Durant

Quick note: I want to write a post about the recent killings of black men by police, but I don't have words yet. Yes, I believe the system is rigged against black men. No, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile did nothing to deserve their death sentences. Black lives matter. Black bodies are not criminal. These men were deprived of their right to due process. People of color in America have to follow so many spoken and unspoken rules that I will never understand. 

I lack answers or even suggestions. I am collecting thoughts. I am using Twitter as a place to listen and learn from my brothers and sisters. I suggest that everyone do the same. 

Kevin Durant was my last favorite Sonic. I bought his jersey in 2008. The Sonics had a 9% chance to obtain the second overall pick (where Durant was drafted). While the 2007-8 was miserable for Seattle, the future was bright; Durant was clearly a generational talent. For the first time since Gary Payton was traded to Milwaukee, the Sonics had a future.

But of course they didn't.

In 2006, Howard Schultz sold the Seattle SuperSonics to a group of Oklahoma businessmen led by Clay Bennett. While this ownership publicly promised to look for a way to keep the team in Seattle, private emails pointed to a deep desire to move the team to OKC. Then NBA commissioner David Stern also appeared to be in favor of a move and was key to setting up the sale (likely as a "thank you" to OKC for hosting the New Orleans Hornets during the aftermath of Katrina). Finally in 2008, the Seattle City Council released the Sonics from their Key Arena lease and just like that they were gone.

I was devastated.

The Sonics were the first team to ever make me cry. The 1990's Kemp-Payton Sonics teams taught me to love sports. Shawn Kemp was a pre-teen boy's dream basketball player. Huge dunks, crotch grabs and screaming intensity. As I got older and grew with the team, Payton became the guy. Exquisite passing, the best low-post point guard I have ever seen and a PHD in smack talk. Even when the Mariners had their run between 1995-97, the Sonics were Seattle. 1996 was the first time I ever rooted for a team that made it to the championship series. To this day I wonder how that series turns out if Payton guards Jordan from the beginning. The city loved that team. I loved that team. They were going to be in Seattle forever.

The Mariners wanted to leave for Florida. The Seahawks actually had trucks fueled and ready to take them to LA. Those two franchises felt precarious. But the Sonics? No way. They were our only champions. They had two the 15 best players in the NBA. They would never leave.

The Sonics left Seattle in the franchise's 40th season. I was 27 at the time. They felt as permanent as the Space Needle.

It stung. But losing Durant stung even more.

Sure, Kemp and Payton both left. But you knew even as a 19-year old rookie that Durant was going to be better than either of them. Kemp and Payton were top-15 players in 1996; Durant might be a top-15 player of all time. He had more in common with Ken Griffey Jr. Nothing felt impossible with him wearing the Green and Gold. In 2008 the Sonics were awful, but because Durant was on the team they felt closer to a championship than the Mariners or the Seahawks (you know how crazy that is? The Hawks had been in the Super Bowl just three years prior). In basketball you need a star. The Sonics had him. He was 6' 9" and growing. The shot looked good, even if his percentage was low. He looked like he could rebound, even if PJ Carlesimo tried to make him a shooting guard. He could lead us to championships, but more importantly I believed he could save the team. That 9% chance that led to us drafting Durant felt like it meant something. How could the team beat the odds like that and lose the franchise? Impossible. The Sonics staying in Seattle felt pre-ordained. Durant would save the team.

But he didn't. The Sonics moved. Kevin Durant became a superstar in OKC.

It's asinine to ever get angry at a player for leaving as a free agent, it really is. In professional sports young men (and women; I see you WNBA) are drafted. Which is really a fancy word for "told where they have to spend the next three years of their lives". In the NBA, once their rookie deal expires they become a restricted free agent. Under that system they can sign somewhere else, but if their team still wants them they can match the offer and force them to stay. But of course, this rarely happens because the home team can offer more money and years to the player. About year 8 or 9, a first round draft pick is finally able to choose where they work. Even then, the system is designed for the player to stay. Their current team can still offer them more money and years during their unrestricted free agency.

And if they have the gall to leave? People burn their jerseys and call them a traitor.

(Future blog post fun: about 440 players and 30 owners split revenue close to 50-50. Raise your hand if you pay to go to an NBA game to watch Steve Balmer give uncoordinated high fives or to check out what t-shirt Mark Cuban is wearing.)

I am not going to get into why Durant chose to play in the Bay Area over OKC because when I said "Bay Area" and "OKC" I already articulated why most people would have made the same decision. Beyond that, Durant doesn't need to justify his choice. He got to decide where to play basketball for the first time since he enrolled at the University of Texas as an 18 year old. Good for him. Oh, and lest we forget, the team that did draft Durant moved him after one season. As a 20-year old Durant learned that the NBA is a business.

This post isn't about Durant's decision, it's about closure. I am a bigger fan of Kevin Durant than I am of any NBA team. He and Nick Collison are the last Sonics in the NBA. And they have been stuck on the team that was taken from my city. I could root for their personal success, but not the team. Does that make me bitter? Probably. But...sports.

And you know what? I am not bitter anymore. The Thunder are meaningless to me now. I will take no joy in their fall off, nor would an eventual ascension bother me. My favorite player was held hostage for 8 years, but now he is free. Honestly, that team is of no consequence to me anymore. OKC is now Charlotte, or New Orleans. They are a team somewhere else with players I may or may not enjoy (and let me tell you, I LOVE Stephen Adams). Their wins and loses are meaningless to me. They are no longer winning with Durant, so they no longer matter. At all.

Clay Bennett, David Stern and Howard Schultz still suck though.