The Possible Russell Westbrook/Boston Pairing

There have been recent reports that the Boston Celtics are targeting Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook for a trade. Westbrook is one of the league's best five players, but Kevin Durant's Independence Day departure puts his future in Oklahoma City in serious doubt, especially considering that he becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season. Sam Presti can't afford to lose another star for nothing, so unless he can get Westbrook to resign, look for Presti to deal the final part of Oklahoma City's once promising past.

I'm a Boston fan, so you can see why I'm excited at the possibility of getting a player like Westbrook. There's never been anyone who pairs unrelenting ferocity with otherworldly athleticism quite like Russ. And the Celtics need a star to get them over the hump in the East. With Westbrook on board, it almost doesn't matter who they give up, they will be the opponent the Cleveland Cavaliers need to worry the most about in the East.

However, adding Russ to the Celtics is a bit more complex than plugging in a great player to a great organization. Firstly, the Celtics have based their recent modest success on team play and total involvement, due to their lack of a transcendent talent. This is one reason they should go after Westbrook, but they would have to ensure that Westbrook's omnipresence doesn't overtake the team concept that has helped Boston overachieve in the first place. Because let's be honest; I love Russ, but he can be a ball-hog. It doesn't come from a selfish place, he just wants to win so badly and thinks that he needs to take over for his team sometimes. But his indomitable will to win is something anyone loves from a player.

That's especially true for Boston fans. Celtics fans are some of the smartest and most passionate in the league. They've rooted for guys who play the right way, from Bill Russell to Dave Cowens to Larry Bird to Kevin Garnett, and supported them all the way. The fans will love Westbrook once they experience his unquenchable thirst for victory, but the fans aren't who I'm worried about.

As Bill Simmons described it, the Boston media is a conglomerate of old, grumpy white guys. I'm not sure how well they'd take it the first time Westbrook went 8-for-30 from the field, or the first time he showed up at a press conference with clothes that made him look like a fourth grader who took a bad dare. What about the first time he lights up a reporter for what he feels to be a stupid question? All of the OGWG's would go crazy.

Maybe some of the issues the Boston media have had with connecting with divisive black athletes goes back to the troubling race relations the city has had going back to the busing desegregation riots in the 1970's. Boston has been described as a racist city at times. I wouldn't go so far as to generalize something as horrible as racism for an entire city, but the writers there seem to have a particularly hard time coexisting with black athletes.

That isn't how it has to go, though. I think the best case scenario, if Westbrook did go to Boston, is what happened with Garnett when he joined the team in 2007. Garnett, whose intensity rivals Westbrook's, ended up thriving in Boston, and the writers appreciated his team focus, especially on the defensive end. That could happen for Westbrook too, but only if he performs well. If he plays like an MVP candidate and the Celtics win, the writers will not have anything to say. Winning cures everything, even grumpiness. But the media are liable to roast Westbrook the first time and every time he does something they don't like, and with Westbrook's pride level, that could start a long and slippery slope towards terrible media relations in Beantown. Westbrook is more than capable of providing ammunition for the media to get angry at him.

And now a quick dive into the wormhole of Russell Westbrook hating the media:

At the 0:45 mark of this clip, Westbrook flat out tells a reporter he doesn't like him:

(Video from asapviralz)

In this video, Russ shows why he has been called "The Marshawn Lynch of the NBA":

(Video from djvlad) 

And finally, my favorite act of Westbrook disdain:

(Video from djvlad)

It's not the worst thing in the world if Westbrook doesn't get along with the media in Boston. It would just be an annoying story line. It won't change the fact that he would be the perfect player for the team because he gives them a star talent  and the city because every fan would get behind him. If the Celtics can get the guy knowing they can keep him long-term, they should do it.

U.S. Olympic Basketball Roster Minutes Breakdown

The United States Men's Basketball team will descend on Rio, Brazil this August for the Olympics. This year's team is very intriguing, missing many of the NBA's signature star players. This smaller talent disparity means there may be questions as to who should play the most and the least. In games with 10 minute quarters, the team total should be 200 minutes. Think of this under the circumstances of a game where the U.S. gets more than it expected from an opponent and needs to play everyone the right amount to ensure a win.

ROTATION:

Starters:
Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins

Bench:
Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony, Kyle Lowry, DeAndre Jordan, DeMar DeRozan, Harrison Barnes.

Kevin Durant: 30 minutes.
Durant is the star of this team. He's the best scorer and the most versatile player in the NBA, which makes him indispensable on a team with such talent because he can fit with any four on the court. If the U.S. faces an unexpected challenge in Rio, Durant needs to be on the court as much as possible.

Paul George: 28 minutes
George is similar to Durant in that his skill set can fit around any line-up, but that versatility is felt more defensively and athletically for George than offensively as it is for Durant. George lets everyone around him do what they do best because he'll contribute in every way from lockdown defense to long-range shooting.

DeMarcus Cousins: 28 minutes
Team USA only has three players who played the majority of their minutes at the two big men spots during the season, so it's that much more important that Cousins play his best. Boogie is possibly the most talented big man in the league, but he needs to keep his head on straight and contribute in any way he can to the team if he wants to keep the starting spot permanently.

Klay Thompson: 23 minutes
Thompson is the X-Factor on this team. When he's shooting his best, he should play more in the 30-minute range, because that's when Team USA will destroy everything in their path. If not, he's still a great defender and his liability to go off keeps the defense honest.

Kyrie Irving: 20 minutes
Team USA is stacked with wings, which leaves the point guards and centers as (relative) weaknesses. Kyrie just had an awesome Finals, so he has to be riding high. Let's hope he doesn't use his recent success as grounds to continue his habit of pounding the ball for 20 seconds and throwing up isolation jumpers. This is a crucial time for Kyrie. If he plays the way we know he can, using his otherworldly playmaking for himself and others, the Cavs may hand him the offense next year as LeBron begins his decline. This tournament may be a sneak-peak of Kyrie's future.

Draymond Green: 20 minutes
Draymond is another guy whose value is shown most in his versatility, as shown by his role with Golden State. But there's a difference between Draymond's versatility and that of Durant and George: he can become the de facto point guard if the Irving/Lowry duo is struggling or in foul trouble, even if he's technically playing center. His ability to create for his teammates is essential to a team with little creating guard depth.

Jimmy Butler: 16 minutes
On a not so wing-centric team, Butler would get more minutes. If Karl-Anthony Towns replaced Klay Thompson, for example, Butler would play around 23 minutes. Because of the roster lay-out, however, Butler will get lost in the shuffle a little bit. That's too bad, because Butler can help the team in multiple ways, especially with his bulldog defense.

Carmelo Anthony: 16 minutes
Melo is one of USA basketball's most decorated players. What he lacks in NBA team success, he makes up for in international play, as he's looking for a third Olympic gold medal. However, he's no longer a signature star, as age and injuries have sapped enough of his ability to justify removing him from the starting lineup. But he's been the old head of this team through exhibition play, a leader, and his example is important for some of the first time guys to follow.

Kyle Lowry: 9 minutes
Lowry may have to play more minutes than this if Coach Krzyzewski wants a point guard on the court at all times, but he isn't a big minutes talent on this team. He'll fit in, but he doesn't really deserve to play a whole lot.

DeAndre Jordan:8 minutes
Jordan is another player who may have to play more than I think he should due to the lack of depth at his position. However, Cousins and Green can always play center, and I think Coach K should even go to Durant at center occasionally, so there isn't a ton of pressure on Jordan to play big minutes. He will have incredible highlights, some bone-headed decisions, and should be a net positive for the team because he sticks to what he's good at: finishing at and defending the rim.

DeMar DeRozan: 2 minutes
DeRozan comes in if the other wings get tired and in foul trouble. He can give an athletic boost of energy and perhaps one of his crazy dunks can create some momentum, but he's inferior to the plethora of wings on this roster.

Harrison Barnes: 0 minutes.
Sorry Harrison, but that Finals performance showed me you're not ready for prime time yet.

Kevin Durant's Decision and Player Legacies

As I've mentioned many times before, I'm obsessed with player legacies across sports. I'm convinced that Super Bowl XLIX clinched Tom Brady's status as greatest QB ever. I know for a fact that Derek Jeter is overrated by every fan who says he's one of the best 10 baseball players ever just because he won five World Series. And for me, none of Karl Malone's 36,928 career points matter as much as the two he left on the table when he missed two free throws in the final moments of Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals. On the flip side, the shot that Michael Jordan hit to win that game is an example of what made him the greatest to ever play. Stuff like that is what brings me back year after year.

And that's why Kevin Durant's decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder to form a super team on the Golden State Warriors really bothered me. Like REALLY bothered me. To me, there's nothing as respectable as being the best guy on a championship team, the guy who leads others by example and lifts everyone's game until they reach the promised land.

We've always known that KD had that type of ability. He's a completely unique talent. He was the youngest scoring champion in league history. He's seven feet tall with the athleticism and ball handling ability of a guard and he can pull up from 30 feet. Nobody in the NBA has ever been quite like him. He's like George Gervin if the Iceman was seven feet tall and could shoot from anywhere.

This playoffs, KD unlocked the two-way ability he's hinted at since his stint at Texas. He's always been an unbelievable scorer, but in the series against the Spurs and Warriors, we saw Durant become a versatile force, scoring, distributing, and using his once-in-a-generation physical tools to guard every position defensively. He would switch out onto Stephen Curry, force Curry to give it up, then recover to stuff a Warrior at the rim.

There was one play in Game 4 against Golden State that has become a bit of an internet sensation among NBA nerds. Durant switched onto Curry up top, contained him, and forced a pass to the right wing. As Curry set a screen for Shaun Livingston, Durant switched with Andre Roberson onto Livingston cutting to the basket. The ball went to the corner and then down low to Draymond Green, who was able to muscle Russell Westbrook out of the way and moved to the rim. Durant rotated over, jumped to force Green to drop it off to Livingston. Durant somehow lands, and immediately lifts off of two feet to stuff Livingston at the rim. It was an incredible display of athletic fluidity by a guy with all the tools to be the best player in the league on both sides of the ball.

And now he's joining the team that just set the record for wins in a regular season. A team that, up until they went up against Durant's Thunder, looked unstoppable without Durant. Don't compare this to LeBron James' Decision in 2010. The Heat had to completely dismantle their roster just to put two other really good players around LeBron. The Heat won 47 games the year before LeBron went there. The Warriors won 73 games last year, and don't have to destroy their team as much as the Heat did that first year with LeBron.

I'm just really disappointed that Durant copped out like that. And not just because my Celtics were apparently his second choice. We saw that he could be the best player on a championship-caliber team. I want Durant to become that guy, but now I feel like whatever he wins is tainted by the fact that he had to join an all-time team to do it.

The only way that Durant could salvage this and maintain the possibility of being a top ten player all time is if he takes control of this Warriors team, becomes their best player and leader, and leads them to four or five straight titles. And he has to be the go-to guy, the leader by example for all of them. LeBron had to take control of the Heat to push aside the narrative that he was too weak to win one of his own accord. Durant has to do more because he's joining such a great team.

To me, narrative is everything in sports, especially in basketball. Bill Russell was better than Wilt Chamberlain because he was all about winning and Wilt was all about stats, which showed up in their head to head record. Michael Jordan is the greatest ever because he constantly came through on the biggest stage when he needed to most. Magic Johnson solidified himself as a top-five guy with the killer baby hook to go up 3-1 on my Celtics in 1987. Until Durant does something incredible with the Warriors, like being Finals MVP for the only four-peat by a non-Celtics team, he won't be able to cast aside the narrative that he didn't earn his place among the greats. At least not in my mind.