I don't even have to mention his name (or name-related puns, which I was looking forward to actually) and this subject of this post will still be abundantly clear to probably 90% of whoever reads this.
"The Decision," as has been greatly publicized, will be an hour long special tonight on ESPN at 9 PM ET. Shamelessly, I will be watching to see what this man does with his career. He has announced that he will inform us of his decision within the first 10 minutes of the telecast, leaving the remaining time presumably for interviews and analysis. I've got a couple ideas of how it should go down.
I definitely think that ESPN should begin coverage 30 minutes early, maybe with NBA Fastbreak or a similar show. It should be a studio show hosted by Stuart Scott along with a slew of black NBA analysts (Michael Wilbon, Magic Johnson, Jalen Rose) but of course with Jon Barry for diversity. They can cut over to J.A. Adande and Chris Broussard in a separate area (hosted by...who else is black? Jay Harris? Stan Verrett?) who can discuss the latest rumors and intel they've heard right up until "The Decision."
My vision of "The Decision" is a kind of unholy cross between a college selection press conference, the Academy Awards, and a presidential national address, with maybe a little bit of The Bachelor thrown in. It can start in on him, sitting at a desk, introducing himself and why he is here tonight (as if we needed a reminder). It can then cut to a highlight package for the teams in question and show him in a room, deep in thought and looking at the logos of each team. Of course while this is going on, ESPN should have coverage at each of the cities in play (I'm guessing Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Newark/Brooklyn, New York City, and Cleveland), interviewing fans and possibly team management.
He can then change rooms again, now in a suit, greeted by cardboard cutouts of players from the teams he's choosing from (assuming my guesses on teams are right, it can be Baron Davis, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Brook Lopez , Amare Stoudemire, and...himself). He will then present a rose to the final three teams left in the running as the remaining cardboard cutouts are escorted out or maybe just burned in the fireplace.
And the fun begins as he moves back to his original desk, which now has three caps on it, one for each remaining team. As he prepares to announce his team, ESPN can show fans at each location waiting intently in split-screen Oscar style, with him in the middle. He will then select a hat, put it on, and then cut to the winning (or "winning") city with fans going wild. And then...well I'm sure ESPN has a plan for what to cover after that.
The whole situation and surrounding hoopla is a little bit of a joke and yet there's something about it that's irresistible. Believe me, I'd love to not care and not pay attention at all, but I just can't turn away. So much has been made of this, trying to read into "The Decision" but I think we can only say a few things.
1. Location is irrelevant. I think. Greenwich, CT may seem to indicate Knicks, or perhaps that he's just en route to Carmelo Anthony's wedding this weekend. For all intents and purposes, it's a neutral (enough) site.
2. He would have to be even more deluded and full of himself to not pick Cleveland. It's one thing to hold a press conference, but to announce to a enormous television audience watching live on ESPN that you are leaving your hometown team and fans would be a tremendous kick in Cleveland's nuts. Although as a sports city, it would sort of fall in line with what they expect.
3. It's hard to believe that anyone genuinely knows his decision. Some people will be correct I'm sure and their sources will have given information that turns out to be accurate, but I just can't see this player coming this far only to have Broussard or someone on Twitter break the news of where he's signing before he announces it on his show.
And all the while, Kevin Durant goes about his business quietly.
Let me tell you, I've been becoming more and more of a fan of Durant throughout this past year. Admittedly, it began when I picked him up on one of my fantasy basketball teams. But watching him play (a little, not that much since OKC doesn't get a lot of national coverage) and seeing how he handles himself made me gain a lot of respect for him.
On the court, he's a beast. "The Durantula" is a lanky 6'9" forward (7'4" wingspan, 9'2" (!!!) standing reach) who is extremely talented. For my money, he's one of the best pure scorers in the game today. This year, he greatly improved his defense as well, perhaps spurred on by some numbers last year that implied that his impact wasn't as great as his scoring output implied. He is undoubtedly a superstar, and, at only 21, became the youngest player to lead the NBA in scoring with 30.1 points a game last year.
But off the court, he's something special. As I said, he's only 21, which blows my mind. He's a very humble guy who loves basketball and wants to win for the fans who support him. I mean, you kind of have to be to want to play in Oklahoma City, let's be real. It's not at all disingenuous either, from all accounts he really just is that nice. Durant's all about family and team, and it's pretty clear that when he and his OKC teammates call each other "bros," they really do act like siblings. And yes, I'll admit, I think his crush on Keri Hilson is pretty hilarious.
So why mention him now? Unlike the media circus surrounding most of the other players angling for big money, Durant's been working on his contract extension in the background. When he finally signed, he didn't go on SportsCenter, he didn't hold a press conference, he simply tweeted it:
Exstension for 5 more years wit the #thunder....God Is Great, me and my family came a long way...I love yall man forreal, this a blessing!He signed for 5 years, $86 million (a number that I think will go up since the salary cap is higher than expected) and intentionally didn't negotiate an opt-out clause to demonstrate his dedication to the city and the team. It's funny when you see guys like Carlos Boozer and Rudy Gay get similar contracts and they're basically only borderline All-Star players. Even Joe Johnson's contract (a 5 year, $123 million piece of crap) looks dumber now, which I didn't think was possible when he signed it. Of course, I understand Durant's maximum is not as high because of the amount of time he's been in the league, but it's crazy that Johnson will get about $40 million more coming off a year where he led his team to an embarrassing 2nd round sweep where he didn't put up a fight.
But Durant won't take credit for this at all. In between watching his teammates play in the Summer League and cheering them on with genuine fervor, he threw up this tweet today:
I really don't deserve this praise for handling my deal the way I did...plenty of guys did it the way I did...And while it may be true, he does deserve praise as it's a stark contrast to what players of similar, or even lesser, ability and stardom are doing this summer. All our attention is turned away, grabbed by the ones who so badly desire the spotlight and feed off of it. But Kevin Durant just toils away (as much as someone who makes that much money can "toil"), because he knows that soon enough that spotlight is going to be his.
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