Links to the Present: Sorta Obvious Edition

Kevin Durant’s foot

Kevin Durant has been out since his second surgery of the season on February 23rd.The procedure was supposed to relieve pain resulting from the above pictured screw he had placed in his foot earlier this year for a Jones Fracture. KD was re-evaluated a week later. At that time, he was given another week or two off. Now, it’s pretty much decided that Durant will be out for the season since his pain persists. If asked in February, “Was Durant coming back after that second surgery,” I could have said “no” right away. It’s relatively simple. Here’s a description of Kevin’s foot situation from Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoma News:

It was determined that because the fracture itself had continued to heal as anticipated there was an opportunity to address the irritation that was coming from the screw itself and make a transition to a different piece of hardware within the foot to relieve the symptoms of the soreness.

Ultimately, Durant’s doctors swapped out the screw in his foot for a different one to alleviate the pain he was experiencing. And, well the results haven’t been as hoped for. Is that really such a surprise though, as KD has had a new foreign object placed into his body? Think about the last major cut you had. Imagine it was on your foot and that your job involved using your foot for running everyday. Would you keep running?

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Zach Lowe of Grantland applauded the Thunder’s decision to sit Durant last week.

The Thunder and Durant are making the right choice, but it comes at a huge cost to the organization: It has likely lost its last chance to chase a ring with Durant before he becomes the most talked-about expiring contract since LeBron James in 2009-10. James became a free agent at a time when it was unusual for a half-dozen teams to court him with max-level cap space. Durant will enter free agency upon the biggest salary-cap leap ever, a one-summer blip in which damn near every relevant franchise will be able to lavish a max offer upon him. A few might even give Durant the chance to pick his preferred max-level free-agent teammate.

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If you are among the people that think Durant could come back from his second surgery this year, think again. KD is cursed. Yes, he was and still is under a curse from rapper Lil B. Jay Balfour of HipHop DX has the story.

Nearly four years into their public beef, Lil B says Durant is still the victim of a curse that he himself directed on the ball player several years ago. Durant’s team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, are also struggling as a whole, trying to maintain their eighth-place standing in the Western Conference.

The cure:

“All he has to do is meet on the basketball court for a friendly game of 21,” Lil B said. “I’m passionate about my game, my defense, if he doesn’t beat me 21-0 he should be embarrassed. He knows the curse is affecting him. Everyone knows. He needs to see me on the court.”

This game needs to happen.

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Here’s something I knew day one of the NBA season. Steve Nash was going to retire this year. There was no doubt about that after he announced he was shut down for the season. Nash posted a letter on the Players’ Tribune and thanked everyone who helped him during his time in the NBA.

I remember when Dirk and I were nobodies. He used to say over dinner sometimes, “How are us two stiffs gonna make it in this league?” Somehow we made something of ourselves. After all the wins and all the great times we’ve had around the world together, what really means the most to me are the late nights early in our careers when we’d go back to the Landry Center in Dallas, to play a few more games of HORSE and one-on-one. Dirk and the great city of Dallas got their championship, and I couldn’t be happier for them.

I wish Dirk and Nash would have been able to stay together in Dallas. This was one of the first pair of players I got into as a kid. And, Steve Nash definitely inspired some poor haircuts for me. My hair was naturally poofy, so attempting his style made me look like I had a motorcycle helmet on at all times.

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Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insider has some quotes from Jodie Meeks about earning the last assist Steve Nash tossed in an NBA game.

“I was happy to be a part of that,” Meeks, now a member of the Detroit Pistons, told Basketball Insiders on Sunday. “It’s a great feeling because he’ll be in the Hall of Fame and let’s be realistic, I’m probably not going to be. Maybe the box score will be, so I’ll be happy to be in there with him.”

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Remember the Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James battle from a few games ago and last year’s finals? Leonard is ready to keep it going. Kirk Goldsberry breaks down Leonard’s defensive game and explains how impactful his league leading 2.3 steals per game are.

Overall this season, NBA offenses scored a whopping 124 points per 100 possessions¹ following a live ball turnover. In other words, even the most mediocre NBA teams suddenly morph into dominant offensive forces immediately after the kinds of live ball turnovers that Leonard is really good at creating.

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John Schuhmann of NBA.com did a little MVP study surrounding touches on the floor.

The obvious take away from the chart is that it doesn’t affect the offense when LeBron James touches or doesn’t touch the ball. The King should use this to knowledge to his advantage. Fans don’t like Le-Iso, and it’s not like he can claim it’s working.

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Kevin Love would benefit from getting some of the King’s touches. And, it might make him happier. Although he has no problems whatsoever with the Cavs and non-bestfriend LeBron if you believe his answers to national media.

A potential free agent this summer, Love told [Dan] Patrick that “I plan on being a Cavalier either way” — regardless of whether Cleveland wins a title in June. Love has made multiple, similar statements about his intentions.

Love’s statements about his friendship with James make me wonder about work friendships in the NBA. I have work relationships. Everyone does. You usually grunt towards the work-person and complain about something universally worth complaining about in your work zone. What do you think Love and LeBron complain about? Kendrick Perkins’ hands?

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The Cavs are now almost atop the Stein power rankings. They moved to the second spot from the third spot last week.

Why so high for the Cavs? Since LeBron James returned to the lineup in mid-January, Cleveland is 27-7 while averaging 112.1 points per 100 possessions. That’s tops in the league in both categories for a team that, no matter what the standings say, has to rank as your East favorite now.

The Warriors sit at the top of the power rankings. With Klay Thompson out the Warrior are 5-0. The chances of the Cavs getting the top spot seem slim.

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Brendan Bowers interviewed Timofey Mozgov last week for Slam. Mozgov felt very privileged to have witnessed Irving’s 57 point explosion.

It was definitely the first time I saw somebody score 57 points for my team. I think I played against Oklahoma City one time, Kevin Durant might have done that. But as far as my team, my teammate scoring 50-some points, it feels nice to be a part of that. We take pride in it as teammates and we just all tried to help him.

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It’s March Madness and like most people I filled out a bracket. I don’t normally follow college basketball, and since the college I graduated from, Syracuse, isn’t even in the tourney this year I have even less of a reason to follow it. So, I picked Duke to win because that’s the school to pick if you want to get a rise out of people without much effort.

I found this video of Duke guard Grayson Allen when trying to learn a bit about the Blue Devils. This kid has serious hops.

Earl’s Pearl of the Week

The Mavericks lost on Friday to the Grizzlies, 112-101. Amare Stoudemire got ejected after taking offense to a Tony Allen acting job. J.R. Smith has a history of getting under opponents’ skin. This seems like something he would like. I particularly enjoyed how Tony took a few seconds after contact with Stoudemire before falling down. It’s as if he didn’t finish working through his flopping decision chart until the play was 99% done. Still, it worked out in his favor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPFDJITThts

Bottom Lines of the Week

-James Harden took care of business last night against the Pacers. Harden’s 44 points propelled the Rockets to a 110-100 victory. The Beard’s seven assists led his team.

-Quote of the week:

Dirk Nowitzki says Steve Nash overcame a lot, like “being short, white, slow and unathletic” http://t.co/XNJPM49kcPpic.twitter.com/CKJnzGdxmj

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) March 23, 2015

-Have you seen the Adult Swim informercial “Too Many Cooks?” It’s a parody/odd skit playing on old sitcom beginnings. Here’s a parody of it with the Spurs organization. So you’re about to watch a parody of a parody.

-Finally, Tom’s regular Thursday segment on Dayton Sports Scene was bumped to Friday because of the OSU Buckeyes game.  Listen below

https://soundcloud.com/dayton-radio/tom-pestak-3-20-15