports towns, but it’s the superteams that expand the fanbase and create storylines for casual fans. There is no NBA finals with a superteam that doesn’t rock. Either two titans duke it out, or it’s the superteam vs. the plucky underdog. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/26 "2016-07-09T16:15:16Z")
You and I have very different definitions of “awesome.” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/27 "2016-07-09T16:38:08Z")
Were the Jordan-Pippen-Rodman Bulls awesome? How about Kareem and Magic with the Lakers? ---
**Author:** ![ERON](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed8c4c/32.png) [@ERON](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ERON)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/28 "2016-07-09T17:57:23Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > When I think ‘Championship Ring’ the words ‘easily earned’ kind of disgust me. > > I think this is the only time in my life I have agreed with Stephen A Smith. It’s weak. Great players, championship players, make the teams they are on ‘great’ by their presence. The Warriors are a championship caliber team without Durant, he doesn’t make them great, he’s just along for the ride. > > His ring, if he gets one, should have ‘Participant’ engraved on it. Did they say Shaq was weak for joining the Lakers with Kobe, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/29 "2016-07-09T18:09:51Z")
I see in this morning’s paper that Ezeli is coming to Portland. The Blazers really need a big, tough guy inside. Plumlee is becoming a pretty good defender, but I don’t think he has the muscle, and his inside shot really sucks. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/30 "2016-07-09T18:26:35Z")
> [@ERON](#): > > Did they say Shaq was weak for joining the Lakers with Kobe, etc.? Kobe wasn’t a superstar when Shaq joined him. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/31 "2016-07-09T21:32:39Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I don’t get this line of thinking at all. To think that Durant will be “just along for the ride” and won’t contribute if they win a championship, you have to believe he’s either going to be injured or … well ignore the entirety of his NFL career so far. Durant is one of the best players in the NBA, and he would be if he were in OKC, New York, or East Bumblefuck, OH. This idea that somehow he’ll just be “participant” is just stupid, unless he’s injured. > > I also don’t get this idea that somehow it’s a less worthy championship because he’s going to a good team. Not many think Magic’s championship are somehow lesser because he had Kareem, Green, and Worthy. Or that Bird was “just along for the ride” because he had Parish and McHale. Yes, the Warriors are a very good team. But to degrade Durant’s decision and performance before a second of the season is played, is just plain silly. In 1978-79, the year before Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the NBA, the Boston Celtics were 29-53. The Los Angeles Lakers were better at 47-35, which was tied with three other teams for the sixth-best record in the NBA. Except for Abdul-jabbar, the other big names came later, unlike Golden State now ``` While I understand why players want to win a championship (Wilt Chamberlain led the league in all sorts of categories, including assists and was denigrated for "only winning two championships"), it looks kind of weak to me...like Kyle Busch racing against weaker drivers and teams in all these Xfinity and Camping World Truck support series that NASCAR has. Or Roger Clemens suddenly deciding he wanted to pitch in New York after the Yankees won 114 regular season game and the World Series. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997/32 "2016-07-10T10:28:46Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I understand that Durant won’t be as necessary for wins with GSW as he was with OKC, but what I don’t get is the venom toward him that comes from you when expressing that opinion. This is a bit of an understatement. Without Durant, GSW wins more regular season games than any other team in history and was on the cusp of winning the title and “Best Team in the History of the Game” moniker. Without Durant, OKC is done, they’ll be lucky to make the playoffs. This is not the first time a great player chased a championship, but it’s the first time a great player joined a historically great team while chasing a championship. Barkley didn’t jump to the Bulls, he joined the playoff bound Suns. Shaq went to the Lakers when they had an 18 year old Kobe who didn’t even start for 2 years. Anyway, it rubs me the wrong way, and when I’m cranky, rubbing me the wrong way gets me pissed off over things that don’t really impact me very much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/durant-as-a-warrior/757997.md?page=1)