I think I’m gonna be sick.

I’ll never forget where I was when the Thunder traded James Harden. I was on the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia, of all places. I was walking down the street, checked Twitter, saw the news and literally stopped in my tracks. Sensing something was wrong, my girlfriend (now wife) said, “What happened?”

“We just traded James Harden.”

She knew enough to know that this was serious. She asked me if it was a good thing. Still in shock, I reeled off the pu-pu platter that we got in return: Kevin Martin (for half a season), Jeremy Lamb, two first round picks (one of which was to become Steven Adams) and a second round pick. No, babe, this is not good.

I won’t forget where I was when the Thunder traded James Harden, and I sure as fuck will not forget where I was when KD announced he was signing with the Warriors.

There’s no easy way to put this, so I’m just gonna say it. This has really fucked the Thunder franchise. KD was a free agent, it was his right to sign with whoever he wanted, he owes the Thunder nothing, blah, blah, blah, I get it.

My issue is not so much that he left, but the team he decided to join. Here is Kevin Durant, a former MVP and undisputed top 3 player in the league, joining the 73-win Warriors. This is the same guy who was fond of saying, “I’m no frontrunner.”

Before you say it, I don’t care whether that tweet is six years old. This whole thing signifies a fundamental change in who Durant is and who he has portrayed himself to be.

He said he was tired of being #2 his whole career. Then he goes and joins a team that has the two-time reigning MVP. Make no mistake, that makes you both a frontrunner and a hypocrite.

Before I go leaping too far off this cliff, let me say this. I truly believe that Kevin Durant was heavily influenced in this decision by his “inner circle.” His agent, his advisors, his friends, pushed him to do this. It’s been reported that his final hurdle in making his decision was that he didn’t want to leave OKC and break his loyalty to his franchise. Eventually, the pressure was too much, and he broke.

And do not give me this shit about, “The Thunder couldn’t get it done and win a title.” We were up 3–1, and KD could not close out amidst an 11-three-pointer barrage from Klay Thompson in Game 6. He has shot 31% from three in his last three playoffs, 28% in this year’s failed attempt.

We just added a young emerging star in Victor Oladipo and a highly touted rookie in Domantas Sabonis. Add to that, Russell Freaking Westbrook, Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, Cam Payne, and possibly Dion Waiters.

Do not tell me that that team cannot compete with the Warriors. We just proved that we could. Durant took the path of least resistance.

What led to this was a perfect storm of events: the unprecedented rise in the salary cap, the Warriors losing the Finals so that KD had some wiggle room to say he wasn’t joining ‘the best’ team, the Thunder failing at one of the final hurdles yet again, Steph Curry’s ridiculous (for now) contract at $11–12 million per season due to his early career ankle issues, Roc Nation pushing KD to a bigger market and his mates telling him he needed to “shake things up.” Basically, a complete clusterfuck.

As a Thunder fan, right up until the last moment, I can say we never really saw this coming. It would be fair to say that we have a blind spot when it comes to KD. He always said the right thing, always did the right thing by the franchise, made all the right noises about coming back. Maybe in the end it was all misguided hope.

Here’s what I wish Durant was saying to himself this summer:

Instead it seems he was thinking this:

Enjoy dem clubs in Oakland and San Francisco, KD. I’m sure as hell it’ll be a blast compared to KD’s in Bricktown.

I’ve got more to say.

If you like this article please recommend it on Medium.

The letter was horrible. One reason why I couldn’t see this decision coming, was because I was sure the announcement would come via The Players’ Tribune, where Durant is listed as Deputy Publisher. I just couldn’t see him sitting himself down and penning a letter explaining why he left OKC, it wouldn’t feel right. Luckily for him, it’s clear he didn’t write it. There is no heart in that letter. It’s perfunctory. His decision was apparently based on “the potential for my growth as a player.” Excuse me while I barf. You were wholeheartedly praised by local and national media for your growth as a player in this year’s Playoffs. The rim protection, the defense, the scoring as an afterthought. Do not tell me that The Logo convinced you that your talents would be finally appreciated in Oakland — you already had that here in OKC.

Another one.

As much as it’s considered a foregone conclusion that the Warriors will coast to multiple titles, as Joe Lacob is purported to have sold Durant on, the Warriors have won precisely zero titles with Durant so far. A super team is no guarantee of a title — we saw that this year. Add to that, anything less than a title will be considered a failure, even more so than the historic 73–9 Warriors’ failure was this season.

If they do win one or multiple titles, make no mistake, these will be the Warriors’ titles, not Durant’s. Their core (Curry, Klay, Draymond) are home grown, drafted players. He’s the front runner, on the bandwagon, jumping into their DM’s. This will allow you to evolve as a professional? Bullshit. You were the undisputed leader of this team. You will not be the undisputed leader of the Warriors.

Read the letter and it doesn’t even sound like Durant.

Thing is, he couldn’t be honest. He couldn’t very well say, “I couldn’t beat them, so I joined them.” But Paul Pierce, who is ready to ride into the veteran leadership sunset, could:

They don’t call him The Truth for nothin’.

I do not believe Kevin Durant made this decision of his own accord. I believe that his agency, Roc Nation, got in his ear, and persuaded his inner circle that he needed to make a change.

Winning titles is not everything. How you win means a lot. Look at LeBron James. First of all, LeBron made his decision after his franchise surrounded him with Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao.

He then famously took his talents to South Beach before returning to fulfil his promise, overcoming his owner Dan ‘Comic Sans’ Gilbert and the historic Warriors team to break the 52-year strong Curse of Cleveland. He will be considered a hero in that city and the state of Ohio til the day he dies.

Like I said on Twitter:

Here’s the other thing: KD blindsided the Thunder with this decision. He said all the “right things” to make the Thunder organisation and fans believe he was staying.

“Don’t get me wrong, I want to win a championship more than anybody, but if you go through the journey we’ve gone through, you can also appreciate other things.” Durant repeated a phrase often: “I’m no front-runner.”

Then he took several days of meetings while the best free agents got signed by other teams, leaving the Thunder holding a bag of useless cap space.

Durant’s inner circle reportedly begged Durant to leave OKC.

Durant got sold. Sold the Dream by a 78-year-old with a 1–8 record in the Finals, all with the one team, by the way. What did he say to Durant? “Ya know, I lost a whole heap, if I had my time again, I’d have jumped on a bandwagon just like you can now!”

I don’t think Durant is jumping up and down with joy about crossing over to the Warriors. He’s admitted he couldn’t beat them. While Klay Thompson, never even considered an MVP contender, was busy dropping 11 threes to save the Warriors’ season in game 6, with another Finals appearance within spitting distance, he came up with this in a close out game:

They led by seven with six minutes to go. They led by three with three minutes to go. They lost 108–101. In the fourth quarter, Durant scored four points on 1-of-7 shooting with two critical turnovers. Via Royce Young.

You couldn’t get it done and you couldn’t handle competing with them again next season, despite a newly loaded roster with emerging star Victor Oladipo (whom you raved to your friends about when he was signed) and highly touted rookie Sabonis joining Westbrook, Adams, Kanter, Roberson, Cam Payne and possibly Dion Waiters.

A brief Twitter interlude:

He really fucked the franchise here.

Westbrook either commits to an extension, or Presti will be forced to trade him. After this, he cannot risk losing him for nothing.

Westbrook and Collison met with him before July 1st. You can imagine what that conversation was like. He then met with the cool kids from Oakland (or Silicon Valley, whichever you prefer), and he got sold the dream. And he gave up on his guys, his franchise.

This is relevant. It took MJ years to get past the bad boy Pistons. He never once thought about jumping ship and joining Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and the Pistons. After getting beat, he worked, he came back, he reloaded, and kicked their ass.

Worst of all, this decision has cost me both my Instagram and Snapchat handles. No more @franciskd35. I don’t even know what I’ll change it to. Maybe I can rely on Victor Oladipo to be here long enough to trust my social media handles to his good name.

If this sounds like the rant of a bitter man, it’s probably because it is. I would much rather you hear what it’s like to have the heart ripped out of your franchise than give you another “me, too” article breaking down the same narratives you hear elsewhere.

This sucks, Thunder fans. It fucking sucks. You don’t have to search for the bright side, not right now. Feel the burn. I’m not sure it will feel better come October, but at least we’ll have some distance from it by then.

I love KD for everything he did for the franchise and for the Oklahoma community. I just wish he lived up to the reputation he built for himself as a competitor.

He clearly didn’t even read my letter where I put forward a few excellent alternatives if he was going to leave OKC.

I’m not angry… just disappointed.

If you like this article please recommend it on Medium.

Follow my rants on Twitter @FrancisOKC.