The Washington Post Says KD should stay

by Drinking the Orange Kool Aid on Mar 21, 2007 11:47 AM CDT Comment 13 comments

I've never heard of this sportswriter, but she makes more points to give us hope, focusing on how he was raised and finishing with this thought:

"What brought Durant this far was a certain order and thoroughness, he is all about working in an organized way toward an end. Everything the family has done to date suggests that they see this as a slow, steady step-by-step process, one that has stressed fundamentals over shortcuts. They may decide that Durant won't be improved by haste now."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/20/AR2007032001632.html?referrer=emaila rticle

All comments, FanPosts, and FanShots are the views of the reader-authors who create them.

0 recs | Comment 13 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Good find

Thanks for sharing. . .

I'm telling you - I feel a return.

We need to build the pledge list to a ridiculous length and then make sure KD sees it.

--PB--

by Peter Bean on Mar 21, 2007 1:14 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, but what's the "end"

Durant (and his family) are working toward...financial security or being an impact player in the NBA or something else? Is KD interested in just getting to the pageant or winning it.

The only thing guaranteed for Durant right now is the money. So if being set for life was the ultimate end, then he's there.

If having a long and successful career in the NBA is the ultimate end, then maybe there are some other things to consider before declaring like: what team will likely draft/trade for him or is he ready to handle the rigors of an 82 game schedule that includes a ton of hype and expectations...

I'd love to see him stay for my own selfish reasons, but I still haven't heard one truly legitimate reason for why he should stay. But if someone told me something like, KD won't go this year because such and such team likely has the first pick or his 18-year old body is still growing and he's more susceptible to a career ending injury if he enters now, then I might be able to grasp for a sliver of hope that he stays.

But in my mind, I've already said good-bye and so have most people. Though declaration or no declaration, Bill Simmons is still getting a big karma shit burger from me provide KD ends up as anything but a Celtic.

Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.

by 54b on Mar 21, 2007 1:49 PM CDT reply actions

That is exactly what I was thinking

The big difference here is that THIS IS what he was working for all these years. He worked hard all his life to be noticed and to make it to the NBA, not to become the greatest person/player he possibly can be (call me cynical).

The only hitch in the plan was that the stupid NBA implemented this rule right before it became his time. If that hadn't happened, he would already be in the NBA.

My only question, though, is why Texas? If this year really was a speed bump, essentially preventing him from coming out as a High School player, why not just spend that one year closer to home?

by BrooklynHorn on Mar 21, 2007 2:05 PM CDT up reply actions

spelled "AUSTIN"

Maybe he knows he'll be stuck in some hell hole NBA town in the future, and decided why not go to the best college town in America.

Just Remember, No Matter What Happens, ou SUCKS.

by ouALWAYSsux on Mar 21, 2007 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions

This is why I'm optimistic, BH

This kid is different. He may yet go pro after this year, and I'd bet my house he thought coming to Austin he was 99% sure he'd go pro after one year, but the kid is refreshing: he wanted to go to Texas, not Maryland or Duke or UNC. He likes to do things on his own terms, at his own pace, and along what he views as the right path.

Well, I'm not so sure the "end" in this case is "get to the NBA as quickly as possible." It seems to be to go through life the right way, accomplish as much as he can along the way, and make balanced, measured decisions.

That might mean turning pro now. But it doesn't appeart to be the guarantee that it is with some other kids out there. (Think OJ Mayo) That's why I'm hopeful.

--PB--

by Peter Bean on Mar 21, 2007 2:45 PM CDT up reply actions

i haven't poured over every article

and every interview, but in the piece i saw on (i think it was) ESPN, he said the new rule didn't affect him, because he wanted to go to college first anyway. i'm not sure if this was after the fact and he was just giving up lip service, but everything i've seen or heard (especially from his parents) seemed to indicate that college was always in the plan, to give him more time to mature as a person before entering his professional career. assuming that's true, it wouldn't seem rediculous if he (and/or his family) decided that one year wasn't enough.

not sure what kind of classes he's taking, but they said during the game on Sunday that he's maintaining a 3.5 and regardless of his decision was intent on keeping up his grades through the end of the semester. sounds like a kid who isn't just in it for the ticket to the NBA.

by littlevisigoth on Mar 21, 2007 2:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Ironically, the nba's

1 yr rule made KD $50-$100 million more than he otherwise would have had. By being the most hyped college player ever, rather than some unknown nba bench warmer, he gets all the endorsement contracts as rookie that he otherwise wouldn't have gotten until after player for a few years.

by DogTown on Mar 22, 2007 10:50 AM CDT up reply actions

That is what I was going to say

You beat me by 10 minutes....

"A lot of people look for the easy way to do anything, in swimming there is no easy way." - Eddie Reese

by SwimTexas on Mar 21, 2007 2:17 PM CDT reply actions

shoe money

You could probably make the argument that by staying in college another year he could further raise his profile and be able to get a bigger shoe deal when he enters the league.

It probably would just come down to him wanting to play another year of college though.

by Matt on Mar 21, 2007 4:49 PM CDT reply actions

tough decision for him....

there are millions of reasons to turn pro. Not all of them involve big money either.

I think 54b nailed it, really - what real reason is there for him to stay?
Of course reason #1 is he could make all of us so happy...

But the rationale that he'll develop his game w/another year is just silly wrong. The college game is so different that I don't think it'll really develop his game. One thing - I do think he'll develop physically. Just getting one year older and that much stronger without the grind of an 82 game season among older, stronger people, not all of whom will have his best interests at heart, that's one thing in our favor.

And in all likelihood, he's going to make enough money soon enough that one year of lost wages won't be that big a consideration in the long run.

And, of course, I continue to hold out hope for another Tim-Duncan-like Spurs miracle, unlikely though it is. But he'll most likely go to a crappy team. And if you look around the NBA, most crappy teams are crappy for a good reason. They have management that defines crappiness, and will continue to keep the team crappy no matter which next Kevin Garnett they manage to draft. But enough of that crap, I need to expand my vocabulary when it comes to the NBA...

I don't hold out much hope, but one thing - you just don't know with this kid. He already reminds me of Tim Duncan in several ways, maybe KD will look at TD and notice that several years of college didn't exactly ruin him.

by agent orange on Mar 21, 2007 6:14 PM CDT reply actions

Sally Jenkins

Sally Jenkins is occasionally right, but mostly she's a twit. I can't be too rude, because I'm pretty average at my job as well. But still.

This reads a bit like her prospectus for ghostwriting a book about Durant - as she did for Lance Armstrong, I believe.

by DC Trojan on Mar 21, 2007 11:13 PM CDT reply actions

The good news is. . .

We'll all overanalyze this, and some twit will call it right. . .

Right?

--PB--

by Peter Bean on Mar 21, 2007 11:32 PM CDT up reply actions

She may be right

and if she is, you aren't going to care that she once indicated that she wanted to the police to use lethal force on a Maryland student who broke her headlight while looking for a couch to burn. Or that her primary reaction to covering the 200o summer games in Sydney was to complain that there was no Starbucks. Or any of a bunch of stupid sports-writer type things.

I don't dislike Jenkins, because she's not offensive, but I could only offer up pearls of wisdom like that gratis to the public. How she gets paid for it, I don't know.

by DC Trojan on Mar 22, 2007 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions