Official 2017 NBA Off Season Thread

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by staylor26

It's definitely hypocrisy.

But a lot of them are Lebron defenders so it doesn't surprise me. Even he is handling it like a hypocrite.

It's not completely hypocritcal; it's just criticism for different reasons.

People criticize Durant not because he left, but because he joined a turn-key champion and the competitive drive we want to see from our athletes says we'd prefer seem them blaze their own trail. The whole 'to be the best you gotta beat the best' thing is a staple of athletic competition. Durant didn't have to beat the best - he just joined them.

That same competitive instinct makes us look at a guy in Irving who wants to leave a winning team to go...well anywhere he can be a more clear #1 option (including shit teams like the Knicks) makes people take pause. It certainly makes me wonder why his motivation is.

But then I remember that Kobe didn't want to go to a team, chuck up shots and lose. He wanted to go to a team, chuck up shots and prove that he can kick ass without Shaq. It was still pure ego at work, but it wasn't pure ego without competitive drive (and yeah, the league has plenty of those guys; Carmelo Anthony, for one). So maybe that's what Irving's looking to do. He's not looking to go pile up hollow offense, get a shoe deal and show that he can score from behind. He's looking to prove that he can go somewhere and be 'the man' and win still.

I don't fault him, but I also don't think it's fair to say anyone that criticizes both him and Durant are being hypocritical.