Stephen A. Smith Flips Out Over Kevin Durant Considering Playing In The Olympics | TooAthletic.com
Kevin Durant is out for the foreseeable future, missing almost certainly the entirety his first season with the Brooklyn Nets barring a comeback late in the season just to test out his legs. After a calf injury with Golden State was exacerbated when the star tried to return too soon to bail his team out in the Finals against the Toronto Raptors, he departed in the offseason and was signed by Brooklyn with the full understanding that his first season would most likely be a lost one. However, recent speculation regarding Team USA for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo have included Durant’s name, with the Washington Post reporting that Kevin Durant is entertaining the idea of playing in those games despite being unable to honor his NBA contract. Stephen A. Smith of First Take was livid at the notion of KD playing in the Olympics while still tending to his injury.
“I don’t know what it says about KD, but I ain’t happy about it… I know that KD don’t give a damn what anybody thinks, he’s his own man, he’s gonna do what he’s gonna do,” Smith said, clearly agitated. “I don’t wanna hear that! The Nets are paying him! This is a superstar, a two time champion, a league MVP, dammit, that this game misses… You wanna know why you can do what you wanna do? Because you’re getting so much money. But who is paying you? I wanna see KD on an NBA court first.”
Smith is right, and the notion of Durant playing in an exhibition while not playing the team paying his salary is disrespectful to the Nets. That said, in a player driven league where teams have less and less leverage every single year, if Durant is healthy, the Nets probably aren’t going to put up much of a fight here.
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Stephen A. Smith Flips Out Over Kevin Durant Considering Playing In The Olympics | TooAthletic.com