Kevin Durant moving to Golden State has rocked the NBA world, and everyone has an opinion. Even NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he didn’t think it was good for the league, but ultimately respected his decision to join the Dubs as a free agent.
A lot of people agree with Adam, but obviously not Kevin’s mom, Wanda. Because of this, she took to share her perspective with him, which he then recounted at Wednesday’s ESPY awards.
Here’s what Silver told Cleveland.com on the red carpet of the ESPY awards about his talk:
“The one thing I have learned, I was just talking to Kevin Durant’s mom, every situation is different. This was a team in Golden State where they have three all-stars who were all drafted. A team that’s under the cap. And one free agent, who also happens to be a superstar, makes a decision to go to that team. It’s very different than if multiple players from different teams had come together and said let’s all land on yet a completely different team
“Every situation is unique, and these players have difficult decisions to make. Of course they want to win. I’m sure it was very difficult for him to leave the Oklahoma City community. Look at the incredible things he’s done there over the years. So these decisions are always difficult, and these are young men. It’s a lot of responsibility.”
This might have been a new perspective for Silver, but as an NBA commissioner, it’s his job to be concerned about things like competitive balance and ensuring smaller markets can not only thrive, but have a legitimate chance at competing for an NBA title.
Silver did also address his desire to see changes in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, with incentives for stars to stay with their own teams. He didn’t get into specifics, but hopefully that won’t equal a lockout or strike in the summer of 2017 when the Players’ Association (NBPA) or owners can opt out of the current CBA.
Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors on a two-year contract, worth $54.3 million with a player option on the second year. It’ll be interesting how the rest of the league adjusts to this new superpower, but as fans, most are all forward to seeing this team play even if parity and balance have been destroyed.
