These Two Clowns Arguing In Circles About Kevin Durant Are A Microcosm Of All Basketball Fans

The guy that thinks a professional athlete owes his city a lifetime of loyalty despite having no connection to it other than being drafted by a team that almost immediately picked up all their shit and left another - probably more deserving - city to relocate there.

Vs.

The woman that doesn't understand that being a sports fan is about being far too emotionally invested in the actions of professional athletes that get paid far too much, in part, because their job subjects them to so much scrutiny. 


Quite literally an unwinnable argument. These two could stand there debating until Kevin Durant is sitting in a rocking chair counting his unearned championship rings in retirement and they still wouldn't make a lick of progress in determining who's right, and that's mostly because they are both wrong. The guy for being so upset by the decision of someone he's never even met that he rigged up his jersey to disparage the honor of the person for whom it represents and wasted his time making - and standing outside with - a childish sign on the 4th of July. The woman for thinking that Oklahoma City wouldn't be an actual place without Kevin Durant and thinking that his status as a "grown man" means he should exempt from criticism even though he's a public figure who also benefits from that same all-intrusive spotlight. Just two people completely stuck in their ridiculously one sided ways. Incapable of compromising and conceding the idea that maybe, just maybe, the truth resides somewhere in the middle.

Kevin Durant might be a big ol' pussy that decided he couldn't win a title on his own accord, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's a traitor. Kevin Durant might be a well intentioned, free thinking athlete that made a choice that he thought was best for his future, but that doesn't mean we can't mock him for that choice when it's very clearly one that represents a lack of perseverance. Kevin Durant should not be compared to Benedict Arnold, but he also shouldn't be compared to Billy in Accounting who happened to take a better offer from a rival firm. We shouldn't always expect pro athletes to do what's "right" for their sport, just like we shouldn't always expect them to denounce - or even run from - the spirit of competition. Kevin Durant's not completely guilty of tanking a franchise that employed him for 9 years and singlehandedly murdering parity in the NBA, but he's definitely not completely innocent of it either. He's not Hitler. He's not Mother Teresa. He's somewhere in between and that means he has his flaws. Unfortunately for him, when you get paid over 25 million dollars a year to play basketball most people - myself included - have no problem pointing those flaws out when they negatively affect something we derive an irrational amount of enjoyment from.