By Young Se Choi ’18, Staff Writer

A new “villain” has arrived for the upcoming 2016-2017 NBA season and his name is Kevin Durant. Durant shocked the world by deciding to bring his talents to the Golden State Warriors and join forces with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson to create a super team. Fans and players around the league have been left in disbelief over this monumental decision and the internet has gone on a frenzy.

This is not the first time that organizations have attempted to create a super team. There have been moves including LeBron to the Heat, Kevin Love to the Cavs, Derrick Rose to the Knicks, Kevin Garnett to the Celtics, and more, but Durant’s move to the Warriors is different from all the rest.

This blockbuster move has huge implications for the Golden State Warriors as well as the rest of the league. While it is fun to take bets on the Warrior’s success, the real interest lies in the ripple effect this trade will have.

For the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant’s move is a definite win. The Warriors finished last year’s season with a 73-9 record, the best record of all time, yet they fell short to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals. The team already has a strong foundation and by adding Durant, indisputably one of the best players in the game, the team has now assembled one of the deadliest lineups of all-time: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Igoudala, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant. The Warriors no longer have a true center in the roster as the team bid farewell to both Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli during the offseason, but it does not seem to matter. The top two scorers of last year’s team were elite three-point shooters; Curry and Thompson combined for a total of 603 threes during the 2015-2016, which is the most of all-time by any backcourt duo.

Now, with the addition of Durant, who is an elite three-point shooter himself, the Warriors have a trio of prolific scorers who can shoot from the outside of the perimeter with ease. The acquisition of Durant, standing at 6’9’’ stature with a 7-foot wingspan, can also help the Warriors on the defensive end. He is coming off of one of the best defensive seasons of his career, during which he averaged a steal and a block each game.

There is no doubt that Durant will make a positive impact for the Warriors, but his move will affect the rest of the NBA as well, especially the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The CBA was first created in order to dictate rules over player contracts, salary caps, the NBA draft, and team revenue in order to prevent super teams from assembling, such as the 2011 Miami Heat. Now, with Durant joining a star-studded lineup, it is likely that the league and owners will try to change the rules and regulations for next year, as several current flaws in the current CBA allowed the trade for Durant to be possible.

This move has huge implications for the league itself, but has an even bigger impact on the fans of the NBA. Some fans dread the idea of super teams and wish for the “old NBA” to come back where each team only had two all-stars and competition was balanced, as any team could win on any given day. Others enjoy the idea of dynasties and want to see all of their favorite players play on the same team. Thomas Ito ’18, who is an avid NBA fan said, “I think I’m just going to be watching the Finals this year. There is no doubt the Finals will be fun with all the all-stars playing against the each other, but I feel like the regular season is going to be boring. The Warriors will win and the Cavs will win, it will all be the same.”

In regards to Durant himself, in the eyes of many NBA fans, he has ruined his reputation. His move to the Warriors was seen as a spineless sellout and a weak decision, but not just because he decided to create a super team. Durant has become the villain of the NBA because he decided to go to a team that knocked his previous team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, out of the playoffs in 2015. Rather than gritting his teeth and trying to topple the mighty Warriors, he took what many people see as the easy route and decided to join them instead. Rahul Bendre ’19 said, “I think Kevin Durant’s move is the weakest move I’ve ever seen from a superstar. He’s ruined the NBA for me.”

Similar to the Warriors, high schools in NJ create dynasties that continually dominate each season, lasting for years or even decades. Many of the top teams for sports such as soccer, football, and basketball recruit top athletes from their local high schools to transfer to quasi super teams, which demolish all opposition. For Newark Academy, that dynasty may be tennis, as NA has built a program that has dominated for years, but remains the same? Nonetheless, it is important to ask are Kevin Durant and the Warriors really to blame? Is it wrong for Durant to do what he believes is best for himself as a player, and for his legacy? As much as we complain about the lack of competition Kevin Durant has created for the NBA, high schools across the state do the same. While many fans will continue to criticize Durant for this seemingly spineless move, only time (and NBA championship rings) will tell whether he made the right decision for himself and the NBA.