Wouldn’t It Be Great If Athletes Could Turn the Tables on the Media?
Back problems kept me from posting day-to-day, so my comeback might not be as complete as I thought it would be. Apparently, retirement’s not the cure-all it’s cracked up to be.
Following Game Two of the NBA Finals, a media member asked - and continued to ask - the Thunder’s Kevin Durant if he thought he was fouled by LeBron James on the Thunder’s final offensive possession. The reason for the hounding, other than the guy was a media member and that’s what many of them do, is that when Durant made his move, OKC was down two and there were seconds remaining. Two free throws would have tied it and, after leading the entire game, the Heat would have clearly had the momentum against them in overtime (assuming Miami wouldn’t have scored in the closing seconds). After blowing an early lead in Game One, losing the next one after leading the entire contest - and knowing they’d need to win in OKC to win the title - might have been overwhelming.
Even though replays showed James clearly fouled Durant - confirmed by former NBA referee Steve Javie who explained the error was due to being out of position - KD repeated on numerous occasions that he simply missed the shot. Was the media member asking because he was upset the Thunder didn’t win or was he baiting Durant to see if he could “break” him - and score the ultimate coup?
Wouldn’t it have been great if Durant had said:
“You know that if I say what I think I’ll get fined upwards of $25,000. If you were asked the same question - and you faced the same consequences - what would your answer be?”