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| Foto overgenomen - Origineel vind je --- Hier --- |
De Finale van alweer een basketball-seizoen; het gaat allemaal heel hard nu...
In mijn vorige column schreef ik al dat ik de laatste week 'Instant-Fan' werd van de Oklahoma Thunder. Deels vind dat zijn oorzaak ik mijn neiging emotioneel voor de underdog te gaan, maar het komt toch vooral door het compromisloze, high energy en spectaculaire spel van de mannen van '9-year NBA-Veteran' Kevin Durant en Russel Westbrook, en al die teamgenoten die hun hart en ziel eruit speelde onder aanvoering van dit dynamische duo... Nogmaals; ik heb ervan genoten!
Ik had deze serie graag nog wat wedstrijden voort zien gaan; je zou haast voorstellen een serie als deze voortaan in Best-of-Nine-, of zelfs Best-of-Eleven-format te verspelen, maar dat kan natuurlijk niet; een NBA-seizoen is al zo gruwelijk lang...en dan is dit ook nog eens een Olympisch Seizoen..!
Spelen Durant en/of Westbrook trouwens voor USA Basketball? Straks in Rio? Ik hoop het maar...
Maar zoals altijd, het (basketball-)leven gaat door zeker in een mediageniek gebeuren als deze nieuwe 'Golden Era' van de NBA. 'KD' is Free-Agent deze zomer, en waarschijnlijk willen zo'n beetje alle 30 teams hem graag tekenen... Dus is nu al de free-agent-status van 'KD' trending...
CITAAT Kevin Durant, 30 minuten na het verlies in de Western Conference in Game-7:
"Unfortunately we didn't come out on top," Durant said. "That's something that all the guys are upset about. But we laid it all out there. Everybody left their soul out on the court. We have no regrets."
After playoff collapse, Durant future is Thunder's question
POSTED: May 31, 2016 1:33 AM ET
JOSH DUBOW
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — As Stephen Curry dribbled out the clock in a raucous Oracle Arena, Kevin Durant could only stand and watch.
The Golden State Warriors are heading back to the NBA Finals, while Durant's future in Oklahoma City is much less certain.
Two nights after blowing an opportunity to close out the defending champion Warriors at home, the Thunder got sent home for the summer when they lost Game 7 of the Western Conference finals 96-88 on Monday night.
"We wanted to win the whole thing," Durant said. "There's no moral victories in our locker room after the game. We were all upset. We wanted to get a chance to play for a championship in the finals, so that hurts."
Instead of becoming known as the team that knocked off the Warriors after their record-setting 73-win regular season, the Thunder will be remembered for a playoff collapse. They became just the 10th NBA team to lose a playoff series after taking a 3-1 lead and now head into an uncertain offseason with Durant eligible to become an unrestricted free agent.
Durant said it was too soon to even think about what will happen in July.
If he does leave the only franchise he has played for in his nine-year career, he will do it having failed to deliver the championship to Oklahoma City. The closest the Thunder have gotten in Durant's tenure was when they lost the NBA Finals in five games to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 2012.
They then lost in the second round the next season, in the conference finals in 2014 to San Antonio before missing the playoffs entirely because of an injury to Durant last year.
But under first-year coach Billy Donovan, Oklahoma City earned the third seed in the top-heavy Western Conference this season and then upset 67-win San Antonio in the second round. The Thunder followed that by winning three of the first four games against the Warriors, with a pair of lopsided wins at home.
But after losing Game 5 on the road, the Thunder....
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Het complete originele verhaal lees je, via NBA.com --- Hier ---
En dan nog dit: si.com/nba/kevin-durant-free-agency-oklahoma-city-thunder-contract-destinations-rumors
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