The Golden State Warriors staved off elimination against the odds in foreign land. After coming out of the gate landing a barrage of three pointers the hometown Toronto Raptors did what they’d done so well throughout this NBA Finals, righted the storm. After trailing for almost the entirety of the game they laid their fate in the hands of their king. Kawhi Leonard delivered. He has at every point in these playoffs. Leonard single-handedly produced a 10-0 run that gave the Raptors a 6-point lead with three minutes remaining in regulation. The Warriors were dejected and gassed. Stephen Curry launched a deep three that bounced off the front of the rim and Raptors’ head coach Nick Nurse called back to back timeouts.
Nurse decided his guys needed rest more than the Warriors. Even though the Warriors have been the thinner team with the shorter bench. Whether the timeout was the cause of what happened next, or just stalled the inevitable we’ll never know. But, from that point on Kawhi Leonard failed to make a shot, the Splash Brothers combined to make three triples and the Warriors emerged with a miraculous 106-105 victory. The series will return to Oakland, giving Oracle Arena life for one final night. One era concluding on Thursday possibly among many others: Kawhi Leonard may deliver a championship to Toronto in his final game for the Raptors, ending the Warriors dynasty, or Golden State could win en-route to a three-peat that bookends their historic five-year run. This all hangs in the balance. Yet, all seems so trivial, because it is. Basketball, after all, remains basketball, just a rubber ball bounced and tossed around to put through a metal circle. It perhaps has never been more obvious than tonight, when Warriors’ President of Basketball Operations sat before reporters and through tears discussed Kevin Durant’s status, “It’s an Achilles injury.” After fighting through a calf injury that cost Durant the last 9 Warriors’ games, the best player in the NBA finally could rejoin his teammates. Everyone wondered how much Durant could contribute. He didn’t participate in any 5-on-5 practice and hadn’t played in a game in 30 days. The Warriors would have taken any competent two-way player. Too many players in their rotation have been unable to hold up on at least one end of the court. Head coach Steve Kerr had run out of options. The Raptors pounced on the opportunity and entered Monday with a commanding 3-1 series lead. What would Kevin Durant play like? From the tip, he was the best player on the court. Durant scored 11 points in his first 11 minutes of action, combined with a couple of rebounds, and an impressive block his presence rippled throughout the arena. We call it greatness. The majestic poetry that Warriors’ basketball has been at its peaks. The fairy tale was coming together. Less than three minutes into the second quarter, the Warriors had built a five-point lead. Durant held the ball on the right wing and began to drive to the hoop. His body couldn’t do it. On that fateful step, it is believed that Durant tore his right Achilles’ tendon, although an MRI is necessary to confirm. All of this was with the Warriors post-game. They survived when they should have shriveled. How remains a question. This game seemd like one of those rare occasions when every overused cliché of grit, fight, championship-DNA, and luck came together. Perhaps the biggest miracle of the team’s dynasty. The Warriors learned that miracle and tragedy can sometimes come all at once. Intertwined like a rose with thorns the size of swords. Had Durant re-aggravated his injury and just been out for 4-8 weeks this wouldn’t be such a big deal. If it is a torn Achilles, those may have been the final 11 minutes of the all-time great KD. Their win was only a win in basketball. Their loss goes far beyond the title, the team, or even the league. Someone who lives for a game he loves may have lost the game. It all must feel so trivial now. Back in November when the Warriors’ suspended forward Draymond Green for laying into Durant during a game regarding his upcoming free-agency. While, Green crossed a line, reports suggested many throughout the organization had a certain level of fatigue with the on-going Durant free-agency drama. The line between greatness and good can be hidden by dominance. The difference between the Warriors and the rest of the league was never really that large and has only shrunk since Durant joined. Whether they knew or not before, everyone knows now. What has always been unclear was how Durant fit in the locker-room. Those questions were answered Tuesday night. Every member of the Warriors’ organization made clear they don’t just need Durant to play, they want him to be a part of their success. “He’s one of the most misunderstood people. He is a good teammate. He is a good person. It’s not fair,” said Myers. He added, “Kevin Durant loves to play basketball and the people that questioned whether he wanted to get back to this team were wrong.” When Curry heard the news, he couldn’t hold back tears. When he was able to talk to the press, he made clear “Everybody gets so wrapped up in chasing championships and the greatness you see on the floor. But life is more… he gave us what he had. He sacrificed his body.” DeMarcus Cousins reiterated, “it’s not about basketball, it’s about everything else. The sh*t that y’all don’t care about.” Cousins’ added a valid criticism of the world around players like Durant, “we’re only idolized as superstar athletes not human beings. It’s always about what we can do between those lines.” On a day when most people mourn Durant the basketball player, understand how much the game means to him. When Durant won the MVP award in 2014, he gave one of the most beautiful speeches in the award's history. He acknowledges, “basketball is just a platform in order for me to inspire people,” but explains how much more it was for him. Born into an impoverished single-parent household, Durant understands that “the odds were stacked against us.” Yet, as he tells it, “when I walked into the gym, I fell in love with the game.” He did not dream of a pro career, or even a collegiate one, instead “My dream was to become a rec-league coach. That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay home and help the kids out, and be a coach.” Durant is a rare star, not driven by dreams, but driven by love. The same insecurities that would lead him to Golden State have always been there, “I just never thought that I could make it." Even after winning an MVP he still searched for validation as a player. Durant fell in love with basketball. It was his escape. But, he became so great, it trapped him. The game became a job with costs, namely, anonymity. No one argues that Durant isn’t made wealthier by his celebrity, but that attention doesn’t have limits. Still, whether it was bad press, getting ripped by a pundit, or an argument with Green, Durant freed himself on the court. These last thirty days were a torturous test. Each day he craved to be back where he fell in love. On Tuesday, we all watched him rekindle that joy when his Achilles tore it all away. Myers made it clear that he doesn’t believe anyone deserves blame for Durant’s injury. He also understands the world, “if someone needs to be blamed… you can blame me.” Over the next few days many reports will dive into the medical process Durant went through to return. We are not doctors or sports scientists familiar with the situation. We want an explanation, and I would like to know if KD was given painkillers pre-game, but the body is the body. Much like the universe, it is something we understand almost all the time, except for those times we don’t. The Warriors have one of the best run organizations in the world. Did they push Durant because he’s set for free-agency? Well, Kevon Looney and Klay Thompson both missed games in this series when they were advocating to play. That doesn’t mean they didn’t mishandle Durant, but it would be out of character. After Myers and the medical staff, Kerr will be questioned for playing Durant 11 of the first 14 minutes in the game. Coaches are there to protect players from themselves. We rightfully tear apart coaches who send football players out with concussion like symptoms. But this wasn’t that simple. Durant wasn’t dazed. He was dancing and dunking pre-game. He was the best player on the court before it was all taken away. There lies our collective sorrow. The rest of this series and all of next season likely won’t have Kevin Durant playing basketball. We will never know if it could have been prevented, or if his Achilles would have waited till next preseason to snap. Here we return to ourselves. The Toronto Raptors’ fans who cheered when Durant went down with his injury, the fans, writers, and pundits tormenting him for choosing to join the Warriors, and then the Warriors' fans and players who questioned his commitment and allegiance to their organization. Since joining Golden State, Durant won two titles, two finals MVPs, and exceeded what was asked of him. Both him and his co-star Curry understood that they would lose something in personal accolades coming together. Neither won a regular season MVP and Curry still doesn’t have a finals MVP. Curry has rightfully received tons of praise for sacrificing personal legacy for his teammates. Yet, while we’ve all discussed what Curry sacrificed, it may be Durant who loses the most. On Thursday the NBA Finals will return to Oakland for one final game in Oracle Arena. The Raptors will try to bring Canada a title, the Warriors will try to live another day, to get one for Kevin. Regardless, let Durant’s greatness be a lesson. He may never play at this level again. Yet did we ever take in his majesty? Or did we focus so much on where we thought he should play instead? Durant has always asked that we focus on the game itself, not what happens behind the scenes. Game 5 reminded us how beautiful a game it is. In a surreal twist of fate, maybe losing Durant can finally teach us what he tried to. Greatness is not forever. We do not choose how it happens, when it begins, or when it ends. If we savor it, we won't look back when it's gone and wonder what we missed.
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About MeI have been a die-hard fan of the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, and Golden State Warriors my entire life. Following them (and the surrounding leagues) have given me a lot of strong opinions on sports. Links to some of Marc's Articles around the Web:
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