Problems In The Bay Area

By: Parnell Saint-Preux

Something that’s never done in the Steve Kerr era in the Bay Area, losing 4 consecutive games. The Golden State Warriors probably suffered an all-time low last as they were defeated by the Oklahoma City Thunder by the score of 123-95. Despite him struggling shooting from the field, Thunder’s Russell Westbrook finished the game with a triple-double. Westbrook had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists. This was the second game Westbrook came back from a sprained left ankle. Also, Dennis Schroder came off the bench and scored 32 points, as well as shooting 5/6 from 3pt range, and Stephen Adams had 20 points and 11 rebounds, plus 2 blocks.

As for the Warriors, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson finished the game scoring 27 points, meanwhile, Warriors guards Stephen Curry was out for the game due to a groin injury, while Warriors forward Draymond Green was a no-show as well.

Warriors headed to the season as the two-time reigning, defending champions, along being considered the consensus favorite to win the championship again. Warriors currently have the number 5th seed in the Western Conference at 12-7. Obviously, not the way Warriors and Warriors fans want to begin the season.

Frankly, the season is beginning to what we may see a potential end with the Warriors. During the Warriors, 121-116 upsetting overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, there was a heated discussion between Green and Durant. Less than 10 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Green grabs a rebound from Durant and while Durant is demanding Green for the basketball, Green made an ill-advised play by running the ball in transition, and a turnover, that sent the game to overtime.

Reports have surfaced that during their confrontation, Green allegedly called Durant a “bitch.” As a result, Green was suspended for 1 game against the Atlanta Hawks due to conduct detriment.

It was inevitable that Durant didn’t want to get into the details during his press conference. When asked if he and Green had spoken, Durant said “no.” Later on, Durant was asked what exactly transpired between him and Green.

“I’m going to keep that in-house. That’s what we do here. I know you guys got a job to do, but I’m not trying to give nobody no headlines. What happened, happened, we’re trying to move on. I’m just trying to play basketball.”

Durant was also asked if his fight with Green would have any influence on his decision to enter the free agency market.

“At the end of the day, I’m just a ballplayer that’s just trying to be in a great environment to play basketball and groom my skills every day,” Durant said.

“And I want to compete on a level that once the game starts, I’m just totally comfortable with my surroundings, with just going out there and being me.”

Yet again, Durant was asked about his altercation with Green after the Warriors 107-86 loss to the Houston Rockets. Durant’s response was “Don’t ask me about that again.”

Not to mention that Durant took the time to go on Instagram and liked and afterward unliked a comment about the possibility of Green being traded.

A couple of days ago while the Warriors were on the road to face the Dallas Mavericks, Durant was fined $25K for “directing inappropriate language toward a fan.”

Most have criticized Durant for his decision to leave Oklahoma City and join Golden State in Oakland. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has called Durant’s decision “Weakest move by a superstar.” Most believe Durant is soft and left Oklahoma City because he couldn’t be the alpha dog to carry a franchise to win a championship.

“I’m viewing it as the weakest move I’ve ever seen from a superstar, plain and simple that’s just how I look at it. It’s not that he’s leaving Oklahoma City, if you’re not happy there, you wanna move on and you wanna grow as a player there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s one of the top three players in the world, he’s a quintessential superstar, he deserves all the credit in the world for the talent that he possesses but the flip side is this: they were up 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals. Not 1, not 2, but 3 different times he was 48 minutes away from getting to the NBA Finals by winning the Western Conference and three times he failed, particularly in game 6 and you depart for the team that beat you? When you’re on the cusp of getting to the Finals yourself and ultimately winning the championship with the franchise that you’ve been with since you come into the NBA? I think it’s incredibly weak.”

Summer of 2019 will be an interesting and complicated year for Durant. This will be the time in the off-season, Durant can enter the free agency, and perhaps go to teams in the L.A. area like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Clippers. Supposedly, Durant can go to the New York and play in the Mecca and join the Knicks. Warriors and Durant need to get it together, otherwise, their chances to compete for a 3rd consecutive championship would be slim to none.