Personal Narrative: Joining The Golden State Warriors

While James was in high school he excelled in two sports, football and his more known sport, basketball. LeBron excelled greatly in football, he was named All-State wide receiver in his sophmore year (Smithwick 10). His mom was worried about James and wanted him to quit football, so he wouldn’t get hurt. Later he broke his finger in a football game and his mother made him quit. When he was in high school, James made the rounds of the postseason all-star games, and he earned most valuable player of the year award at the McDonald’s High School All-American Game (Newsmakers B2). LeBron wanted to skip his senior year to enter into the NBA draft, but was against NBA rules, so he returned to high school now the most famous high school player. Even before James entered the NBA draft he had already signed a $90 million contract with the brand Nike (Contemporary C4). LeBron James entered the NBA draft in the summer of 2003, and was selected by the "struggling to make it in the NBA" Cleveland Cavaliers (Smithwick 14). The three year contract that James signed with the Cavaliers amounted to nothing beside the more than $100 million in endorsement contracts he has signed with Nike, Sprite, Powerade, Upper Deck Cards, and Bubblicious bubble gum. If it was anybody's guess, they would have said that James was going to play poorly in his first year, but he proved them wrong, everybody wrong. He was named rookie

The next four years, LeBron helped the Cavs improve. In the 2006-2007 year, the Cavs beat the Detroit Pistons in the semi-finals but lost in the finals against San-Antonio Spurs. During the years 2007-2008, the Cavs failed to make it to the playoffs. The following year, 2008-2009, they acquired point guard Mo Williams and Shaquille O’Neal. They lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Boston Celtics. In 2010, his contract was over with the Cavaliers. He decided to go to the Miami Heat and made two more lifelong friends, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. That season, in the playoffs, they beat the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics, and the Chicago Bulls but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the championship. The next season, in 2011, the Heat beat the New York Knicks, the Indiana Pacers, and the Boston Celtics. In the championship game, the Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 2012, they beat the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals. When his contract expired in 2013, he decided to go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers where everything

Lebron James, the first pick taken in this year’s draft, may be the prototype for an athlete having immediate fame and wealth by jumping straight to the NBA. Almost undoubtedly, he has set the bar for years to come. Before he even played in an actual NBA game, he already had his own commercial and shoe deals. When he was a senior in high school, ESPN and ESPN2 were already publicizing his regular season games whenever they had the chance. Amazingly, as a junior in high school, he was already being considered the next Michael Jordan (Broussard).

Durant entered the league a year before Westbrook did. They started their careers together and eventually became one of the most dynamic duos in the league. In 2012 they led their team to the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat but were blown out in five games. A union that lasted over eight years was finally over, Durant had a new home and was off to a new journey. Westbrook’s rampage began after hearing he signed with the Warriors. Westbrook was in disbelief, of all things Durant was a Warrior. He had left to the team that had just beat them. Many saw this as a downfall for the Thunder, but all

Making buzzer-beating shots and leading the team to great years has been the legacy KD had left on the city of Okc. If he didn’t do as good as he did in his 8 years being there, nobody would care if he left the team or not. It is the fact that he is an amazing player and now it is very unlikely that the Thunder will win the Nba Title this year without him. KD has been a miracle to Okc, yet everybody is so mad about him moving to the Golden State Warriors that it has been overshadowed. It is understandable to not like him because he’s moving to a virtually unstoppable team, but there is a lot of love and respect built up for

Many believe that he is not happy with his role in the Cleveland Cavaliers. Many also say that his playing skill is not mixing well alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. That's why many think his caliber, a former All-Star, are needed by others teams and not by the Cavs. And in the latest trade rumor, Love will be traded in exchange for a guard.

With the departure of Kevin Durant, Westbrook is now the face of the franchise- the true leader. He thrives in positions like this. He’s never been afraid to take the big shot and he has never shied away from criticism he has received.

At this point LeBron was already one of the NBA’s most talented players. Not everyone was happy with LeBron’s victories though. He was a very controversial player because he had left the Cavaliers, he manages to redeem himself. When the Heat lost to the Antonio Spurs in the 2013-2014 season, LeBron opted to return to Cleveland. It took awhile for LeBron to work with his new team, but they managed to make it to the NBA Finals.

However, Isaiah is suffering from and a non-fixed hip Injury. Therefore, if Boston wanted Kyrie that bad they had to come off more assets in the deal. Also, former Cavs Star Kyrie Irving requested a trade earlier in the year and was said that he basically did not want to play the shadow of former teammate LeBron James and that he wants to go somewhere else where he can be the number one man on the team. Everyone was shocked to hear about the news considering the fact that LeBron James led them to go to 3 straight finals since he has been back in Cleveland. Other stars in the NBA had words about the request saying that it was “crazy” and that anyone would be lucky to be guaranteed a shot in the finals every year. Why would Irving want to leave a situation where he could play with the league's best player LeBron James? On the other hand, stars Isaiah Tomas and Jae Crowder are more than happy to join King James and the Cavaliers at another chance at a ring. This next season will continue to get more exciting to closer it gets. The Pre-season starts in October and everyone can’t wait to get a sneak peek and see the new teams in action for the first

This past summer Kevin Durant made the bold decision as an NBA free agent to take his talents to Oakland, California and play for the Golden State Warriors. Durant had played his prior eight years for the Oklahoma Thunder. During this time playing for the Thunder, Durant has won an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and two Olympic gold medals. He has also been selected to six All-NBA teams and seven All-Star teams. Durant helped lead Oklahoma City to the 2012 NBA Finals, losing to the Miami Heat in five games. What is so controversial about his decision to play for Golden State is that this past season when he was playing for the Thunder in the playoffs, the Thunder blew a 3-1 lead against the Warriors. You would think that the Warriors would be the last team he would leave the Thunder for, but no. Kevin obviously saw greater potential in his career to decide on playing for the Golden State Warriors, but what were the factors that led to his opportunity cost in his decision making. Did Kevin Durant make a choice that maximizes his utility, and leads to having more success in the NBA? Or one that will lead to him wanting to move teams again in two years once his contract with Golden State is done.

The article written by Bruce Jenkins starts off by saying that the regular season of the Warriors was a “bumbling mess”. This article was written to be read generally by the people of San Francisco and Warriors fans. The Warriors went from a historic 73-9 record in the 2016 season, to a 67-15 record in the 2017 season, and a recent 58-24 record in the 2018 season. At the beginning of the article, Bruce talks about factors that have led to the teams bumpy season like not having a reliable center. He says that the team has reached a point to where the team’s centers are not feared by any postseason opponent. Towards the end of the article, Bruce talks about the future of the team and things to consider. He talks about possible matchups and how the team isn’t ready defensively to play, even if Stephen Curry is on the court. With the article discussing the Warriors’ downward spiral, the article uses the devices of ethos, logos, and pathos.

As a final point, being in the public eye constantly must make it very difficult to make decisions. Kevin Durant decided at the end of the last season to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder. He left for Oakland to join the Warriors, the best team in the NBA. I would like to see from his perspective why he made this decision. Along with his announcement, it brought with it a considerable amount of backlash across the league. I would like to see what life is like as a result of that decision and how he deals with it.

This happens to be an incredibly popular statement that I have seen being used across social media. Many fans label Kevin Durant as a ?coward? or a ?snake? and claim that he ruined the landscape of the NBA. Throughout this article I am going to be talking about my thoughts on two differing perspectives: Kevin Durant couldn?t win so he left to win a guaranteed championship, and this is exactly the same type of rivalry we have seen throughout the history of the NBA. At the end, I will reveal my true personal opinion on the subject and my current thoughts about the Warriors and this series going forward.

While Lebron has always dominated the NBA for 14 years, he had to overcome his own challenges both on and off the court. Like loosing two NBA finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had to overcome everyone doubting him and him doubting himself. Also, he had to overcome all the critics and mad fans when he left Cleveland to go to the Miami Heat. People called him a traitor, coward, and selfish when he left Cleveland. The Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert, wrote a public letter addressed to LeBron calling him a coward and heartless. LeBron talks about how he felt when he left Cleveland and how depressed he was because it seemed like everyone was mad at him. However, he pushed on and went to the Miami Heat with the support of his family and friends.

Tonight, the Atlanta Falcons will take on the Miami Dolphins in the third preseason game of the year. It has become an NFL tradition to designate the third preseason game as a dress rehearsal for the starting players. So tonight, expect the Dolphins and Falcons starters to play for at least the first half.