Good lord man, I addressed that in both of my past two comments. Nobody is calling him a liar. See my analogies to saying you’re a fan of foreign movies and academy award winners. But the actual consequences of our actions are not up for redrafting due to our intentions. The objective consequences of what he’s done…

First of all, why is it incumbent upon me to show that a majority of people think that? What does that have to do with anything? I explicitly laid out why his own motivations can’t supersede the actual consequences of his actions above; none of which had to do with polling “people” (which people? basketball fans? NBA…

Someone telling you why they’re doing something doesn’t trump the clear consequences of their actions. You can say that you love watching foreign films in order to impress dinner guests, but if your netflix history shows a whole bunch of teenage comedies that doesn’t mean your statement is accurate. Similarly, one can…

False binary. He could have stayed in OKC and actually won a title next year. Personally, I’ve got not emotional issue with him leaving. But I do recognize the validity of the arguments people make about why this is disappointing for fans of the sport, and a disappointing sign of what it means about KD’s competitive…

Drew Magary Pens Worst Possible Column About Kevin Durant News.

Hey, thanks for that. An internet commenter that engages with the debate reasonably, as a give and take. Much appreciated :)

“But doesn’t this line of criticism imply that his leaving OKC for GS will negatively impact the overall NBA fan experience in some way?”

Absolutely. Nobody is arguing that people’s perceptions of Lebron don’t have legitimate marketing causes, only that much of the backlash against The Decision was preordained. The Decision confirmed a lot of people’s view of Lebron, but that caused the backlash against The Decision, as opposed to people’s hatred of The…

He was comparing control within established roles. Durants role on the court as a leader vs. a corporate leadership role. It was about degrees of control. Durant would have been the CEO of the team ON THE COURT; the known leader, the guy that is responsible for the team’s successes and failures, and the one the team…

Maybe so, but I feel like the cause actually precedes both of those events- I think people viewed Lebron as arrogant and not a true leader in the Jordan mold, and latched onto any confirmation bias events they could find. So the criticism of The Decision AND his decision to go to Miami were caused by that already…

The comment you responded to wasn’t arguing that KD had to martyr himself by staying in OKC, or martyr himself elsewhere by toiling in a futile situation. It was criticizing the decision to join an established superpower in the league that won’t challenge KD to become a better player. He’s taking the easy route. The…

The criticism of The Decision was bizarre as well. Lebron found a marketing opportunity that allowed him to raise $6 million for charity, and yet people criticized him mercilessly for it. Was it a bad idea? I guess so, in retrospect. Was it worthy of universal condemnation given the vast amount of good it did for…

“stop pretending that KD choosing GSW is in any way similar to you or I taking a job somewhere because that is laughable.”

That was a whole bunch of strawmanning there

People make job decisions for a variety of reasons- more money, more responsibility, location, etc. The reason people are perplexed about the KD decision is that he took less money, and FAR less responsibility, to play for a team that just defeated him a month or so ago. The reason he did that appears to be because he…

Just want to point out how hilarious it is that people are responding to your analogy by saying things like “but he doesn’t own the basketball team!” It’s a freakin’ analogy folks. The comparison was to Durant’s role on the court, where he absolutely is the leader of the team and the focal point of the way it plays.…

Sure, people who are actively angry about this are ridiculous. But there are plenty of reasons to not like the move, or to be disappointed by it. For one, KD said that the decision was “based on the potential for my growth as a player.” Nothing demonstrates less growth as an individual than giving up on the challenge…

He could also have been, ya know, joking.

“...person wearing it isn’t trying to say anything more than that he likes to local sports team.”

You are making the same error the article made, and the one that the commenter was highlighting. It’s fairly clear Schefter was taking that notion into account. Avoiding politics entirely is impossible, as any reasonable adult recognizes (and Schefter would seem to clearly recognize). Taking conscious stands and…