If Kevin Durant’s Thunder career is really possibly going to end this year as he reaches free agency, one can hardly think of a better way to finish than in a Game 7 war with the new hottest thing in the NBA, with a trip to the Finals on the line.
Kevin Durant should feel no shame
Game 7 is obviously a crucial moment in Kevin Durant’s career, but it’d be foolish for the result to dramatically change his reputation.
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Durant’s eight years in Oklahoma City (he spent one in Seattle) have been fraught with supreme excellence and bittersweet finishes. Rare has been the time OKC fell short without an extraordinary excuse: injuries, usually. The only rationale this time around, should the Thunder lose Monday in Game 7 against the Warriors, would be that they were not good enough, just as was the case in the 2012 NBA Finals.
Durant could very well stay and finish his prime in Oklahoma City -- there have been no strong indications as to whether he’s plotting an escape or is committed to staying. Because of the lack of information, some have attempted to attribute the Thunder’s final fate in these playoffs as a deciding factor in Durant’s decision. Back when the Thunder were down 2-1 to the Spurs, plenty of folks were suggesting he’d be joining San Antonio itself. OKC stormed back, largely on the back of Russell Westbrook, for eight years the counterweight to Durant in OKC. Now there are those wondering if losing to the Warriors after being up 3-1 will send Durant into the arms of Golden State, who can against all odds make the room to snare him.
But instead of looking forward to what might be, let’s appreciate what is. Durant during these playoffs has looked as good as he has since his brief 2014 spell as the best player in the world. Durant supplanted LeBron -- for years the incumbent -- in that MVP dream season that ended with heartbreak at the hands of the Spurs. Months later, injuries cost Durant his throne, and Stephen Curry has taken it. Even Westbrook himself has potentially passed Durant in the irrelevant global power rankings.
Until now. Until this series, in which Durant is showing what makes him the perfect basketball player.
Durant’s defense has been extraordinary; don’t let some incredible Klay Thompson shots obscure that. Durant is using his length to create havoc, and he’s been (other than Andre Roberson) the most reliable switcher on OKC. There have been blown assignments leading to open Warriors shots, but Durant is responsible for precious few of them. He is locked in.
On offense, he pressed early in Game 6 and struggled with his handle late. Westbrook always presses, for better (usually) and worse (occasionally). Westbrook also struggled with his handle late. That was the game. The Thunder scored well enough to win and defended well enough to win. It just didn’t play clean basketball down the stretch. The handsy Warriors -- especially Andre Iguodala -- had a lot to do with that.
Game 7 is a perfect crucible for Durant’s Oklahoma City career, because like in 2012, there are no excuses. We’re finding out whether a healthy Durant-Westbrook team at the height of its powers can beat the 73-win Warriors. If not? There’s no shame in it, and Durant would be celebrated for staying in OKC to try again next year should he desire it. There’d be no shame if he decided to move on either.
Either way, there’s no shame in losing to the best regular season team of all time, just as there’s no shame in being the second- or third- or fourth-best basketball player in the world. Plenty of heroic NBA players were never considered the best in the world because of the times in which they lived. Plenty of the very best NBA players don’t have any rings.
That’s small consolation to Durant, Westbrook and the OKC fans who were thunderstruck by misfortune on Saturday. But it’s true. A win or loss on Monday does not set Durant’s fate, or that of the Thunder. (We should note that even in victory, the rested Cavaliers await.)
Yet though this result should not determine Durant’s overall legacy, it could potentially cap his Oklahoma City tenure, just as Game 6 vs. Boston in 2010 capped LeBron’s first Cleveland run. If this is it for Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, how will they remember him? We presume Durant will fight like hell for the win, as he’s always done. Let’s hope that, win or lose, that’ll be enough.
