2018-2019 NBA thread

[Rennadrel]

This was a great gesture, as I think the fans probably realized how serious the injury was. But the guy you're referencing isn't wrong. He may have been a bit harsh, but the Raptors' fans did indeed cheer when KD went down. And you saw people laughing and clapping as he went off the court. Not to mention Jurassic Park starting an "F KD" chant when he went down and a Raptors' fan punching a Warriors fan in the face.

I'm a Philly fan, I know how this goes. The vocal minority puts a bad perception on the rest of the fans. But let's not act like this didn't happen. Some Raptors' fans showed truly no class last night. I don't think it's representative of their entire fan base, but it happened, was a bad look, and was just shameful.

It'd be foolish to think fans in any other city wouldn't have done the same during such an important game. This isn't the first time fans have done something like that, Warriors fans cheered when Kawhi got hurt a couple of years back, but everyone likes to act high and mighty like they've done no wrong in their lives. It's pretty hypocritical of other fans to criticize us for cheering during over an injury during a game we were losing. I'll be honest, I thought it was absolutely absurd for KD to have played last night, knowing that if it isn't healed properly, the long term effects can ruin your life. I didn't want him to play not because it improved our chances, but because I didn't want to see him get hurt. Now he's likely going to miss a full season because ACL tears can put you out for a calendar year or more, and I didn't want to see that happen.

[Espo]

It'd be foolish to think fans in any other city wouldn't have done the same during such an important game. This isn't the first time fans have done something like that, Warriors fans cheered when Kawhi got hurt a couple of years back, but everyone likes to act high and mighty like they've done no wrong in their lives. It's pretty hypocritical of other fans to criticize us for cheering during over an injury during a game we were losing. I'll be honest, I thought it was absolutely absurd for KD to have played last night, knowing that if it isn't healed properly, the long term effects can ruin your life. I didn't want him to play not because it improved our chances, but because I didn't want to see him get hurt. Now he's likely going to miss a full season because ACL tears can put you out for a calendar year or more, and I didn't want to see that happen.

You may be right, but it's not about other fan bases. It's not about what Warriors' fans did or what anyone else has done. Whataboutism isn't a valid defense for an action.

On the topic of basketball, it's definitely disappointing to see what happened to Durant here. Hopefully it won't cost him any money or derail his career much. And we unfortunately won't get a chance to see if anyone can take down the full strength Warriors.

[Rennadrel]

You may be right, but it's not about other fan bases. It's not about what Warriors' fans did or what anyone else has done. Whataboutism isn't a valid defense for an action.

On the topic of basketball, it's definitely disappointing to see what happened to Durant here. Hopefully it won't cost him any money or derail his career much. And we unfortunately won't get a chance to see if anyone can take down the full strength Warriors.

He's not going to play until the 2020-2021 season, at which point he'll be almost 34. That's a hard sell to teams to give him a max contract, which he might have gotten had he not played and aggravated his injury.

[ProphetFlume]

I went to bed shortly after KD went down. I was sure the Raptors would finish the job at home. Home teams are 1-4 in these Finals. Yikes.


It's something utterly tragic that KD went into the game with a weakened calf, and Doctors on the internet were like "he risks further injury, including his achilles further down". and it had to actually happen.

This also utterly changes free agency. KD is not likely to receive any Max deals if he opts out of his deal, so he's likely going to opt in and become a free agent in 2020. But for teams like the Knicks and Nets and Clippers, if you can't get KD do you gamble on getting someone like Kyrie on his own? You saw how that worked out in Boston, so is that worth the risk?

Every option there was in free agency just took a MAJOR turn with this KD injury, cause maybe if you are the Knicks you DO want to sign KD even if he's coming off an Achilles. So will KD opt out and give those teams the chance? Does he hate on the Warriors front office and coaching and training and medical staff, where some were doubting the seriousness of his injury? Does he hate how they pressured him into playing even when he maybe (probably) wasn't ready? We saw with Kawhi that that kind of thing can have real impact on a player's decision making.

The decision for KD to opt in or out alone will be a massive turning point in free agency. Going to be severe popcorn season again in like 2 weeks (maybe 1 week, given the draft and the looming AD trade).

I was thinking about this before the game. If it was worth trying to come back. We all want a Jordan who will fight as hard as possible, but also live in an era of players thinking about quality of life beyond the sport and their worth as a player when risking injury. I wanted to see the former but couldn't blame him for the latter. Respect for him trying, sadness for the result.

[-aiko-]

I was really hoping they'd close it out last night /sigh

I think it was a stupid idea to play Durant when he clearly wasn't ready, so I really hope they don't end up turning this around and feeling rewarded for doing so.

[PhaelixWW]

I was really hoping they'd close it out last night /sigh

I think it was a stupid idea to play Durant when he clearly wasn't ready, so I really hope they don't end up turning this around and feeling rewarded for doing so.

You think that if the Warriors somehow managed to turn things around and win the Finals that they'll attribute it to Durant playing for 12 minutes? I mean, if you want to hope they don't win, you're entitled to that feeling, but seriously?

I think that if the Warriors end up winning without Durant, they're just going to feel guilty, since apparently he shouldn't have even played in game 5 at all. If anything, they'll feel like a loss without him means that his coming back was somewhat justified, since they weren't going to make it without his help.

[ProphetFlume]

I think it's fair to say his return sparked something in the game and the momentum stuck. If they do come back I'd remember it as the defining thing that snowballed.

[xskarma]

"Celtics and Lakers are engaged in trade talks with New Orleans on All-NBA star Anthony Davis, league sources tell me, @ZachLowe_NBA, @Ramonashelburne and @windhorstESPN. Lakers No. 4 pick has been discussed as trade chip to help Pels acquire high-level player in multi-team deals." - Woj

TRADE TALK SZN EVERYONE.


I'm personally still not sure if getting AD and then getting Kyrie back is the most fun Celtics team. It should be a GOOD team, but I'm not sure I wouldn't rather just watch Marcus Smart and Horford and the young guys see what they can do next season, without Kyrie and AD.

Losing Smart in any AD trade that happens hurts my feelings. Love that guy.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and KD had an operation on his ruptured achilles tendon. He's out for the rest of the season. (as if there was even any kind of hope he wouldn't be)

[ProphetFlume]

Vanfleet showing up and the Warriors D have been the most surprising things this series.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Boston loses the Stanley Cup and the Warriors lose the NBA Finals all in 48 hours. Good time for sports.

[Pendulous]

Between Cousins pushing off a guy and getting the foul called on the defender, and Steph Curry tripping over himself and it getting called on Toronto, that pointless drawn out ending shouldn't have been that close.

[Northern Goblin]

Klay was carrying the Warriors into game 7.

Then they miss like 8 points worth of FTs in a half.

[Racthoh]

Yeah it's upsetting the way it went down, but curry got a great look there at the end

[Rennadrel]

Between Cousins pushing off a guy and getting the foul called on the defender, and Steph Curry tripping over himself and it getting called on Toronto, that pointless drawn out ending shouldn't have been that close.

Ugh, don't remind me of the brutal officiating in that game. Watching Klay go down like he did made me sad, because that's pretty much been the story of GSW these playoffs, injuries. But very well played, that was an entertaining series.

[Northern Goblin]

Hell of a last game to see out the Oracle though.

[Espo]

People gonna be like, "Raptors didn't deserve to win it".

Fine, who cares. It might not be fair, they might not be the best team, but that doesn't matter, they won. If this was about rating which team was best when fully healthy it would be a lot less interesting than having a competition where the worse team sometimes pulls off an upset.

Congrats to Toronto. Lots of well liked players - Ibaka, Gasol - getting their ring.

I'd hope not, but you're probably right. Whether it's didn't deserve/asterisk/whatever, people will debate this one a bit because GSW was so injured.

But yea, Toronto won--hat's off to them. No one can take it away. Can only play the team in front of you. They absolutely earned and deserved it.

The only thing I'd probably get salty at is if anyone starts a narrative of how Toronto was the team that finally took down the GSW beast--that would be a little (a lot) bit reaching to me.

[Northern Goblin]

I think its a stretch yet to say they've brought the Warriors down. Even if they didn't threepeat it's their 5th straight final and it's foolish to not already have them a favourite to be back there in 2020.

Raptors may well lose Kawhi in the offseason and not be in a position to compete next year.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

People gonna be like, "Raptors didn't deserve to win it".

Fine, who cares. It might not be fair, they might not be the best team, but that doesn't matter, they won. If this was about rating which team was best when fully healthy it would be a lot less interesting than having a competition where the worse team sometimes pulls off an upset.

Congrats to Toronto. Lots of well liked players - Ibaka, Gasol - getting their ring.

If the best team won every time then Golden State would be four-pete champs. You really think people were saying at 3-1 the Cavaliers were a better team? The only reason their championship doesn't have an "asterisk" is because people like Lebron.

Toronto won, they get the banner, and Golden State's dynasty is all but over pending KD opting out.

[Rennadrel]

Sounds like Klay Thompson has a torn ACL and will likely miss next season too. Losing KD and Klay is devestating

[xskarma]

Sounds like Klay Thompson has a torn ACL and will likely miss next season too. Losing KD and Klay is devestating

Yeah, this sucks. Everyone wanted Golden State to stop being so dominant, but I don't think anyone wanted it to happen like this, with 2 devastating injuries.

Not like this.