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2019 NBA Playoffs Thread

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Steve Kerr deferring to Bob Myers when asked about KD’s health then Bob Myers incredibly bizarre performance. He seemed more bothered by how this will reflect on the organization than KD’s future as a basketball player. It was clear to many that he was holding his Achilles after the initial injury but I’m not a doctor.

I think Bob Myer knows this could have a ripple effect within the warriors and how their players take contracts. KD listen to the medical staff and the rest of the organization to play in the game. If Bob Myer and the ownership then turn their back on KD and don't offer him the supermax, they might not just lose KD but Klay and Draymond could sour on the organization too. Teams like to give off the perception that they are more than just a business to their players but this could be a big reality check to that.

It also goes beyond just offering KD the supermax. Bob Myer will have to make wholesale changes to his medical staff and possibly parts of his front office. Something like this can't slid as a missed diagnosis. The talking heads on Twitter and ESPN could tell from the video that the initial injury was an Achilles, if the medical staff missed that or didn't want to second guess the initial diagnosis then they all should be fired.
 
It's pretty manager macabre to immediately get curious about his contract, but he has to pick up that player option.

That handicaps that team and costs them an enormous amount of money next year for a guy they can't play.

It will be very interesting how it works out
Call me crazy but I think New York and Brooklyn offer him that 4 year max contract...this is their chance to get Durant and i think they will strike while they can even if he can't play next year. Whether Durant resigns with GS or leaves will be completely up to him,,,but i think the offers will still be there.
 
Call me crazy but I think New York and Brooklyn offer him that 4 year max contract...this is their chance to get Durant and i think they will strike while they can even if he can't play next year. Whether Durant resigns with GS or leaves will be completely up to him,,,but i think the offers will still be there.

I think it really depends on how they feel out whoever else they can recruit. There are options out there. Is Kyrie going to be happy giving up a year of competing to pick Durant over Butler or Russell or whoever else the Nets could target? Kyrie, Russell, and the leftover cap could make a pretty good team because Russell only has a 20 million cap hold and the Nets have a good core in place.

The Knicks don't really have the roster to compete with just one star. Who is signing up for that roster alone for at least a year without Durant? Even if they can get Anthony Davis in trade to play along a free agent, is it worth the risk to put AD on a team that might not win much with him being in a contract year?
 
I think Bob Myer knows this could have a ripple effect within the warriors and how their players take contracts. KD listen to the medical staff and the rest of the organization to play in the game. If Bob Myer and the ownership then turn their back on KD and don't offer him the supermax, they might not just lose KD but Klay and Draymond could sour on the organization too. Teams like to give off the perception that they are more than just a business to their players but this could be a big reality check to that.

It also goes beyond just offering KD the supermax. Bob Myer will have to make wholesale changes to his medical staff and possibly parts of his front office. Something like this can't slid as a missed diagnosis. The talking heads on Twitter and ESPN could tell from the video that the initial injury was an Achilles, if the medical staff missed that or didn't want to second guess the initial diagnosis then they all should be fired.

I see your point but the pessimist in me sees it a different way that's even more sinister. Bob Myers and everyone on the team knew KD was leaving for New York or Brooklyn and decided to pressure him into "giving it one last go." At the end of the day nobody pointed a gun at KD and I'm 100% sure he had people in his ear telling him it wasn't worth it but he did and it backfired. However, I think they're having a different tune entirely if KD comes to Myers before the season or publicly announces he's staying in Golden State to finish his career. Do you think Myers is then willing to risk the ORGANIZATIONS future since KD is now a part of that?

Yes, the collective party decided KD would be cleared for this game but there were already rumblings of this being an Achilles tear (call us internet doctors but a lot of people including myself were not buying the viewpoint that "the worst thing that can happen is 're-straining' the calf" that they were peddling)

KD fans will see him as a tragic hero who fell on the sword for his team but most others will see him as a mentally weak individual who couldn't deal with the narrative of his team doing well without him and clearly felt the pressure when the narrative was flipped to "he's faking it or letting his team down to prove a point." Heck guys like Draymond were probably part of the "frustrated Warriors" report and seemed that way based on a few comment made in the post game press conference after game 3.

IT will never be the same and it cost him a near max deal trying to "toughen it out" for Boston. Then you have Kawhi Leonard who was willing to sit out all season because he simply didn't agree with the diagnosis and felt that the Spurs were no longer looking out for his best interest. I've seen QB's in the NFL who are clearly concussed being given the green light by team doctors. Are they looking out for that QB's long term health or the team at that point?

I think if KD gets a second opinion, they're telling him it's not worth it. It's a terrible injury that's hard to recover from but I'm sure guys like Rudy Gay will give him hope because he's certainly still pretty athletic, he'll still have his jumper, he'll still be tall as hell and unlike IT he'll still make all the money he would've made healthy. His peak will be shortened and his legacy impacted but it's not the funeral people are making it out to be. I just think it was a selfish performance by Myers made only to get out ahead of an obvious re-injury for PR purposes.
 
The desperate post-game backpedaling by Bob Myer and KD's teammates was the most cringe-worthy shit I've witnessed in recent sports history.

"He's a true warrior!" "We need to win these next two for KD!"

Gross and so painfully impersonal at best; at worst - a desperate attempt to save face as an organization.

It's plainly obvious that none of them have a close relationship with the guy, either. Your organization cultivated this atmosphere that imposed a great deal of pressure on players to sacrifice any sense of self to the point that it will cost Durant career earnings and career longevity.

I also understand that this coincides with the professional sports culture by-and-large. It's expected that you play through injury at this level... But not to the point where you prompt negligence and medical malpractice.

That said, do I feel bad for KD? Not really. He's still a mega millionaire and he's reaping what he sowed... As for Golden State? You flew too close to the sun... And for that, I feel that karma has finally reared its ugly head.
 
The desperate post-game backpedaling by Bob Myer and KD's teammates was the most cringe-worthy shit I've witnessed in recent sports history.

"He's a true warrior!" "We need to win these next two for KD!"

Gross and so painfully impersonal at best; at worst - a desperate attempt to save face as an organization.

It's plainly obvious that none of them have a close relationship with the guy, either. Your organization cultivated this atmosphere that imposed a great deal of pressure on players to sacrifice any sense of self to the point that it will cost Durant career earnings and career longevity.

I also understand that this coincides with the professional sports culture by-and-large. It's expected that you play through injury at this level... But not to the point where you prompt negligence and medical malpractice.

That said, do I feel bad for KD? Not really. He's still a mega millionaire and he's reaping what he sowed... As for Golden State? You flew too close to the sun... And for that, I feel that karma has finally reared its ugly head.

I agree with everything you stated except the part about their team. Their organization got two titles in 2017 and 2018 that they're NOT getting without KD's services. Even if the rest of his career is in jeopardy all they're on the books for is one season at $31.5m. All that was worth a hell of a lot more than being a one and done franchise.
 
I wanted to say something about the cheering.

They assured us during the game that there was no risk to the Achilles, so when it happened, nobody thought it was that bad. It looked like he was defended well and lost the ball initially. I didn't realize he was hurt. They were already cheering the turnover. I think in that kind of charged atmosphere it was easy to lose control.

I thought to myself, "You stupid MFer, thought you could save the Golden Boys".

I think they should be emphasizing how good the Raptors players were.
 
I agree with everything you stated except the part about their team. Their organization got two titles in 2017 and 2018 that they're NOT getting without KD's services. Even if the rest of his career is in jeopardy all they're on the books for is one season at $31.5m. All that was worth a hell of a lot more than being a one and done franchise.
Perhaps but make no mistake - this is a stain that won't be washed clean. If memory serves, this would be one of the few instances (outside of football/concussions) in which a team (and not the player, themselves) may have altered the career of one of the game's best players due to medical negligence.

That just feels dirty in so many ways.
 
The Warriors' organization is definitely to blame here. Not sure if KD made an executive decision but letting him play and putting him at risk to try and regain some momentum in the series was a bad idea. There is no chance he was full healed, and he basically went down with two non-contact injuries in the last month. When one part of your body is weak or just recovered, you can't go back into full training without ramping up the intensity periodically.

It reminds me a lot of the Kawhi situation except Leonard's camp was smart enough to sit out.
 
So...with all of the other news, I heard that there's a game on Thursday.

Hot take: After all the talk about "Game 6 Klay," and with how in general he has been excellent this series, he puts up a clunker. That doesn't mean Dubs lose...just that he puts up a clunker.
 
That said, do I feel bad for KD? Not really. He's still a mega millionaire and he's reaping what he sowed... As for Golden State? You flew too close to the sun... And for that, I feel that karma has finally reared its ugly head.

Let's hope so. I definitely don't want to watch the Cavs lose sole ownership of 3-1 to these shit heads. I hope Klay goes full KlayQuil and Steph goes into his run of airballs. And that Kevon Looney doesn't play so there has to be extended periods of Bogut on the floor.
 
Let's hope so. I definitely don't want to watch the Cavs lose sole ownership of 3-1 to these shit heads. I hope Klay goes full KlayQuil and Steph goes into his run of airballs. And that Kevon Looney doesn't play so there has to be extended periods of Bogut on the floor.
Plenty of teams come back from down 3-1; shit, the Warriors themselves did it the series prior. That it's the Finals really shouldn't matter, and if it makes you feel any better, we'll always be the first team to do it.

Rooting for the Warriors here. Can't stand to watch the "paragon of perfect health" Warriors characteristically fall apart the second LeBron leaves Cleveland and we're no longer a contender. The fuckin' Raptors of all teams shouldn't be the ones to take advantage. It also diminishes our accomplishment of being the only team to put a dent in their dynasty.

Screw Toronto.
 
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Plenty of teams come back from down 3-1; shit, the Warriors themselves did it the series prior. That it's the Finals really shouldn't matter, and if it makes you feel any better, we'll always be the first team to do it.

Rooting for the Warriors here. Can't stand to watch the "paragon of perfect health" Warriors characteristically fall apart the second LeBron leaves Cleveland and we're no longer a contender. The fuckin' Raptors of all teams shouldn't be the ones to take advantage. It also diminishes our accomplishment of being the only team to put a dent in their dynasty.

Screw Toronto.

Fuck that. If you care about basketball in general, you should want the Warriors to lose and end that dynasty. Toronto has been the better team and deserve it more.

The Cavs of 2016 would have whooped this squad by the way.

Your post made me incredibly mad. That's a big disagree bub.
 
The Warriors' organization is definitely to blame here. Not sure if KD made an executive decision but letting him play and putting him at risk to try and regain some momentum in the series was a bad idea. There is no chance he was full healed, and he basically went down with two non-contact injuries in the last month. When one part of your body is weak or just recovered, you can't go back into full training without ramping up the intensity periodically.

It reminds me a lot of the Kawhi situation except Leonard's camp was smart enough to sit out.

Someone will get fired over this, or leave "to pursue other interests". Likely Myers. It may or may not be right, but it will allow the Warriors to save face with the players and say they dealt with it.
 
Plenty of teams come back from down 3-1; shit, the Warriors themselves did it the series prior. That it's the Finals really shouldn't matter, and if it makes you feel any better, we'll always be the first team to do it.

Rooting for the Warriors here. Can't stand to watch the "paragon of perfect health" Warriors characteristically fall apart the second LeBron leaves Cleveland and we're no longer a contender. The fuckin' Raptors of all teams shouldn't be the ones to take advantage. It also diminishes our accomplishment of being the only team to put a dent in their dynasty.

Screw Toronto.

I am definitely not rooting for the Warriors, and I am fine with seeing Toronto win -- they have always been a classy organization, not obnoxious like the Celtics. But I totally relate to the frustration in watching the Warriors fall apart once Lebron has left and we are in the basement. If we had just managed the Kyrie trade correctly and kept Lebron this could have been us in a position to take advantage.
 

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