NBA 2021-2022

Forced his way out of Spurs in a distasteful manner.
I read two articles online but I couldn't find much on this. One article suggested Kawhi was "hiding" from the Spurs, when he was medically cleared but looking for a second and third option because of lingering pain, is this what you mean?

If not, would you mind telling me what the problem was exactly? I don't see what's wrong with wanting a trade in and of itself. He wasn't gonna extend so they traded him.
 
I read two articles online but I couldn't find much on this. One article suggested Kawhi was "hiding" from the Spurs, when he was medically cleared but looking for a second and third option because of lingering pain, is this what you mean?

If not, would you mind telling me what the problem was exactly? I don't see what's wrong with wanting a trade in and of itself. He wasn't gonna extend so they traded him.
He basically went MIA in his last season at Spurs saying he's injured upon advise from his personal medical team and refused to acknowledge the Spurs request for him to report to their medical team. Avoided contact with the coaching staff and his teammates because the Spurs medical team 'misdiagnosed' him when they said he's fit to play but needed proper management which the Spurs are well known for. His uncle talked a lot of shit about the Spurs as well during that period.

Demanded to be traded to LA because he wanted to play in his hometown and his uncle basically demanded to be bribed to help bring Kawhi to whichever team paid him the most in free agency.

Wants the freedom to dictate his playing time which Popovich would never allow and he's basically done that at Toronto and with the Clippers.

He's a diva and yet you've people claiming he's a model professional when his actual behavior shows that he's a massive twat.
 
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That's an understatement particularly when it seems that he kept a similar attitude with the Clippers which leads to believe that Spurs weren't really at fault, even if you think that they may have misdiagnosed an injury. It seems that he is the NBA #1 prima donna.
Entitled jerk. Just cause he's got money and (to be fair) a great player he thinks he can behave like an asshole to everyone around him.
 
Entitled jerk. Just cause he's got money and (to be fair) a great player he thinks he can behave like an asshole to everyone around him.

Yeah, isn't there a story about him being continuously late for flights and training due to the fact that he lives in San Diego? As a wise man once said, leave home earlier, don't make everyone wait for you.
 
Yeah, isn't there a story about him being continuously late for flights and training due to the fact that he lives in San Diego? As a wise man once said, leave home earlier, don't make everyone wait for you.
It's funny but if I dislike a player its mostly for their off court actions. Lebron seems to want to get involved in stuff that he really knows nothing about. He tries to give this impression of being an erudite man of the people when sometimes he should just "shut up and dribble," He's also a massive diva both on and off the court. KD is just an arse. He's the most sensitive sportsman I've ever come across. You're a great player - we know. You don't have to argue the toss with every Tom, Dick and Harry about it on social media. Just shut the feck up. Kawhi, we've been over. It's not until we get to James Harden that I dislike a player for his on court actions. The grabbing, flopping and complaining gets old. Not sure where to put Kyrie Irving, he's annoying both on and off the court. Let's just say he's a twat and leave it at that.
 
It's funny but if I dislike a player its mostly for their off court actions. Lebron seems to want to get involved in stuff that he really knows nothing about. He tries to give this impression of being an erudite man of the people when sometimes he should just "shut up and dribble," He's also a massive diva both on and off the court. KD is just an arse. He's the most sensitive sportsman I've ever come across. You're a great player - we know. You don't have to argue the toss with every Tom, Dick and Harry about it on social media. Just shut the feck up. Kawhi, we've been over. It's not until we get to James Harden that I dislike a player for his on court actions. The grabbing, flopping and complaining gets old. Not sure where to put Kyrie Irving, he's annoying both on and off the court. Let's just say he's a twat and leave it at that.
KD says he enjoys it and this is just him. He can't hold his tongue and sees no reason to. I quite like that about basketball players and American athletes that they engage with fans. Shannon Sharp and Dame do it too.
 
It's funny but if I dislike a player its mostly for their off court actions. Lebron seems to want to get involved in stuff that he really knows nothing about. He tries to give this impression of being an erudite man of the people when sometimes he should just "shut up and dribble," He's also a massive diva both on and off the court. KD is just an arse. He's the most sensitive sportsman I've ever come across. You're a great player - we know. You don't have to argue the toss with every Tom, Dick and Harry about it on social media. Just shut the feck up. Kawhi, we've been over. It's not until we get to James Harden that I dislike a player for his on court actions. The grabbing, flopping and complaining gets old. Not sure where to put Kyrie Irving, he's annoying both on and off the court. Let's just say he's a twat and leave it at that.
I mean KD is just being real, as long as he doesn't use his multiple burner accounts, it's all good.
 
He basically went MIA in his last season at Spurs saying he's injured upon advise from his personal medical team and refused to acknowledge the Spurs request for him to report to their medical team. Avoided contact with the coaching staff and his teammates because the Spurs medical team 'misdiagnosed' him when they said he's fit to play but needed proper management which the Spurs are well known for. His uncle talked a lot of shit about the Spurs as well during that period.

Demanded to be traded to LA because he wanted to play in his hometown and his uncle basically demanded to be bribed to help bring Kawhi to whichever team paid him the most in free agency.

Wants the freedom to dictate his playing time which Popovich would never allow and he's basically done that at Toronto and with the Clippers.

He's a diva and yet you've people claiming he's a model professional when his actual behavior shows that he's a massive twat.
I’ve struggled with injuries myself, so I can understand not wanting to play through pain even if the injury appears to be healed. Only Leonard knows if that was bs or not. I saw David Robinson criticizing anyone who didn’t want to stick around with the club and help rebuild, but I can’t agree. Teams don’t sign up players for being loyal, you have to be able to bring wins, and I don’t feel like any US player owes their team anything, maybe it’s different with football academies.

Didn’t the Spurs play Leonard in the playoffs when he was injured, leading to a long term injury when someone put their foot under him when landed?

As far as how many minutes he should play, I think that should be handled very carefully. Look at how Brad Stevens played IT when injured and ruined his career, likely costing him a 100 million or more. I'm not sure the NBA has gotten to the point where teams are really looking after players long term interests, I think many would be happy to run a player into the ground for wins, and thus this tendency to play injured players. Leonard is thinking about his last contact and wants a long career, his current coach probably doesn't expect to be with the team when that happens. But at some point the coach does need the authority to make the decisions.

Being more a fan of football I think about Hargreaves and how United were perfectly happy to infect his knees every week to get him to play until he couldn't drive his far for knee pain, or playing Rashford injured, what's the point? Let them heal, what's this huge rush? You often hear the argument that the injury won't get worse from playing, but that doesn't preclude another injurious event happening to the injured area.

Leonard doesn't seem a warm person, rather calculating, but really I can't say I have much idea of his personality.
 
KD says he enjoys it and this is just him. He can't hold his tongue and sees no reason to. I quite like that about basketball players and American athletes that they engage with fans. Shannon Sharp and Dame do it too.
I mean KD is just being real, as long as he doesn't use his multiple burner accounts, it's all good.
I can put up with the banter back and forth but it really starts to grate on me when Durant uses social media as a forum to clap back at fans in order to tell them how great he is. That I can do without.
 
I can put up with the banter back and forth but it really starts to grate on me when Durant uses social media as a forum to clap back at fans in order to tell them how great he is. That I can do without.
But he is though and he has a chip on his shoulder so its expected. Hoopers are allowed to be more upfront and aggressive than footballers and I like it
 
But he is though and he has a chip on his shoulder so its expected. Hoopers are allowed to be more upfront and aggressive than footballers and I like it
But there are a lot of great players out there. I don't hear from them every five minutes. To me it's annoying, to other people maybe its a plus. I don't like it and it definitely colors my opinion of Durant.
 
The fact KD needs to respond to individuals fan on social media about how great he is just underscores how deeply insecure he is. You'd never see LeBron, Giannis, Curry or any other superstar give those people the time of day.
 
But there are a lot of great players out there. I don't hear from them every five minutes. To me it's annoying, to other people maybe its a plus. I don't like it and it definitely colors my opinion of Durant.
Thats because he is super great and still gets criticism and hate. If you have all time great talent and people aren't simply worshipping you it would get annoying. Its like "what more do you want from me?
 
Thats because he is super great and still gets criticism and hate. If you have all time great talent and people aren't simply worshipping you it would get annoying. Its like "what more do you want from me?

All the great players get hate. KD is one of the most insecure people about it.
 
I know someone who had family living in the same building as KD in NY last year during the peak of COVID. Apparently his entourage and others would come and go into the building as they pleased without any respect for the building rules.
 
All the great players get hate. KD is one of the most insecure people about it.
Nah people take the piss and Warriors fans be saying Steph is better than him. Fans say Lebron and now Giannis so he is rarely given the title as number one player despite probably being so for years. He also never mentioned in all time great conversations. People calling him weak for moving yet Lebron moves teams the most, as soon as it becomes difficult for him and he just builds a new team
 
Nah people take the piss and Warriors fans be saying Steph is better than him. Fans say Lebron and now Giannis so he is rarely given the title as number one player despite probably being so for years. He also never mentioned in all time great conversations. People calling him weak for moving yet Lebron moves teams the most, as soon as it becomes difficult for him and he just builds a new team

Welcome to planet earth. There will always be people hating.
 
Nah people take the piss and Warriors fans be saying Steph is better than him. Fans say Lebron and now Giannis so he is rarely given the title as number one player despite probably being so for years. He also never mentioned in all time great conversations. People calling him weak for moving yet Lebron moves teams the most, as soon as it becomes difficult for him and he just builds a new team

He never got the title in OKC because he just flat out wasn't as good as LeBron. He never got the title in Golden State because he was playing with three other all-stars and even still you could make the case LeBron was better. He has started getting buzz as the best player after his playoff series last season (deservedly so, too). I think I would have him as the best player now. He wasn't before this.

He isn't mentioned in all-time great conversations because he isn't as good as LeBron or Jordan. He'll likely end up in the tier below those guys, especially if he wins another title in Brooklyn (although there will be some people claiming it's another super team).

People call him weak because he left OKC for the team that beat him in a series that could have easily gone the other way. He left an OKC team that was adding Oladipo and Horford and would have 100% challenged the Warriors again. LeBron left a terrible Cleveland team to go to Miami. The Cavs consistently failed to put a good team around him, and he didn't join Boston (the team that beat him). LeBron then went back to the team he left and won (this eased the hatred). Yeah he dipped again but he brought them a title and he went to a terrible LA team. It was only after they got AD that they became decent again.
 
I’ve struggled with injuries myself, so I can understand not wanting to play through pain even if the injury appears to be healed. Only Leonard knows if that was bs or not. I saw David Robinson criticizing anyone who didn’t want to stick around with the club and help rebuild, but I can’t agree. Teams don’t sign up players for being loyal, you have to be able to bring wins, and I don’t feel like any US player owes their team anything, maybe it’s different with football academies.

Didn’t the Spurs play Leonard in the playoffs when he was injured, leading to a long term injury when someone put their foot under him when landed?

As far as how many minutes he should play, I think that should be handled very carefully. Look at how Brad Stevens played IT when injured and ruined his career, likely costing him a 100 million or more. I'm not sure the NBA has gotten to the point where teams are really looking after players long term interests, I think many would be happy to run a player into the ground for wins, and thus this tendency to play injured players. Leonard is thinking about his last contact and wants a long career, his current coach probably doesn't expect to be with the team when that happens. But at some point the coach does need the authority to make the decisions.

Being more a fan of football I think about Hargreaves and how United were perfectly happy to infect his knees every week to get him to play until he couldn't drive his far for knee pain, or playing Rashford injured, what's the point? Let them heal, what's this huge rush? You often hear the argument that the injury won't get worse from playing, but that doesn't preclude another injurious event happening to the injured area.

Leonard doesn't seem a warm person, rather calculating, but really I can't say I have much idea of his personality.
Spurs were forced to rebuild because Kawhi wanted out.

He basically wanted to go back to LA and all that medical bullshit was just an excuse to shit on the Spurs and make him look like the victim.
 
Nah people take the piss and Warriors fans be saying Steph is better than him. Fans say Lebron and now Giannis so he is rarely given the title as number one player despite probably being so for years. He also never mentioned in all time great conversations. People calling him weak for moving yet Lebron moves teams the most, as soon as it becomes difficult for him and he just builds a new team
Being better is subjective. The Warriors certainly had a better record when Durant missed games vs when Steph missed games. I argued at the time, and will still argue that Steph was more important to the Dubs than KD because their style of play was best suited to play to Steph's strengths and it showed in the results.
 
Thats because he is super great and still gets criticism and hate. If you have all time great talent and people aren't simply worshipping you it would get annoying. Its like "what more do you want from me?
Yeah, LeBron never gets any hate.
 
Not a fan of Stephen A Smith but at least (at times) he can discuss basketball coherently. On the other hand, as I've repeatedly said, Max Kellerman must be the least knowledgeable basketball pundit on TV (Stephen Curry/Andre Iguodala take as an example). It appears Smith is finally getting his way and having Kellerman removed from "First Take." Max, you will not be missed.
 
Not a fan of Stephen A Smith but at least (at times) he can discuss basketball coherently. On the other hand, as I've repeatedly said, Max Kellerman must be the least knowledgeable basketball pundit on TV (Stephen Curry/Andre Iguodala take as an example). It appears Smith is finally getting his way and having Kellerman removed from "First Take." Max, you will not be missed.
SAS is playing a character. He’s much better when he’s not on his shows or promoting it.
 
SAS is playing a character. He’s much better when he’s not on his shows or promoting it.
It's all about triggering emotions, not about analysis, not unlike the rest of the news.

You can't blame a guy for playing the game the way that's successful. I guess it just goes to show that click don't equal value. Not all clicks are equal.
 
Not a fan of Stephen A Smith but at least (at times) he can discuss basketball coherently. On the other hand, as I've repeatedly said, Max Kellerman must be the least knowledgeable basketball pundit on TV (Stephen Curry/Andre Iguodala take as an example). It appears Smith is finally getting his way and having Kellerman removed from "First Take." Max, you will not be missed.

They're both hacks

Max is great at boxing coverage
 
They're both hacks

Max is great at boxing coverage

Agreed. I don't think it's all about playing a character with Steven A Smith, either. He's a bombastic, arrogant hack who repeatedly feels the need to tell everyone how much he knows about basketball, citing his resume. A man like that wouldn't intentionally mess up on his NBA finals predictions 6 years in a row (1/64 probability) because he ended up being ridiculed and looking silly; it a genuine cluelessness when it comes to basketball.

You can see him go vacuous whenever anybody mentions an advanced metric, because he clearly doesn't understand what any of these metrics mean.

His "analysis" boils down to "who wants it more". "He's a killer. Straight up assassin". It's extremely reductive and basic. Screaming it doesn't make it any less inane.
 
SAS is playing a character.

They all are, ESPN is a variety show disguised as sports news. They plan their "debates", they rehearse their microwaved hot takes and they do it all to maximize clicks and clout. Nobody can tell me that Kellerman, SAS or Douchebag King Skip Bayless believe even 50% of what they say.
 
Nothing makes me laugh like when SAS says Steph and Klay are the greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history and he says it in a way like it's a hot take.

They all are, ESPN is a variety show disguised as sports news. They plan their "debates", they rehearse their microwaved hot takes and they do it all to maximize clicks and clout. Nobody can tell me that Kellerman, SAS or Douchebag King Skip Bayless believe even 50% of what they say.

I think The Jump is a really good show compared to anything else that they have on ESPN or even Fox. Not that they're perfect but it's better than the others and they have good and fun panels usually.
 
Nothing makes me laugh like when SAS says Steph and Klay are the greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history and he says it in a way like it's a hot take.



I think The Jump is a really good show compared to anything else that they have on ESPN or even Fox. Not that they're perfect but it's better than the others and they have good and fun panels usually.

Yea I've boycotted First Take for a new months now. The Jump (unless Kendrick Perkins is on) and Jalen and Jacoby (only Jalen, not Jacoby) are the only shows worth watching.
 
Any of you think that the Wolves will actually get Simmons?
 
Poor Mobley. Stuck at a franchise going nowhere. He deserved better.
 
Seems like we're getting Rondo again. If this was 2010 would be the greatest basketball team ever assembled.
 
got a ring , 15 mil , lost the clippers lou +picks and back to the lakers all in 1 year , true legend
 
I really don't get why Rondo keeps getting offered contracts. Should have been out of the league after the Mavs disaster. His bubble performances must have bought him more time despite clearly being an outlier.
 
I really don't get why Rondo keeps getting offered contracts. Should have been out of the league after the Mavs disaster. His bubble performances must have bought him more time despite clearly being an outlier.

As a Mavs fan: feck Rondo!
Still, his time at the Mavs isn't indicative of what he can do for a team. I can think of way worse bench PGs on playoff teams than Rondo.
 
As a Mavs fan: feck Rondo!
Still, his time at the Mavs isn't indicative of what he can do for a team. I can think of way worse bench PGs on playoff teams than Rondo.

Who would you have as worse than him?
 


If true, we are maybe witnessing one of the most acrimonious break up in sports history. Both sides want rid of the other.:lol: