Major Letdown For Celtics Fans After Buying In To Kevin Durant Possibility
BOSTON (CBS) -- The odds of the Celtics signing Kevin Durant was always a long shot, but the events of the weekend (and the presence of Tom Brady) helped raise Celtics fans' hope that it could somehow get done.
So, when news broke just before noon on Independence Day that Durant had chosen Golden State, there was great disappointment in Boston.
Rich Keefe and Adam Kaufman were live on air when the news broke, and they reacted accordingly.
"Celtics made a hell of a push for him, a hell of an effort, but he's going to the Golden State Warriors. Curry, Thompson, Green, Durant, championship," Keefe said. "I guess the only good news is that LeBron probably won't be piling up titles anymore, because that would just be nauseating."
The response of Kaufman, who's been following the Durant watch like Brian Fantana at the San Diego Zoo, was likely not the only person in Massachusetts to react the way he did.
"What the hell?" Kaufman succinctly asked.
He later expanded on his thoughts.
"You play to win, so I'm not going to condemn a guy for ring-chasing. I'm not. That's your objective as a professional athlete in whatever sport -- you want the best opportunity to come up with the most rings as possible. Ultimately, I think that is your ultimate goal," Kaufman said. "But what's the freaking point of having an NBA season next year? So, exactly what we were saying was going to happen last year at this time -- we knew it was going to be the Cavaliers and the Warriors in the Finals -- well, here we are again.
Later, when Kaufman stumbled over the pronunciation of Manu Ginobili, he let it rip: "I'm flustered, Keefe! I'm pissed off! I'm as pissed off as anything because I bought in. You know what I mean? I bought in. I allowed myself to actually buy in. As soon as Brady came into the picture and the Horford signing ... I allowed myself to buy in to all of that stuff to the point where it's ruined me. Because now you look at it next year, and everybody is playing for third place in the NBA, effectively."
Keefe said that on the one hand, it was a good thing that the Celtics made such great strides in the pursuit. But on the other hand, that's exactly what made the news painful on Monday.
"I didn't think it was going to happen, but they got so much further down the road than I think anybody could have imagined," Keefe said. "Signing a big free agent seemed like something the Celtics couldn't do it, let alone the biggest free agent of the year and one of the biggest free agents in the last handful of years."
The guys also took a look at the remaining NBA free agents. Listen to the discussion below:
