Kevin Durant Has To Come Home Now
Well it happened. LeBron went home and brought Cleveland a championship. Cleveland. LeBron brought the Cavs back from being down 3-1 and won game 7 on the road in Oracle, a place where nobody comes into and wins. And with that win, the city of Cleveland broke their 52 year championship dry spell. And no, I’m not happy for them. I needed Cleveland. I could always look at Cleveland and say “thank god I’m not Cleveland”. But now what? Now who do I turn to?
The Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1991. I was 3 years old. I don’t have any recollection of it. The Caps- 0 Stanley Cups. The Nats? Nada. And the Wizards? Let’s be real. The Wizards are sneaky one of the most underachieving franchises in all of sports, with one 50 win season in the last 37 years. The next highest after that? 46 wins, which they did once. But this can all change.
John Wall is one of the best point guards in the league, but goes largely under appreciated. Bradley Beal, if he can stay healthy, has tremendous upside as a pure shooter, and is still only 22 years old. Markieff Morris played great for the Wizards after they traded for him, and should be an integral part of this team. All that it’s missing is one Kevin Durant.
Coming into each NBA season, there’s about 4 or 5 teams that can win a championship. Unless you’re the Spurs and have found the fountain of youth and prosperity, if you don’t have an elite talent on your club, your chances of winning the NBA title are very, very slim. The NBA has always been a star-driven league. History shows you need a big gun like MJ, LeBron, Kobe, Shaq, or even Dirk to win the title. And this is especially true now, as players like LeBron are trying to assemble super-teams with their buddies to make it easier on themselves. And in Miami, and last night, it worked.
Which is why Durant should come home. LeBron went home to Cleveland and brought a ring home to a city starved of winning. Same thing here. Durant is a DC guy through and through. His tattoos are DC. His shoes are DC. His family is all here. He’s a die hard Skins fan. It makes no sense for him to be out in OKC. He could come to DC, have a pass-first PG in John Wall (as opposed to ol’ shucker Westbrook), and become a hero. He could play alongside Bradley Beal and give the Wizards the best 1-2 shooting weapons in the league. With Morris and Gortat up front, this team would immediately be contenders, possibly even favorites in the East.
Every player wants to play for their home town team. Every player wants to win a ring for their home town team. Not many get a chance to do it. Kevin Durant has the opportunity of a lifetime to be a legend. He’d have to take less money, like LeBron did, but it might be worth it to him. He might have watched what LeBron did for the city of Cleveland and want to experience that for himself. It’s a unique opportunity, and one he can’t do in OKC. So it’s time for KD to come home to DC and show that anything LeBron can do, he can do better.