HISTORICAL IGNORANCE

Today is a sad day for basketball fans in Oklahoma City. The cover of their hometown newspaper, The Oklahoman, portrayed Kevin Durant as a villain (as shown above). After years of playoff frustration, and nobody left to blame, the newspaper decided to point their finger at Kevin Durant. Durant had a magnificent season, where he led the NBA in scoring, and will likely be crowned the NBA's MVP. Durant is the sole hope for this Oklahoma City franchise. He is the only player worth keeping on their entire roster. This was an enormous mistake.

Over the past six years, Durant has made Oklahoma City his home. He has given his all to a team that lacks the skill and chemistry to achieve championship success. The blame on Durant is severely misguided. Instead, the blame should be directed at Oklahoma City's Point Guard Russell Westbrook.

As has been the case in this series, Durant is often double-teamed and forced to move the basketball. When this happens, others must make plays. Westbrook, when put in this position, lacks the playmaking ability to continuously get others involved. This poor decision making is heightened by his below average shooting. Westbrook has elite level athleticism, but chooses to settle for jump-shots and three-point shots far too often, rather than attacking the basket. His ignorance on the basketball court is only surpassed by the ignorance of today's Oklahoman cover story.

The third important piece on the Thunder's roster is Serge Ibaka. As he showed in last year's playoffs, when Russell Westbrook got injured, Ibaka is not capable of being a secondary option on a contending team. He is simply a good player, not a great one.

Outside of these three players, there is nobody on the roster that is capable of playing well on both ends of the floor. At times, Reggie Jackson is a calming presence off the bench. But, players like Nick Collison, Kendrick Perkins, Thabo Sefolosha, Caron Butler (at the end of his career), Steven Adams, Derek Fisher, Jeremy Lamb, and Hasheem Thabeet are not going to help their cause.

Kevin Durant is the only player not at fault for Oklahoma City's first round troubles against Memphis. Sam Presti, Oklahoma City's General Manager, has failed to make the necessary changes around Kevin Durant since trading James Harden. At this point, it may be too late for a city that has already turned on their once beloved superstar.

The Oklahoman, by labeling Kevin Durant, one of the two best players in the world, "Mr. Unreliable," have forced their best player to turn his back on a city he loves. A series loss to Memphis may be the final straw that breaks the MVP's back.

-Wes