Friday Bolts – 7.15.16
Wound, meet salt: Andre Iguodala: “Now that we got KD, I can say it: They were the best
team last year in the league in the playoffs,” Iguodala said of OKC. “They were better than us. They were better than Cleveland. They were the best team in the playoffs. They should’ve won a championship.”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “The topic du jour, of course, was Kevin Durant, who left Oklahoma City after nine years with the little franchise that could and joined forces with three All-Stars — including the two-time reigning MVP — in the Bay Area. As Silver dusted off his talking points from the 2011 lockout, it reinforced the notion — often lost in documenting Durant’s decision for posterity — that this is something that wasn’t supposed to be allowed. There they were again from Silver on Tuesday, the two goals that would never change: 1) NBA franchises, if well managed, should have a chance to be profitable; and 2) regardless of market size or the depth of ownership’s pockets, they should have the opportunity to compete for championships.”
Danny Chau of The Ringer: “Imagining Westbrook on another team isn’t difficult because we’ve grown attached to the particular jersey colorway he’s repped his entire career. It’s difficult because it’s taking a unique feature of a landscape and overlaying it somewhere completely unaccustomed to the potential effects. It’s like trying to imagine an avalanche in a landlocked desert.”
Adam Silver had Mama Durant after him: “The one thing I have learned, I was just talking to Kevin Durant’s mom, every situation is different. This was a team in Golden State where they have three all-stars who were all drafted. A team that’s under the cap. And one free agent, who also happens to be a superstar, makes a decision to go to that team. It’s very different than if multiple players from different teams had come together and said let’s all land on yet a completely different team.”
A Thunder fan’s letter to Clay Bennett: “I will continue to have confidence in Sam Presti, just not as much. Did he misread Kevin’s motives? Was he unaware of or underestimate Golden State’s apparent season long recruitment of Durant? Did he not see that Kevin’s psyche was so fragile that he could be heavily influenced by the mere presence of fellow players at his free agent rush parties? Can Sam pull the right strings this season or are we destined to get played the same way by Russell Westbrook? We are now left to wait and wonder. This whole thing with Durant was ugly but we all know now that it could get uglier.”
Cam Payne in an interview with His and Hers: “I feel we’re going to be a pretty good young team. It’s going to be the same thing. We’re Thunder basketball. We do everything the Thunder way, and one thing we do is win games. So, no doubt about it I have confidence in our team and we’ll be ready for it.”
Erik Horne: “Nine days after his last meeting with the media, Westbrook released a statement announcing he wouldn’t play in the Olympics this summer. Since July 10, his voice has been heard … via light-hearted Snapchat videos. Vacation in Hawaii. Going back home to California. Adventures from his Why Not? Basketball Camp in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Multiple witness accounts from Westbrook’s OKC camp had the Thunder star being asked by campers if he’ll be back at the camp in 2017, to which Westbrook said yes. Other than that subject-to-change answer to his young fans, it’s been quiet in regard to his future.”
