Did we really need another take on Kevin Durant's decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors? Well, no. Did we get one? Well, yes.
Los Angeles Clippers general manager and coach Doc Rivers was the latest to join the chorus still upset with Durant for joining the Warriors. Rivers was discussing the topic on "Mike & Mike" on ESPN Radio on Tuesday morning, when he complained about the move from a competition standpoint. Transcription via Sporting News:
"It is tough when you see a guy join a team — in Durant's case what he did this year. That was tough for anybody, anybody's that's competitive, to watch. He lost, and then he joined. Having said that, it was his choice, I have no problem with him, but it's something from a competitive standpoint, you would think you wouldn't do.
"I have no problem with him doing it, it's just something from a competitive point, for me, I guess when I played it would have been tough for me to join Detroit. Having said that, he has the ability to do it, guys are doing it, and there's nothing you can do about it."
OK, first of all, congrats to Doc for the most couched statement of all time. But anyway, yes, Rivers has a point, as has everyone that's complained about the move, in that Durant's move decimated one contender (OKC) and without creating another one. He simply made Golden State extremely good instead of super good. So yeah, it hurt the competitiveness of the league.
Still, it's a bit funny hearing this from Doc Rivers, who coached the 2008 Celtics. To be fair, those were trades that brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, but both of those moves certainly hurt the competitiveness of the league, as the Timberwolves and SuperSonics (RIP) both lost Hall of Fame players. And I'm pretty sure Doc wasn't complaining about that back then.
