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An Achilles heel and an ACL: a big price to pay to avoid a Gentleman's sweep

I was just thinking of what the purpose was for KD forcing himself to play injured for game 5 even if they eventually lost the title. And I came to the conclusion that it was to allow Golden State to gut it out in game 6, lose the title but gain a narrative that they fought to the bitter end, without and KD and Klay. So you now have a narrative that they lost like the Champions they were. If they lost game 5, a gentleman's sweep, all we would probably hear was how weak the team was without KD. But now we hear that they fought Raptors toe to toe without KD and Klay. So they were just unlucky. They might have won it with Klay.

You had the stupid narrative these playoffs that GS were better off without Durant. Fans were quick to forget that GS ran into a brick wall named LBJ in their second finals. That they recruited Durant precisely to overcome that wall. And they did. But fans, have these fuzzy and warm memories of the overachieving GS team pre-Durant. Ironically, because Durant sacrificed his Achilles in game 5 and GS kept it close without him in game 6, some fans have the illusion that they can win and would have won a championship without Durant were it not for the injury on Klay.

If Durant didn't play in game 5, GS would have probably lost, a gentleman's sweep. He would have a bright career after him as the NBA's best player. Klay would start the next season playing in the first year of his super max salary. But GS would have the embarrassment of being gentlemanly swept and have their strength in numbers be replaced with strength in Durant.

Was the high price worth it? I guess it depends. If you were Durant, probably not. From being the no. 1 player in the league, we are not even sure he would make it to top 10 post -injury. All players before him fell off a cliff effectiveness-wise after an Achilles heel injury. For Klay, maybe. He will still get near a super max. An ACL is recoverable injury. And GS still gets to keep their mojo because of the sacrifice. For GS fans, of course it is worth it. They can still convince themselves that their 2 championships were not primarily because of Durant and they can win another with a lesser replacement.

The NBA is a superstar team. It is having superstars that can carry their teams in crucial moments and players to match up against those superstars that usually determines who become champions. Only the first GS run and the Wallace Pistons didn't have such a star.

Tim was Spur's superstar. He was the anchor of its defense and the offense for the half of their run with him. They had Bruce to stop the other team's superstar. But we didn't think the dynasty could be extended until we got no. 2. He was supposed to be Tim's heir until he wasn't. I think if Spurs are to reach the pinnacle again, they will eventually need a guy like Tim or no.2.

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