There were very few teams that got a meeting with Kevin Durant this off-season. Of the few that got a meeting with the prized All-Star, only a handful of them were actually in the running for his services. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors were certainly at the top, but after acquiring Al Horford via free agency, it looked as if the Boston Celtics had a legit chance.
They pulled out all the stops to court the forward too. Tom Brady showed up to the meeting the Hamptons (and reports say that Durant was impressed by him), several Boston legends showed up and the team decided to throw out a pitch that nobody had on deck: how to beat the Warriors.
According to Jae Crowder, the Boston pitch consisted of detailed scouting reports and strategies against Golden State. See, the Celtics were one of a few teams who beat them in the regular season.
“We were the only team in the NBA to beat both (Cleveland and Golden State) on their home court — the only team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics. We told him that. We played him clips from both games and told him basically the scouting report of how we guarded Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) — our entire game plan, basically. That’s what made me mad. We (expletive) told him everything we do to beat these guys, and we beat them, and he went and joined them. I mean, that’s part of the process, but I did not think he would go to those two teams…I felt like afterward, I was talking to Isaiah, like maybe after you sit back, you shouldn’t have told him everything, but who the (expletive) thought he was going to Golden State, realistically? It was like a slap in the face for us, basically.”
Ultimately, they gave him the blueprint and he took that information with him to the Bay Area. We’re sure he’s shared that with Coach Kerr and company, as the team will work to counter to beat those systems and strategies next season. Major key alert.
Who in their right mind gives the guy trade secrets like that, though?
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