I think that the issue is with Ime not making the offensive adjustments needed with this roster. Sengun is horrible on defense and Eason is not a starter. Sengun and Eason should come off the bench. I would start Capela and Shepherd. Durant defense and switching is also become a liability and it makes it worse when he turns the ball over. However, he demands more attention than Sengun. We should have also picked up a big body center that can catch lobs, rebound, and switch well on defense like Drummond.
Steve Kerr, say what you want about him but he is a smart coach and is a perfect example where his coaching is better than his roster and they seem competitive every single game.
I think it's a combo of all 3. Maybe less of 2, more 1 and 3. As much as Durant's ego needs the ball, I think part of him being primary playmaker is just lack of other player's ability. If the other player's were better on their own, they wouldn't need to depend on Durant. Simple as that Rockets also lack secondary connective passers, "hockey assists" types as well. As bad as Durant is as primary playmaker, the other players are just as bad and worse with making any kind of offensive decision. When it's passing to a Tari, Jabari, DFS, they just do not make good decisions or good passes. Sometimes it's tough even getting them IN proper POSITION to even receive a pass. That's where its missing a VanVleet, Brooks, & JVG, who for all their faults were better off-ball connective players
Funny how KD has seemingly done this at every juncture but its always the coaches, other players, fanbases, etc etc. He has been an absolute abysmal failure every time he hasnt had an elite point guard to figure **** out for him. Zach Lavine with a longer leash and better PR.
His body language to improve and stop being a b**** on his phone. Yeah basically, be a good teammate and not a selfish cunt.
Well, its the same conversation we had around James Harden. While the OP is right, it also misses the point. The point is within this league, no player carrying that responsability has been able to win the title while not leading. You could make the case we are trying to be pioneers and that is fine. But dont treat us like crazy when we expect the highest paid employee on the court to show leadership, maturity and poise.
I agree that everyone has said things they regretted in the heat of the moment - at it's core, you are right that THAT is what this is BUT the problematic part is the pattern here: - he is saying this about active teammates - he is saying this on a public forum(Twitter/X) - he is saying this with active followers who are other staff, media, and players in the association (effectively the "peers" of Jabari, Alpi, etc) - he is doing it with burner accounts - he has been "caught" multiple times now doing the same thing on different teams - he is saying this as a guy who wants to be perceived as a "leader" At some point you have to hold KD accountable to a pattern of poor leadership and being a bad teammate. If one of your coworkers you work closely with day after day created an X account, got thousands of other coworkers following them, then bashed you and called you r****ded to your work peers and said other unsavory things over several months - there would be a personal reckoning right? And I'm talking about a guy who most of the players on this team grew up idolizing and watching on TV..... If that same co-worker did that at several jobs and despite being an enormously talented individual contributor, found himself being passed from job to job because no one could stomach working with him for more than a few years - you would say that's probably not a guy we should hire unless we are desperate...enter the Houston Rockets being desperate enough after 4 years of Jalen Green. Lots of people say bad things in the heat of the moment - but I don't think it's blown out of proportion to see a pattern of disrespect to those who work hard around you, being a poor leader, a poor teammate, and most of all - just having really poor judgement about sharing those things publicly over and over and over again despite being caught before. There are a lot of very unhinged highly emotional public figures out there who can regulate their impulses publicly - it's simply unacceptable that KD can't control himself and that he doesn't have people around him who can help him see how this is ultimately hurting his team's success and his own image on and off the court. In short - stop being a b****, KD.
Yep, I've been saying character is one of the most underrated "talent" in the NBA. What kind of person you are affects everything you do, yes, including playing a basketball game.
I agree KD has been as advertised. The turnovers are inflated because we are relying on him to be the primary initiator and can’t space the floor for him. KD is not the problem, but he doesn’t fit the timeline for this team either. We are effectively misusing and wasting one of the best offensive players in NBA history. It’s an indictment of the roster construction and coaching staff. We are making the same mistake the Suns did by not pairing him with a point guard. It’s pretty cut and dry. Sure I could do without the bad body language, inconsistent effort, and the burner account controversy. And I do think there is something to the chemistry issues. But the elephant in the room is no ball handlers, poor spacing, and poor coaching. I continue to believe we should recoup a mid-1st and move on. We’ll be better off for it long-term. The current roster is not suited to succeed with KD.
No, he doesn’t want to be a leader, never said he’s a leader or anything to do with “leadership”. Just because fans want him to be the leader when he’s never been one in his basketball life but expect him to be one now because ??? •“"Steph Curry is the face of the franchise, and that helps me out, because I don't have to. I don't want to have to be the leader. I'm not a leader. I'm bad at saying, 'Stand behind me and follow me.' No. I'm one of those guys that's just like, 'Let's do this **** together. Let's just work everybody together. I don't mind being on the front line with you, but let's come and do it together.' That's my way of leadership.” •“More than anything, I always wanted to be a guy that does s*** instead of says s***,” Durant told Yahoo Sports. “You could talk loud as you want, but if you're not going out there and doing what you're talking about, your teammates are not going to really respect it. So I always erred on the side of shutting up and going to work, and hopefully that inspires. But if I need to say something, if I feel something and something is on my heart, then I'll come out and talk.” •"I don't feel like I want people to call me a leader, but I also don't want people to say I'm not one either, because they don't see what goes on behind the scenes of what I talk about or my intentions or relationships that I've built with my teammates and my support staff," Durant said. … "I'm not as charismatic as my peers; I don't have a personality that's fit for TV like my peers," he said. "You've got to sell what you're doing as well, and I haven't sold it enough. I don't feel like I need to, I don't feel like I need people to call me a leader, but I also don't feel like I want people to say I'm not one either." •“If you want to know about my leadership, I’m just one of the guys.” … “Yo, get on my back and I’m gonna teach and tell you everything you need to know. Don’t say nothing, don’t do nothing, just follow me!” Ha what?! I don’t even operate in life like that. If you want me to operate like that, go get somebody else.” Get high, chill, hoop, argue with #NBATwitter, that’s Kevin Durant. Asking him to be the point guard, initiator of the offense, leader, whatever else…don’t blame him for something he’s never been but expect him to be now. “If you think Sengun and Jabari suck, keep it to yourself!” lol yeah ok….deep down you all know he’s right because you all want Sengun traded too and think he sucks. “But I wouldn’t say it in a private group chat on a burner! I’d just post it on CF!”
im certainly not excusing his behavior... but a couple points I would ask clarification on... "he is saying this with active followers who are other staff, media, and players in the association" - now my understanding was it was like a dozen other players - "his buddies"... yes, it is a public forum - but does it serve no greater significance than if I had such an account...? Were there other Rox personnel included? what media members? "he is doing it with burner accounts" - is he just using this old burner account to bs with his buddies... or is he posting such remarks on broader forums? I'm typically pretty amused when KD claps on Ant and all of his baby mammas... now thats for all to see and its an exchange between high profile guys... same w him and Reese... KD will say the stuff straight up with his name attached to it.... Imo (and i dont know the whole story) it was more like a text chain among friends... if it hadnt been "leaked" then no one (other than his buddies) would have ever seen the comments... He's not going to ESPN and ragging on his teammates while hiding anonymously... I mean... if someone on here mentioned that their sibs were irresponsible, lazy people... and I chimed in ranting about my sibs... that would be the same thing, right? Now if i posted the same remarks on my Facebook - where them and other family saw them - that would be very bad.... I aint sayin that its right... but it feels like he was just venting and didnt think it would ever be noticed by anybody outside of his personal friends...
This describes the last 5 years of both Porter Jr and Cam Whitmore. Who add actual worse criminality with it. Toxic traits will affect others negatively, no matter the status. Yes it's different getting junk treatment from a Christian Wood compared to a Luka & Jokic doing it. But age and star level only factor in so much. The point being, all of them still deserve their butts whooped the same for being that way
