Another former player has come out against Kevin Durant joining the Warriors, although this might also count as political news, because he was a former Senator of New Jersey.
In an interview with Sirius XM NBA Radio, Bill Bradley voiced his displeasure with Durant joining the Warriors.
“I don’t understand Kevin Durant going to Golden State,” said Bradley. “I don’t know how that’s going to work, but it’ll be interesting to see.”
Yes there’s only one ball, and superstar egos to worry about, but there’s never been an indication from Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, or Draymond Green that they’re the types of players that won’t gel with other big figures on the court.
Bradley was also asked to give his opinion on “super teams” in today’s NBA, and whether he ever would have congregated with other star players in hopes of winning a championship.
“I think they are artificial creations of our current economic situations in basketball,” said Bradley, referring to his assessment of super teams.
I’m not entirely sure what he means by that. Bradley played before free agency, so maybe he’s just saying that the current economic regulations allow for players to move freely between teams when their contracts are up.
I don’t understand the “artificial” part, but clearly this is someone who played in an era that is drastically different than the one today.
“I’m kind of biased. I played 10 years with one team,” said Bradley. “It was the city, the fans you were loyal to. It was the teammates you played with, you were like family.”
Interesting how a guy who didn’t have the option to change teams via free agency is critiquing this landscape and the players who exercise their right to switch teams today. At least he admitted that he was biased.
Who’s to say that Bradley would have had that same “loyalty” if free agency was available to him?
I’m a big fan of Bradley, but I disagree with what he’s implying. The brand of loyalty he’s referring to from back in his day didn’t go both ways. Players were beholden to their team.
Maybe Bradley would have stayed his entire career with the Knicks if free agency was available to him. That would have been his choice.
However, to insinuate that a player leaving via free agency is somehow a character flaw and a sign of disloyalty to a team that would gladly trade a player away if their production declined or they felt as though they could get a better player for him is misguided.