Kevin Durant, Big Time Hockey Guy, Makes A Strong Argument For Why The NHL Is So Much Better Than The NBA
Anadolu. Getty Images.The thing I respect the most about Kevin Durant is that he's never afraid to open up the ol' Twitter app and let everyone know exactly how he's feeling. He's made half a billion dollars in his career, won 2 rings, top 10 all-time in points, yet this fella is still as addicted to firing off tweets like he's a blogger in 2015. It just goes to show that money and fame will never beat the feeling of opening up the bird app and having a few hours worth of notifications to scroll through.
So anyway, Kevin Durant recently figured out the issue with the NBA. We all know that professional sports is an entertainment product, but the NBA's pendulum has swung so far in the direction of entertainment that it's almost unrecognizable as a sport anymore.
Do people actually love the game they are playing in the NBA, or do they just love all the other stuff that surrounds it with trades and free agency and player drama? Are you watching the NBA because you think it's the best version of basketball, or are you watching because you just need to stay in the loop for when all the drama goes down? Unless your name is Greenie, I think we all know the answer to that question.
Now KD isn't the type of tweeter who is going to launch a take like that out there and then put his phone in his locker for the next few hours. He's going to sit there and go back-and-forth with all the replies. And this particular back-and-forth gave the NHL the only marketing they need to sell the game of hockey for the next decade.
Hockey players go out there and play the game with aggression, and they are loyal to their team. To sum it up in a word, they care. And at the end of the day, that's all fans really want to see out of professional athletes. Just show us that you care about these games as much as the fans do. Show the family with parents working multiple jobs just so they can afford to take their kids to a game and buy a $35 bag of popcorn that this teams means as much to you as it does to them. Give that same family a little bit of confidence that they can buy your jersey for their kid on Christmas and that you won't demand a trade to another team 3 weeks later.
Kevin Durant knows that the NHL is for the common sports fan, and that the NBA is for everyone who prefers reality television. This guy just gets it.