OT Kevin Durant is Becoming a Head Case

[Rocktheworld]

Can we talk about this dude's personality? Never have I seen such a drastic change in demeanor in a pro athlete

KD: Burning desire to repeat causing more T's

-First for 7 years he's the nice guy who cried about his mom during his MVP speech
-Ditches OKC to join a 73-win team, featuring a unanimous MVP, who didn't need him, and came back down 3-1 against him. By the grace he earned with his likability in OKC was not criticized too harshly given the above
-Then he becomes a tough guy; said prior persona in OKC was fake per his own admission
-Then he wins his banana boat championship and comes out with those ridiculous shoes
-Then it comes out he has a ghost twitter account for responding to trolls
-Then he enters Rasheed Wallace levels of ejections (insert the above rationale)
-Has destroyed essentially all his likability and has become fairly hostile to media in this process

What is going on with this guy?

 

[TheChamps990411]

Can we have a thread on this dude's personality? Never have I seen such a drastic change in demeanor in a pro athlete

KD: Burning desire to repeat causing more T's

-First he's the nice guy who cried about his mom during his MVP speech
-Ditches OKC to join a 73-win team, featuring a unanimous MVP, who didn't need him, and came back down 3-1 against him. By the grace he earned with his likability in OKC was not criticized too harshly given the above
-Then he becomes a tough guy; said prior persona in OKC was fake per his own admission
-Then he wins his banana boat championship and comes out with those ridiculous shoes
-Then it comes out he has a ghost twitter account for responding to trolls
-Then he enters Rasheed Wallace levels of ejections (insert the above rationale)
-Has destroyed essentially all his likability in this process

What is going on with this guy?

Not sure. I enjoy watching the guy play but hes always come across as a bit phony. I dont mean that in a bad way i just see him as someone who is always playing a role instead of just being himself.

 

[Dogdeacon]

That’s a take, my question is so what?
Rasheed Wallace was extremely well liked and always a winner.
You mentioned nothing about basketball, that hasn’t slipped. Arguably a better defender, career high in blocks this yr.
Admittedly I haven’t watched enough games or seen the other Ts. So not sure if he’s lost some control or more intense, last nights T was bad/deserved but ejection too quick.
Bottom line I bet they win again and he accrues more haters.

 

[Robertelamin]

Him becoming a tough guy was a hilarious turn.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Him becoming a tough guy was a hilarious turn.

Yeah I would personally hold off on trying to be a tough guy until I could at least bench my body weight

Not to mention that ship sailed when he cried about his mommy

 

[UCDaveD]

Big fan of Durant’s heel turn. Makes him a hell of a lot more interesting.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Big fan of Durant’s heel turn. Makes him a hell of a lot more interesting.

Yeah but heel turns as they exist in the WWE are precisely calculated shifts in acted character personae and narratives to advance fabricated stories to artificially drive up interest.

inb4



Kevin Durant is a real guy acting one way for 9 years, then claiming that was all "fake" and now acting out an actually pathetically transparently fake tough guy persona that we treat like we treat @Chief00 's persona as an insider. He's not actually tough and physically challenging guys. It's his whining and verbally abusing officials that's earning him these Ts and ejections. It's his bickering with media nerds holding microphones that is further driving down his likability.

He's no villain; let alone an interesting one. He just seems lost to me.

 

[UConnStats]

Him becoming a tough guy was a hilarious turn.

 

[superjohn]

Yeah I would personally hold off on trying to be a tough guy until I could at least bench my body weight

Not to mention that ship sailed when he cried about his mommy

Who cares how much he can bench? He's considered the second best player in the league and an all-time great while we're posting on a message board of a team whose season ended months ago.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Who cares how much he can bench?

Anyone he is trying to convince that he is a tough guy. Duh.

He's considered the second best player in the league and an all-time great while we're posting on a message board of a team whose season ended months ago.

Could you come up with a more irrelevant point?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Probably my favorite guilty pleasure movie.

 

[superjohn]

Anyone he is trying to convince that he is a tough guy. Duh.


Could you come up with a more irrelevant point?

None of the guys in the NBA can bench for s^^t, and the last real fight was probably in the 90's or so. Don't see the relevance of his combine bench press.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

No one on the Warriors is remotely likable outside of Iggy.

 

[Rocktheworld]

None of the guys in the NBA can bench for s^^t, and the last real fight was probably in the 90's or so.

More irrelevance

Dismissed

 

[intlzncster]

No one on the Warriors is remotely likable outside of Iggy.

Swaggy haha

 

[Rocktheworld]

No one on the Warriors is remotely likable outside of Iggy.

Gotta be at worst neutral on Klay

 

[Mano]

The ejections are new, I'll grant you, but he was growing wicked testy with the media in OKC well before he even left. Their relationship was downright icy, same with Westbrook, and it was pretty well known. Also his technicals were among the league leaders for a couple years smack dab in the middle of his tenure. That said, while he certainly carried the nice guy aura for a while, I would posit that its a bit of a natural evolution for these hyper competitive types to try and find that edge they need in order to be winners, and that this evolution might be a byproduct of it.

 

[Rocktheworld]

The ejections are new, I'll grant you, but he was growing wicked testy with the media in OKC well before he even left. Their relationship was downright icy, same with Westbrook, and it was pretty well known. Also his technicals were among the league leaders for a couple years smack dab in the middle of his tenure. That said, while he certainly carried the nice guy aura for a while, I would posit that its a bit of a natural evolution for these hyper competitive types to try and find that edge they need in order to be winners, and that this evolution might be a byproduct of it.

Sorry man Kobe, Jordan, KG, Bird, hyper-competitive guys who rarely if ever got ejected, let alone for yelling at refs (maybe for fighting). The vast majority of NBA players can make it without racking up Ts like this. This isn't some "natural progression". He is alone with Rasheed Wallace for players to have ever been ejected 5+ times in a season. And so what if his iciness with the media isn't new? Again the vast majority of players have at worst a neutral relationship with the media. Besides Russ, who has his own mental issues with his fashion choices lol, what players let alone superstars treat the media the way he does? Let's compare his behavior to his peers in the top 10: Lebron? Steph? Harden? Brow? Giannis? Embiid? KAT? Kawhi?

Any of those guys have ghost Twitter accounts to engage with trolls?

Not to mention if he's so competitive, why did he join the Warriors in the first place?

Why would he bother putting on a whole fake persona for 9 years?

It's not just one thing. It's the amalgamation of all this odd behavior that makes him a straight up headcase at this point.

 

[Walker11]

Can we talk about this dude's personality? Never have I seen such a drastic change in demeanor in a pro athlete

KD: Burning desire to repeat causing more T's

-First for 7 years he's the nice guy who cried about his mom during his MVP speech
-Ditches OKC to join a 73-win team, featuring a unanimous MVP, who didn't need him, and came back down 3-1 against him. By the grace he earned with his likability in OKC was not criticized too harshly given the above
-Then he becomes a tough guy; said prior persona in OKC was fake per his own admission
-Then he wins his banana boat championship and comes out with those ridiculous shoes
-Then it comes out he has a ghost twitter account for responding to trolls
-Then he enters Rasheed Wallace levels of ejections (insert the above rationale)
-Has destroyed essentially all his likability and has become fairly hostile to media in this process

What is going on with this guy?

I never saw him admitting that his OKC persona was fraudulent and that would harm my theory. Not that I don't believe you, I just haven't seen it. I think KD is an insecure and highly sensitive dude who was not ready for the backlash when he joined the Warriors. Him being a mushroom cap didn't destroy his likeability, him joining the Warriors did. The outrage was enormous and universal and KD was shook. On the Bill Simmons podcast, his agent tells how KD flipped out on him immediately after signing with the Warriors, yelling "how could you let me do this to myself." Its tough to be the nice guy when everyone despises you, especially when he was almost universally beloved by NBA fans previously. I think the whole situation has turned him into an incredibly bitter dude.

 

[polycom]

Listen to bill Simmons podcast with him. #blogboys

 

[Dogdeacon]

Sorry man Kobe, Jordan, KG, Bird, hyper-competitive guys who rarely if ever got ejected, let alone for yelling at refs (maybe for fighting). The vast majority of NBA players can make it without racking up Ts like this. This isn't some "natural progression". He is alone with Rasheed Wallace for players to have ever been ejected 5+ times in a season. And so what if his iciness with the media isn't new? Again the vast majority of players have at worst a neutral relationship with the media. Besides Russ, who has his own mental issues with his fashion choices lol, what players let alone superstars treat the media the way he does? Let's compare his behavior to his peers in the top 10: Lebron? Steph? Harden? Brow? Giannis? Embiid? KAT? Kawhi?

Any of those guys have ghost Twitter accounts to engage with trolls?

Not to mention if he's so competitive, why did he join the Warriors in the first place?

Why would he bother putting on a whole fake persona for 9 years?

It's not just one thing. It's the amalgamation of all this odd behavior that makes him a straight up headcase at this point.

Again so what? If his play isn’t affected and he’s revealed as fake or a Dick what exactly is the negative of his behavior? You mad he’s not a teddy bear? Michael Jordan was two different guys his entire playing career, nice guy to media and didn’t make his full heel turn until his HOF acceptance speech. It matters how they play basketball.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I never saw him admitting that his OKC persona was fraudulent and that would harm my theory. Not that I don't believe you, I just haven't seen it.

Yeah I definitely wouldn’t be making that up. Chris Broussard who knows KD personally was told as such

I think KD is an insecure and highly sensitive dude who was not ready for the backlash when he joined the Warriors. Him being a mushroom cap didn't destroy his likeability, him joining the Warriors did. The outrage was enormous and universal and KD was shook. On the Bill Simmons podcast, his agent tells how KD flipped out on him immediately after signing with the Warriors, yelling "how could you let me do this to myself." Its tough to be the nice guy when everyone despises you, especially when he was almost universally beloved by NBA fans previously. I think the whole situation has turned him into an incredibly bitter dude.

On the whole I agree, other than the point about the backlash over the move being universal. Tons of people seemed fine with it.

Speaking of that podcast, I haven’t listened myself but apparently KD has been on something like 7 times and gets angry often on it.

 

[Showballot]

Yeah I would personally hold off on trying to be a tough guy until I could at least bench my body weight

Not to mention that ship sailed when he cried about his mommy

Yeah man. The measure of toughness is totally the bench press! All the cool kids are doing it these days.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Who cares how much he can bench? He's considered the second best player in the league and an all-time great while we're posting on a message board of a team whose season ended months ago.

Why don’t you provide everyone a list of acceptable topics of conversation?

Christ you’re unbearable.

 

[kemba]

His bickering with the media that started his last couple years in OKC became annoying because up until going to Golden State its hard to think of a superstar player who has been treated better than him by the media. It would be like Derek Jeter complaining the media was trying to take him down