Board 8 > NBA Finals Discussion - Warriors in 7

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's around a year before you can play again, but it's honestly closer to 2 before you're back to "normal."
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Which means no team wants him in a trade, so GS is going to eat 31.5 million for not resting him. I know winning a championship is a big deal, but they probably just cost themselves multiple seasons.
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davidponte posted...

Meow1000 posted...

So basically the Raptors Raptored and if they lose the finals now this will be the greatest Raptoring the Raptors have ever Raptored.

Starting to get really tired of your anti-Toronto bullshit, and every time I bring it up you run away.

What's your issue?

I have no Ill feelings towards any Toronto team except the Maple Leafs. If the Raptors or Blue Jay win its whatever.

In this case it's my habit of poking fun at chokers, a habit I've probably displayed at least a hundred times over the years on b8.

Though I do have a bias here, just not against the team. I dislike Kawhi.
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Just saw the Bob Myers interview... It's like if you ripped up Charlie Bucket's golden ticket.
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https://twitter.com/theleaguepost/status/1138289724353896448
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ShatteredElysium posted...

Bizarre to see Myers being the one who gives the press conference on Durant and be so solemn and almost crying as he did it. He confirmed it was an Achilles though.

Will see the severity of it after MRI but that changes so much. The absolute earliest you see Durant back on the court is Dec/Jan and that would be a very speedy recovery. It's probably going to be longer than that.

Will be interesting to see how this changes peoples FA plans. I'm sure someone still gives Durant max because he's Durant but that's a hard pill to swallow. You are basically swallowing a dead year of max contract.

Wouldn't it be so much extra salt on the wound if the warriors end up coming back and winning this series without him also?
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Thankfully the FFVII Remake looks fantastic or this night would be unsalvageable
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SeabassDebeste posted...

an achilles, like an acl, is usually 9-12 months, not 6

Really depends on the severity. Some people have returned in 6 but yeah usually its longer which is why I said minimum of 6.

I think what really needs to be said is it's very rare for players to return to their previous level after an Achilles injury

Corrik7 posted...

ShatteredElysium posted...

Bizarre to see Myers being the one who gives the press conference on Durant and be so solemn and almost crying as he did it. He confirmed it was an Achilles though.

Will see the severity of it after MRI but that changes so much. The absolute earliest you see Durant back on the court is Dec/Jan and that would be a very speedy recovery. It's probably going to be longer than that.

Will be interesting to see how this changes peoples FA plans. I'm sure someone still gives Durant max because he's Durant but that's a hard pill to swallow. You are basically swallowing a dead year of max contract.

Wouldn't it be so much extra salt on the wound if the warriors end up coming back and winning this series without him also?

I could spin the entire narrative that without Durant during the first half of game 5 the series would have ended thus he should still be the FMVP and also saved them regardless if hes out.
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So now he doesn't go to the Knicks

And now the kemba/KD plan is in the trash

And now they traded porzingis for no reason

Knicks confirmed to suck forever

God damn it
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Psyonix posted...

Corrik7 posted...

ShatteredElysium posted...

Bizarre to see Myers being the one who gives the press conference on Durant and be so solemn and almost crying as he did it. He confirmed it was an Achilles though.

Will see the severity of it after MRI but that changes so much. The absolute earliest you see Durant back on the court is Dec/Jan and that would be a very speedy recovery. It's probably going to be longer than that.

Will be interesting to see how this changes peoples FA plans. I'm sure someone still gives Durant max because he's Durant but that's a hard pill to swallow. You are basically swallowing a dead year of max contract.

Wouldn't it be so much extra salt on the wound if the warriors end up coming back and winning this series without him also?

I could spin the entire narrative that without Durant during the first half of game 5 the series would have ended thus he should still be the FMVP and also saved them regardless if hes out.

You could but in the future that is a detail that will get conveniently forgotten from peoples arguments.

I would say in terms of KD being worried about his legacy, if the Warriors win without him and then when he returns he isn't the same player it would be the worst case scenario. I would think the 2 finals MVPs would be enough but he's always going to get people who point it out and say he couldn't do it without being on the best team.

Right now that seems a little unimportant though

I can't get over how shitty that injury was for everyone.

-ruins the warriors' chances for a title
-ruins Durant's career
-taints the raptors' title
-destroys the next decade for the god damn new york Knicks
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

-destroys the next decade for the god damn new york Knicks

At least there's a silver lining!
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welcome to another decade of irrelevance
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

I can't get over how shitty that injury was for everyone.

-ruins the warriors' chances for a title
-ruins Durant's career
-taints the raptors' title
-destroys the next decade for the god damn new york Knicks

If anything it saved the NBA.

Let me preface by saying I like KD and hes top 2 unquestionably. I wish injury on no one.

With that said

Kawhi killing his 2nd dynasty and also durant's injury making whatever his decision for next season somewhat irrelevant. It creates balance. Steph will still have no Finals MVPs and if he diesnt get one now he never will. Toronto's championship (if they can do it) is a cool way to cap off the decade which has been filled with Lebron vs Everyone and the GSW dominance.

KD tried man, absolute respect, but in the end... destiny still arrives
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I feel it's almost better for the Knicks it happened this way because it's less soul crushing than them being convinced they are getting Durant and then Durant picking a different team.

At least this way they don't have to deal with thinking they are getting KD and then him picking the Nets for example

ShatteredElysium posted...

I feel it's almost better for the Knicks it happened this way because it's less soul crushing than them being convinced they are getting Durant and then Durant picking a different team.

At least this way they don't have to deal with thinking they are getting KD and then him picking the Nets for example

You don't understand knicks fans. The best thing we have is a short period of hope. The weeks leading up to the Zion draft were the best weeks we've had as fans since linsanity. I'm not kidding.

What do they do now? Attempt to sign AD and Kemba and pray the former re-signs?
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Why do you want Kemba?
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I would say that if you're looking at this from the NBA as a whole then this is the best thing for level playing field purposes (obviously terrible for KD and you never wish it on anybody)

If KD doesn't get injured then there's the very real chance another super team gets formed or he stays in Golden State. And any super team that is formed is likely together for a few years since they are all coming together this offseason. It would be awful for parity if Golden State became fell back to the pack only for another team to immediately take their place

Now any superteam that is formed is going to be inherently weaker by virtue of not having KD. Sure some teams can still throw a couple of max players together but it's slightly less of a concern when the 3rd star is someone like Tobias Harris who probably isn't worth a max but gets one or Jimmy Butler who has been shown to not get along with everyone or even someone like Kemba who whilst good is aging. They are all a worse combinations talent wise than with a Durant in whilst also having more potential downsides.

Plus then there's the potential for Durant to go to a completely different team in 2020 where more teams have cap space. Any team from this season who wants him has to load up on expirings or eat this years max deal without him playing.

This is probably the most interesting offseason since KD went to the Warriors as we could have a large amount of change in who are the best teams. Warriors will for sure will be weaker, Rockets are blowing it up. Raptors are still going to be good but if Kawhi goes elsewhere that's a big drop off. Bucks and 76ers likely run it back but I believe they will be cap fucked for years if they do. Nuggets seem to be in a good position. Trail blazers are likely the same? (They are a team that I always underestimate). Celtics have a big offseason with what happens with Kyrie/AD/their gazillion picks. Then obviously you have the teams with cap space that could make a big push with the right signings or crash and burn with the wrong ones.

Any team who isn't going to be a contender next year or isn't primed to make a jump would at least have the hope theres the potential to claw back into in 2020 with how much the landscape likely changes

lakers are the frontrunners for AD. they're about to have a lebron kyrie AD superteam and i'm going to have to quit watching basketball until 2023
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SeabassDebeste posted...

lakers are the frontrunners for AD. they're about to have a lebron kyrie AD superteam and i'm going to have to quit watching basketball until 2023

Not a fan of the King?
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lebron is my most hated player and the lakers are my most hated team
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As good as Lebron/Kyrie/AD is on paper I'm less concerned about than I probably should be. They would have zero depth because they would have to give up everything to get AD and be over the cap. And AD/Kyrie haven't proven themselves to be the most durable of players.

So yeah it is formidable but I don't think it's as bad as what Golden State have had the last few years as I could see it potentially being derailed by injury or if Lebron starts to decline over the next few years. They would also have to load up on 3pt shooters (which admittedly isn't a super big concern) as a core of AD/Kyrie/Lebron isn't exactly the best trio for 3 point shooting. Or maybe they play in a way that swings back from the 3pt game and that's becomes a null point

Either way I'm probably less concerned about that trio than I should be

I thought kyrie already chafed under lebron once? Why would he go back to that?
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Predictions that will likely change 30 times:

-KD resigns with Golden State
-Kawhi resigns with Toronto
-Kyrie goes to Brooklyn, Russell traded somewhere else
-Knicks sign Kemba and desperately try to throw picks and assets at NOLA for Davis. Fail.
-Lakers trade 2 of Kuzma/Ball/Ingram and the #4 for Davis.

Lakers get a shallow team but at least make the playoffs. Brooklyn improves. Warriors decline and wait for KD to return and then are great again. Pelicans have a young, amazing team with Zion/Kuzma/Ingram/Ball/#4 dude.

Knicks suck and suck and suck and Kemba averages 30 a game to prevent them from being bad enough to rebuild.
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UltimaterializerX posted...

Lots of videos coming out of Jurassic Park cheering the injury and fuck KD chants.

That is some BAD karma.

There arebidiots everywhere. NFL fans cheer when their own QB goes down if hes been playing poorly.

Karma doesnt exist so it wont be an issue but I understand your sentiment
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Psyonix posted...

UltimaterializerX posted...

Lots of videos coming out of Jurassic Park cheering the injury and fuck KD chants.

That is some BAD karma.

There arebidiots everywhere. NFL fans cheer when their own QB goes down if hes been playing poorly.

Karma doesnt exist so it wont be an issue but I understand your sentiment

Disagree, a video of some fans clearly represents an entire country and an entire fanbase. Don't you know how things work?
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davidponte posted...

Psyonix posted...

UltimaterializerX posted...

Lots of videos coming out of Jurassic Park cheering the injury and fuck KD chants.

That is some BAD karma.

There arebidiots everywhere. NFL fans cheer when their own QB goes down if hes been playing poorly.

Karma doesnt exist so it wont be an issue but I understand your sentiment

Disagree, a video of some fans clearly represents an entire country and an entire fanbase. Don't you know how things work?

Well some other Raptors fans suckerpunched some poor Warriors fans after the game... guess we are all violent thugs now.
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brb going to go flip a car
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davidponte posted...

Psyonix posted...

UltimaterializerX posted...

Lots of videos coming out of Jurassic Park cheering the injury and fuck KD chants.

That is some BAD karma.

There arebidiots everywhere. NFL fans cheer when their own QB goes down if hes been playing poorly.

Karma doesnt exist so it wont be an issue but I understand your sentiment

Disagree, a video of some fans clearly represents an entire country and an entire fanbase. Don't you know how things work?

It does show the true colors of a fanbase, yes. Yes, I understand how the moment can get to the best of them. But the cheering at that intensity and for that long was completely uncalled for and something I'm not sure would have happened in the vast majority of other arenas.
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lmao get off your high horse. Anyone who doesn't think there are people like that in that size in literally every single fan base is delusional.

No one wanted the guy to die. Everyone wants their team to win.

Also wtf is this lmao

Nelson_Mandela posted...

the cheering at that intensity and for that long

Literally 15 seconds later every Raptors fan was on their feet clapping and chanting "KD" as he was being helped off the floor. Or does that video that is widely available not fit the narrative?
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

davidponte posted...

Psyonix posted...

UltimaterializerX posted...

Lots of videos coming out of Jurassic Park cheering the injury and fuck KD chants.

That is some BAD karma.

There arebidiots everywhere. NFL fans cheer when their own QB goes down if hes been playing poorly.

Karma doesnt exist so it wont be an issue but I understand your sentiment

Disagree, a video of some fans clearly represents an entire country and an entire fanbase. Don't you know how things work?

It does show the true colors of a fanbase, yes. Yes, I understand how the moment can get to the best of them. But the cheering at that intensity and for that long was completely uncalled for and something I'm not sure would have happened in the vast majority of other arenas.

The rich and elite 1% who were in attendance clearly represent the attitudes of the entire fanbase globally comprised of millions of people
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https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1138268485442781184
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davidponte posted...

https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1138268485442781184

Must be fake
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yeah after their own team had to tell them "hey stop being human garbage"
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ITT:

Portion of fans have a mental lapse because they're in a high stress situation, realize how stupid they are, come to their senses

"Wow all of these people are trash and I refuse to accept anything other than that initial transgression. Being an intellectual, I can say with certainty that none of my fellow fans would every stoop to those levels"

Is this cancel culture?
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Not sure how Raptors fans can defend what happened last night. Literally your own players had to admonish the crowd for being assholes and only then after that did it change. You also have Raptors fans trying to spin the narrative and saying they were cheering for the basket or cheering for the steal and not the injury instead of just owning up and saying the fanbase who did it acted like trash and mob mentality caused it to escalate.

Yeah you get morons in every fanbases who will cheer injuries like that but last night was horrendous for the sheer numbers involved and the severity of it not just at the stadium but at Jurassic park too. Usually it's a vocal minority but it didn't seem to be the case last night.

It is worth pointing out that Warriors fans did a similar thing when Kawhi got injured for the Spurs.

davidponte posted...

ITT:

Portion of fans have a mental lapse because they're in a high stress situation, realize how stupid they are, come to their senses

"Wow all of these people are trash and I refuse to accept anything other than that initial transgression. Being an intellectual, I can say with certainty that none of my fellow fans would every stoop to those levels"

Is this cancel culture?

Problem was it didn't look to be just a vocal minority or small portion of the fans. It was a lot of fans. Always going to look worse in that case

KommunistKoala posted...

yeah after their own team had to tell them "hey stop being human garbage"

lmfao this

you people are delusional if you think that having your own players tell you to stop being scumbags is a normal thing that happens in sports
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No one is defending the cheer here, unless you're speaking more to Raptors fans on the internet, in which case I'd choose to distance myself from those people.

It's just crazy that people are A) writing off the entire fanbase and B) acting as if it'd be no different in a similar situation with their own fanbase
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ShatteredElysium posted...

davidponte posted...

ITT:

Portion of fans have a mental lapse because they're in a high stress situation, realize how stupid they are, come to their senses

"Wow all of these people are trash and I refuse to accept anything other than that initial transgression. Being an intellectual, I can say with certainty that none of my fellow fans would every stoop to those levels"

Is this cancel culture?

Problem was it didn't look to be just a vocal minority or small portion of the fans. It was a lot of fans. Always going to look worse in that case

What amount constitutes a lot? A quarter of the crowd? 5 000 people where there are twice that standing outside, twenty times that standing outside around the country, and millions more watching at home?

How does 1% of people speak for everyone?
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I'm going on gut reaction from an objective observer who doesn't really care much for the outcome. I watched an initial cheer when Ibaka got the fast break. Then I watched as the cheer turned into manic, elated screaming when the play was over and Durant was calling over the medical staff.

When I saw Durant go down I said out loud "oh no" because it was obvious he was done for the series. To have that sunken feeling for the guy while thousands of people were cheering and taunting at him was really fucking gross.
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davidponte posted...

B) acting as if it'd be no different in a similar situation with their own fanbase

I've never seen anything like this in professional sports outside of soccer
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

I'm going on gut reaction from an objective observer who doesn't really care much for the outcome. I watched an initial cheer when Ibaka got the fast break. Then I watched as the cheer turned into manic, elated screaming when the play was over and Durant was calling over the medical staff.

When I saw Durant go down I said out loud "oh no" because it was obvious he was done for the series. To have that sunken feeling for the guy while thousands of people were cheering and taunting at him was really fucking gross.

I disagree with exactly zero of what you said here. We're in sync in terms of how bad that was.

It's everything after about how it represents the entire fanbase and that no other fanbase would do it that I take issue with.
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

davidponte posted...

B) acting as if it'd be no different in a similar situation with their own fanbase

I've never seen anything like this in professional sports outside of soccer

ShatteredElysium posted...

It is worth pointing out that Warriors fans did a similar thing when Kawhi got injured for the Spurs.

Maybe you should watch more of literally this sport???
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Because it's the number of people you can see. I can't see how every Raptor fan not at the stadium reacted. I can see how the majority of fans in the stadium and Jurassic park reacted and it doesn't look good

Sure maybe it's more prevalent behaviour amongst hardcore fans that are going to be at the stadium / outside the stadium and it's going to be partially fueled by mob mentality but that's as bad as a reaction I've seen from a crowd in recent years although I can think if a few fanbases that would potentially react worse. It's just not a good look. I'd be livid if I saw any fanbase I'm part of react in a similar way (and if I'm being honest the Orlando City Soccer fanbase potentially would if it was an Atlanta player. Soccer fanbases in general are awful)

I think an important determining factor here in "judging" the raptors fanbase is how steph reacted after the game. He had as much right to be just blindly pissed at the fans as his teammates did, but while they all reacted with raw, emotional anger, he went out of his way to point out that he's never seen them act like that before. If there wasn't even a little bit of truth to that, he wouldn't have bothered trying to be like "hey, you guys have been good to us before, we'll move past it this time."

Now, for the fans in question, I don't think it's a huge leap to, rather than assume they instantly realized they were in the wrong, instead assume that they just realized they weren't being received well and walked it back to save face. Such things happen all the time, someone throws out a hot take that they think will be popular, it isn't, and they look like a massive idiot and try to walk it back without actually changing their line of thinking. From that standpoint, thinking that the initial transgression is how they feel is valid imo. Just not, you know, saying that that's automatically indicative of the entire fanbase.
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Here to tell y'all that I actually cheered when KD went down and I'm not walking it back.

Get fucked, Snake. :D
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UltimaterializerX posted...

Lots of videos coming out of Jurassic Park cheering the injury and fuck KD chants.

That is some BAD karma.

You know what's some BAD karma? Everything Kevin Durant has done for the last 2+ years. Finally came home to roost last night, pal!
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