CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Not long ago he walked out of a press conference after a barrage of questions about his impending free agency, and by this weekend, Kevin Durant tended to look more at the emerging NBA landscape as a show.
As much of a show, perhaps, as the game itself.
“The NBA game in general is getting overlooked by the spectacle of everything,” the Warriors forward said this weekend. “It’s just part of the soap opera. We’re all actors trying to play our roles. My role is to play ball and answer questions the way I’m supposed to.”
The spectacle, of course, has been heightened by what most perceive as a rise in power by players like Durant. They are increasingly betting on themselves, as well as hedging against injury, by opting for more short-term contracts and the ability to hit the market at shorter intervals.
Durant now has New Yorkers convinced he’s about to become a Knick, though he has said no such thing publicly. Anthony Davis, about to force his way out of New Orleans with a trade demand that drew a $25,000 fine from the league, had allegedly conspired through agent Rich Paul, and with LeBron James, in an attempt to become a Laker.
James in turn has blazed the trail of short opt-outs to stay on the move. But Davis, who said this weekend that the Celtics are, indeed, on his list of preferred destinations, wisely tamped down the long-held belief that players spend their time trying to form All-Star squads.
“Honestly, zero. All the tampering stuff is coming out now, so no one is talking about it, at least not to me,” he said. “We talk about games more than anything. How it’s tough to play in Denver because the air’s tough up there, Golden State, stuff like that.
“I’m still with the Pelicans. I don’t go out and look at teams, like, how can I fit here, or how can I fit here,” Davis said. “The time comes when the time comes. I have 20-something games left here. I owe it to the fans, the NBA and the team to go out there and compete at a high level.”
While also wanting out, of course.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver admits to the league’s increasing quotient of drama, and the rise in player leverage. He added this weekend that when teams were allowed to extend the contracts of players a year early — a wrinkle employed to protect teams from being blindsided — an unintended result was an uptick in trade demands. Davis, for example, is eligible to sign an extension with New Orleans this summer, and is under contract for one more season.
“I would just say, blanketly, no, I don’t like trade demands, and I wish they didn’t come, and I wish all those matters were handled behind closed doors,” said the commissioner. “But the league has to take responsibility. The notion of extending a year earlier is so you could have that conversation with the player, and the player told you behind closed doors, of course, ‘I’m going to honor my contract, but I don’t plan on staying at the end of it.’ The team would be in a position to get fair value for the player. The law of unintended consequences, it hasn’t worked as precisely as we had planned.”
And maybe there is no fix in this situation. Dwyane Wade, James and Chris Bosh were the first power trio to overcome the power of teams when they assembled for their championship run in Miami. Wade doesn’t see that ending anytime soon.
“I’m sure at one point it will change, but right now no,” said the retiring Miami star. “You see players’ relationships mean the most in the league right now, and it’s going to be like that for a while. Guys are teaming up in high school to play together. It’s the generation we’re in and it’s going to be like that for a little while. But eventually it will change.”
Or maybe not. For a young player like Jayson Tatum, the prospect of a league where players have more power over their careers is particularly enticing.
“Players deserve the right to make the best decision for themselves,” said the Celtics forward. “The NBA is a business and teams make the decisions they feel are best for their organizations. It’s nothing personal. The players have the same opportunity.
“It’s new to me, but I control what I can control,” Tatum added. “I don’t take it personal. I understood coming into the NBA that it’s a business. Right now on the contract I can’t control anything. It’s different, you don’t get to pick what team drafts you, but I’m super excited to be on the Celtics. You learn pretty quickly when you’re under contract that you don’t have much say-so.”
That’s especially true of players, like Tatum, on rookie contracts. But their elders are certainly changing things on the other end.
Consider what a prominent agent told the Herald two weeks ago, after Kyrie Irving’s surprise announcement that he wasn’t, after all, a lock to return to the Celtics this summer.
“The league wields so much power over a player for the first five years of his contract,” said the agent. “So now the players have kind of revolted — they’re saying screw it to the league. It’s an over-correction from the players’ standpoint.
“Why should it change now? It’s the player’s prerogative. It’s why you now find Kevin Durant signing all of these one-year contracts. Durant’s leaving Golden State. He’s saying now I’m going to win on my terms. These guys have a million people in their ears, and no one’s happy.”
