"Kevin Durant is a (add terrible insult here) because he joined the team that beat him in the conference finals, he is a (add terrible insult here)." Looking at this quote makes me upset, it really makes me upset. Was Durant really in a great situation? Westbrook was the MVP of the league this past season, but how did he win it, by putting together one of the worst ball hogging displays I have ever seen. Can we really blame Kevin Durant for wanting to play with guys that actually pass the ball. Playing on Golden State looks fun. They pass the ball and only care about winning, they don't care who gets the most shots or scores the most points. Watching Durant play with Golden State was amazing. Also, let's not forget that they won that championship because he played his butt off in the Finals. He threw up 35 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, and 1.5 steals per game, but yeah you are right what a (add terrible insult here).
"Kobe Bryant is the best, he only cared about winning. He's not a (add terrible insult here), he only cares about championships." This quote also gets me because while I respect Kobe Bryant's individual talent, I feel that he should add something to every quote people make about Kobe and winning. It should say something like this, "Kobe only wants to win championships...when he gets to shoot 25 times a game and be the man." While I again respect Kobe's game, he refused to change his game for the good of the team. Tim Duncan won a championship in 2014 in a secondary role for his team. He understood that he needed to step back for the younger guys that would lead them to a title. Kobe never did.
"Lebron is a (add terrible insult here), he would not have won championships without Wade or Allen or Kyrie bailing him out." It is apparent to me that anyone that says something like this must have only watched clips from the Finals as opposed to the entire series. Let's tackle these in order.
Dwyane Wade in 2012 Finals 22.6 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.6 blocks
Lebron James in 2012 Finals 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 7 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.4 blocks
Lebron led them in scoring every game, rebounding twice, assists twice, and in the deciding game had a triple double.
With one minute to go in game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, the Heat were down two points. Lebron turned the ball over twice in a row and there were down five points with 28 seconds left. Lebron hit a three with 20 seconds left to cut it to two. The Spurs make one free throw and with 17 seconds left, they are up 3. Lebron shoots a three and misses, but Bosh rebounds and passes to Ray Allen, who ties the game with 5 seconds left. Lebron finished with a triple double and Allen finished with 9 points, but yes he carried him.
The last one is so ridiculous I am not going to justify it except to say that Kyrie does not get to shoot a go ahead three without the chase down block from Lebron that went along nicely with his one assist shy of a triple double average in the Finals.
In closing, if you follow basketball do not go for hot takes. Let's not call people haters, let's give reasons that player X deserves your admiration. Let's not say that someone is a (add terrible insult here) if they have not won a championship. Let's analyze why they might not have won, let's analyze their team, their competition, etc. We can do this basketball fans. We can do it.