In quiet obscurity the NBA’s next big thing makes a huge statement for small market teams

SCOTT JACOBS

There was no announcement about the future of an announcement.

No double dip team meetings for three-days straight.  No $300,000 personalized Family Guy clips, no Betty White sexual innuendos, no pleas from the President of the United States, barely any outside buzz whatsoever.  Just a tweet.  Not a tweet about opening a Twitter account.  Just a simple message. Poorly spelled, grammatically awkward, and excitedly genuine.

“”Exstension for 5 more years wit the thunder….God Is Great, me and my family came a long way…I love yall man forreal, this a blessing!”

And just like that, the NBA’s most humble, down to earth super-star soon to be megastar is off the market.  Not that he ever wanted to be a part of the free agency circus to begin with.

Today Kevin Durant of the relatively obscure Oklahoma City Thunder (or as Bill Simmons beautifully denotes “the Zombie Sonics”) agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in orange, yellow, navy, light blue, and god knows what ever other colors Oklahoma City decides to put on their uniform till 2016.

That’s it.  Show over.

Shelley Smith we won’t be needing your services.  No county needs to change their name.  And best of all, proceeds of Durant’s quiet signing go to NBA fans and sports columnists who began to lose faith in the idea of a humble star, in lieu of the wild reality tv show that ESPN and the Superkids have put on over the last week.  But Durant’s announcement came so quietly that it wasn’t even one of the top three headlines on SI.com

Wade and Bosh have the headlines all to themselves today with a healthy serving of LeBron on the side, but it’s Durant, the quiet superstar who may have made the biggest splash.  For NBA fans paranoid that the league is becoming a bigger markets devour the little ones whole ego trip, Durant’s agreement to re-up in OKC till 2015-2016 (with no opt out clause) is a breath of fresh air.  Unless you live in Seattle, in which you’re rueing the fact that your NBA team was hijacked to a smaller market and has quickly become the “most loaded young team in the league.”  But I digress.

The timing of Durant’s agreement is nothing short of brilliant.  Whether he intended to or not, Durant comes across as the good, likeable guy, on the small market team, that just wants to win, and show his loyalty.  Simple as pie.  Coming off a season in which he led the league in scoring, took the Oklahoma City part of the franchise to the playoffs for the first time, and entered the casual fans’ conscience, today is an exciting and hopeful day for smaller market teams and their fans.

“I hope it happens, man,” he said a month ago, in regards to sticking around with the Thunder. “I’m really emphasizing how much I really enjoy playing for the Oklahoma City team and playing for that city.”

Okay, so his grammar isn’t exactly spot on, and he will get $85 million for five years just for playing basketball, but in a league and sports world littered with divas (exhibit A will make his college, err NBA choice on your TV tomorrow) Durant is showing a side that we can all admire and respect.

Can he win a championship in OKC?  That will eventually become the intriguing question.  And even if it doesn’t work out, he’ll be just 27 when this deal runs out (assuming the Thunder even allow that to happen), meaning he has plenty more golden years to go to a bigger market if this experiment fails.

But there’s beauty in the fact he’s letting it ride.

No cameras.  No documentaries.  Just a man with a twitter quietly re-affirming his love for the franchise that gave his NBA career life.

Coke should call him immediately to offer him a healthy sponsorship deal with them.  Because like the soft drink, this is a refreshing change of pace.

Photo: AP

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