Kevin Durant directly called out Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and the rest of the Europeans at the All-Star Game for the lack of competition in the NBA's marquee event. If this were the NHL, they'd be fightin' words. But his comments could end up backfiring in spectacular fashion.
KD's fiery statement was in reference to the lack of competition in the game in recent years, and he was offended that the question was directed at him, LeBron, and the rest of the 'old heads' in the NBA. Durant said directly, "But these two dudes out there, Luka and Jokic, they don't care about the game at all. These dudes be lying on the floor, shooting from half-court, but you got to worry about the old heads playing hard."
Well, for one, that seems like a defensive statement, KD. Are you trying to hide the fact that it truly is the 'old heads' fault? Because we can back this up with some numbers if you want. I'll show you how, over the years, as the scores went up, the competition went down, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver was forced to change the format. Sorry, not sorry, KD. The numbers torch your take.
Clearly, this pattern points to the old heads
All-Star game scores in the 90's and 00's typically saw scores we are accustomed to in today's NBA games. 1998, Michael Jordan's final MVP game, saw a score of 135-114. In 2002, Kobe's first ASG MVP win featured a score of 135-120. Even 2010 saw a reasonable score of 141-139.
But the wheels started falling off the bus in 2014, the first year with an elevated score, 163-155. By 2017, the scores had reached 192-182. Defense was gone. Competition was gone. The days of Shaq playing point-center in the first half and playing defense in the second half were gone.
The NBA knew it, and they changed the format from East-West to Team LeBron vs Team someone else in 2018, the first-ever format change. It was a format they kept around until last season. And in the return to East-West, it was 211-186.
Jokic didn't make his first ASG appearance until 2019, and Luka's first was 2020. By the numbers alone, the game was already far gone. The NBA only needed a new format because the old heads stopped trying, and competition stunk years before.
And now they're getting called out for it. Deservedly so. No wonder KD got so defensive.
Do these statements light a fire under Jokic and Luka? There's a good chance. It will be a hilarious look after the game if Team World leaves victorious.