“Kevin Durant forcing trade with 4 YEARS LEFT on a $194 million contract is bad for NBA”: Skip Bayless lays out the league’s difference from NFL that is making it fall behind in ratings

Akash Murty | 01/07/2022
“Kevin Durant forcing trade with 4 YEARS LEFT on a $194 million contract is bad for NBA”: Skip Bayless lays out the league's difference from NFL that is making it fall behind in ratings

Kevin Durant putting a transfer request in the first year of his contract and telling Joseph Tsai his preferences as either the Heat or the Suns is the ultimate show of power that NBA players now have.

NBA is officially spoilt for good. With Kevin Durant putting in his trade request on Thursday evening it is pretty clear for everyone across the league and even the entire world that players now have the total say over where they would want to play next season.

Even KD entering the first year of his $194 million contract with the Nets didn’t make him hesitate for once to put out a transfer request straight to the owner of the Brooklyn franchise. Kyrie Irving’s antics surely played a part in it.

But that is the kind of leverage a player of his calibre can now have over the management as it is not the first time we are witnessing this. James Harden a few months back with the Nets, in 2020 with the Rockets and, Anthony Davis in 2018-19 with the Pelicans are some famous examples.

But when you see franchises doing things like making Al Horford and John Wall calibre players sit out an entire season in the name of development, you feel player empowerment in this way is the answer. But not everyone feels the same.

Also read: “Thin man has no heart”: New York Post’s controversial headline seeks answers from Kevin Durant as he betrays Nets fans

Skip Bayless believes doesn’t like how players are gaining power over the franchise with Kevin Durant ‘s transfer request

Most people would say it is better that players have a say in their transfers but it is quite bad business-wise. And Skip Bayless, one of the famous/in-famous voices in the game of NBA and NFL believes that football is much entertaining more because of that very reason.

He might be right for the image part but there are plenty of reasons why football is much more entertaining for the majority, but this is not one of them. Players having control over where to play just gives them life with lesser frustrations with lesser things to waste their time about and focus more on the game.

Take Antonio Brown for example. The man might have been able to continue to be the best receiver in NFL if he had little freedom to say where he wanted to play. But rather we had to see one of the most bizarre and hilarious things a top athlete had to do to get what he wanted.

Also read: “Kyrie Irving wants the same uniform as Kobe Bryant once wore”: Stephen A. Smith says Nets star ruined his franchise to join Lakers, who’d have $80 million in cap space next summer

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Brooklyn Nets Kevin Durant Skip Bayless

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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