NBA 2016-2017 Season

[Benjamin]

Oh yeah, that was kinda' funny. It's always extra funny when LeBron suddenly doesn't show up in the post-season, especially right after bragging about not giving a damn about the regular season.

[Tyrone]

Manu

[Benjamin]

Did he confirm he's retiring? Fuck this day man

Honestly, we were probably never going to win this season anyway, but I'm still proud to be a Spurs fan with how much we fought.

[Pooker]

If this is really the end for both Manu and Parker, it's truly the end of an era and the end of a dynasty. 

[Pooker]

So who does everybody got? Cleveland? Or Golden State?

[Meacon Keaton]

I can honestly say this is the first time where I really don't give a damn. The first match-up I wanted Golden State because they had been traditional losers. Last year I wanted Golden State, but ended up ok with it being Cleveland. But third year in a row? I could not give less of a shit.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I think I'd rather LeBron win. I don't really follow a whole lot of basketball but I think it'd be fun to see him win again. I know a lot of people get upset when teams win over and over again, but I think it's cool to think that I've potentially seen the best basketball player in the world play live. I never saw Jordan play, so at least I can say I've seen LeBron play.

[Maxx]

Oh Manu is finally gone?  Good.

[livid]

I want Golden State to win all the way. I would like to see Durant's decision to leave OKC justified because I've always liked him and would like to see him get the thing that's alluded him to this point, even if it is by joining a team like the Warriors. It doesn't hurt that I just enjoy the way they play basketball. 

[The Buscher]

I can't respect Durant taking the easy way out to get a ring.  I just can't.  He's not some veteran in the twilight of his career just trying to latch on to a team to chase a ring, he's a superstar in the prime of his career who got close but decided that competing just wasn't fun anymore.

It's the same reason I hated the Heat when LeBron first went over.  The counter-argument is that these guys should be praised for taking less money to try to win a ring.  I don't buy that.  They're still being paid obscene amounts of money, they just decided to nip whatever competition in the bud they had in the process.  Super teams have completely killed the NBA for me.

So yeah, I'd prefer the Cavs to win just as a fuck you to Durant.  But I don't really care either way.  As long as super teams are still a thing, the league will never have more than 3 or 4 (if that) actual contenders.

[Maxx]

2 minutes ago, Busch Strowman said:

I can't respect Durant taking the easy way out to get a ring.  I just can't.  He's not some veteran in the twilight of his career just trying to latch on to a team to chase a ring, he's a superstar in the prime of his career who got close but decided that competing just wasn't fun anymore.

It's the same reason I hated the Heat when LeBron first went over.  The counter-argument is that these guys should be praised for taking less money to try to win a ring.  I don't buy that.  They're still being paid obscene amounts of money, they just decided to nip whatever competition in the bud they had in the process.  Super teams have completely killed the NBA for me.

So yeah, I'd prefer the Cavs to win just as a fuck you to Durant.  But I don't really care either way.  As long as super teams are still a thing, the league will never have more than 3 or 4 (if that) actual contenders.

Um...LeBron did the exact same thing going back to Cleveland, he just traded Wade and Bosh for Kyrie and Love.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I really hate the players selling out narrative. Who cares. It's his life long dream. And it's not like going to a new team means it's a slam dunk to win a championship. I feel like in professional sports, players get a lot of flack when teams should be the ones we get frustrated with. 

[The Buscher]

8 minutes ago, Maxx said:

Um...LeBron did the exact same thing going back to Cleveland, he just traded Wade and Bosh for Kyrie and Love.

I realize that, and I don't like the Cavs either.  I was hoping for them to get dropped again last year.  But he ended Cleveland's drought so at this point them winning again is just the lesser of two evils.  Maybe if Durant gets humbled and doesn't win a ring in his time in Golden State players will actually decide the grass isn't always greener and you don't have to jump ship to win.

Probably not, but it's fun to dream of an NBA where you actually have a lot of teams that could viably contend instead of a scant few super teams and everyone else just being filler.

[Maxx]

He played with the Thunder for 9 years.  They had a young core that proved it could make it to the finals.  Their front office decided to be idiots and break them up prematurely, and then never did enough to put a winning team around Durant again.  Why should he have to stay in Oklahoma City and never win a title to appease people?  That doesn't make any sense.  The Thunder made poor personnel decisions and couldn't win as a result.   Golden State made exceptional personnel decisions, had great success and still had enough cap space to sign yet another superstar.  He got his money and a better chance to succeed.

 

[Benjamin]

Cleveland all the way. The Warriors are boring and can fuck off.

[livid]

I think the people that argue that super teams are ruining the NBA need to take a look at NBA history a little closer. They're nothing new and parity isn't something that has ever really existed in the league. 

Nevermind the fact that shaming a player like Durant for leaving OKC to a place he'd rather play is hypocritical because it's not a standard you hold yourself to so why hold him to it? If you don't like your job situation, find a new one. Why can't athletes do the same?

[The Buscher]

OKC took the Warriors to a Game 7 last year.  There isn't any reason to think they couldn't have been serious contenders in the West this year had Durant stayed aboard, throw in the Spurs too and suddenly you've got a fun three way race in the West.  But even if he was frustrated in OKC and wanted out, think of how many other teams could have been contenders with him.  Putting aside my anti-Boston bias, imagine if he went there?  These Eastern finals would be so much fun.  As it is now you had a Celtics/Wizards series go 7 games and, as one reporter put it, it was like two goats fighting over who gets to go in the pit with the T-Rex.

But he went to the one team that would allow him to cakewalk to a ring, and in turn it made this whole season a foregone conclusion.  He did nothing wrong in terms of the rules and he's getting his money, but it turned the NBA season into an 11 month prologue before the inevitable Part 3.

The league has never had this level of talent before - I really feel we could see unforeseen numbers of contending teams on a year to year basis but as long as super teams are a trend, the league will never reach the level of parity and competitive potential that it should.  And as a fan of the sport of basketball, that's a shame.

[Pooker]

I think the difference between super teams now and super teams in the past is the way they have been formed. In the past was mainly trades and drafting. Now a days it's more players choosing themselves to form these super teams. And while I don't agree with it, it's the way the NBA works now. I think this Finals has the potential to be one of the best ever.

And we've all seen that super teams are beatable. Just look at the Lakers/Pistons from the early 2000s.

[The Buscher]

Yeah but I think super teams now would make even the super teams of the past blush.  Usually the baseline for "superteam" is three potentially Hall of Fame caliber players on one roster...now you're seeing four or five.

An out there idea that obviously has no chance of happening would be to just kill the draft and let rookies enter as free agents.  The rookies will understandably want to maximize their earnings potential, and for most of them that will mean having a platform that already loaded teams can't provide.  The result would hopefully mean the mid-tier teams snap up a lot of these guys and the league ends up flush with contending teams.

The bottom tier teams would probably still be screwed but more often than not their issues stem from front office incompetence, so giving those teams lottery picks year after year doesn't really help anything.

[Maxx]

29 minutes ago, Pooker said:

I think the difference between super teams now and super teams in the past is the way they have been formed. In the past was mainly trades and drafting. Now a days it's more players choosing themselves to form these super teams. And while I don't agree with it, it's the way the NBA works now. I think this Finals has the potential to be one of the best ever.

And we've all seen that super teams are beatable. Just look at the Lakers/Pistons from the early 2000s.

Oh come on, Mavs over Heat is a way better example