Monday Bolts – 9.1.14
Susan Bible of Basketball Insiders on Anthony Morrow: “Presti knows the Thunder ranked 15th in the league last year in total three-pointers made and ranked 14th in three-point efficiency (36.1 percent). In three-pointers from the corner, the Thunder were, as a team, ranked 28th at 35.3 percent. Morrow’s corner shooting last year in New Orleans was 46.0 percent. With the departure of Derek Fisher and Butler, whose long-distance shooting came more by opportunity, Morrow will slide in well. The Thunder’s up-tempo offensive style suits Morrow’s quick and fearless nature. The line-up options now available to Brooks are considerably more diverse. Whether he starts (not likely) or not, Morrow adds a new dimension, especially when lights-out shooting is needed to close out a game or spacing the floor so Durant and Westbrook can do their thing.”
J.M. Poulard of Bleacher Report: “One might consider that a great display of intestinal fortitude given how he bounced back, but that’s just Russ being Russ. I’m not sure there’s another player in the league who can match both his ceiling and floor. He’s capable of outshining Durant or demonstrating the worst point guard play in a championship game, according to Magic Johnson back in 2012. And yet, I hope Westbrook never changes. Sure, he might look like an oncoming train wreck every now and then, but he also lights up the tracks. Nothing is ever dull or even average with Westbrook. All of his plays are executed at 120 miles per hour, and that makes him susceptible to sensational highlights and spectacular blunders. Westbrook is a nerve-wracking experience all by himself, and I certainly enjoy it. As someone who once enjoyed watching wrestling, I see parallels between Westbrook and wrestling superstars. Russell has his own signature move (six-shooter holsters), a swagger that borders on arrogance and the ability to recover from whatever pitfalls he suffers during play (this dude had three knee surgeries and it’s impossible to tell based on the way he flies around the court). Why would anyone want any of that to evolve? A more conventional Westbrook would be a less entertaining one.”
KD tweets: “Excited and humbled to sign back with the swoosh!”
Darren Rovell on KD’s deal: “Durant was a loyal Nike man, who took significantly less money to go with the company over Adidas when they both wooed him his rookie season. But considering the business that Durant became in the last two years, shoe business insiders were shocked that Nike didn’t try to lock him up before he became a shoe free agent. Nike frequently signs its stars to new deals before their current ones are up so that they can’t test the marketplace. That might have cost Nike more in this case, though it’s still a drop in the bucket to the company, which expects to sell more than $27 billion in product in 2014, making it more than nine times Under Armour’s size. Although the money was big, sources close to Durant say the decision weighed on him. Going back to Nike comes with a sense of relief, those sources said, because Durant, who has turned into one of the league’s most marketable stars, can still make significant money without being associated with the risks of Under Armour’s fledgling shoe business.”
Mitch McGary on his suspension: “It was a learning moment. The way I handled it was mature and responsible so I think people actually took my side against the NCAA … You know what? I did. Whatever. So what? I learned from it,” he said. “It was the opposite of harming somebody.”
Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports on McGary: “Surely, pot can adversely affect an NBA athlete — resulting in impaired eye-hand coordination, short-term memory loss and respiratory problems — but as many proponents of marijuana legalization will explain, the effects of alcohol on the human body can be equally harmful, if not worse. As more and more states legalize marijuana, governing bodies in sports may be forced to rethink their testing policies, and either NBA owners or players could reopen labor negotiations in 2017.”
Anthony Slater: “Stephen Curry bolted for Under Armour last September. Damian Lillard chose Adidas in a $100 million-plus bidding war that concluded in April. Historically, Nike has allowed some of the NBA’s rising stars to trickle down to other apparel companies. But the league’s transcendent figures? Some of the world’s most marketable athletes? Those don’t typically escape Nike’s grasp. And that’s why Kevin Durant will remain an endorser of the company that controls more than 90 percent of the basketball apparel market.”
