It is always football season! The offseason can be counted on to churn out a steady diet of news from the league. More often than not that phenomenon is the rule. Yet, the summer of 2019 stood out as a grand exception. It was as if the NBA tapped the NFL on the shoulder and with a polite step around, made its way to the center of the dance floor to strike a Saturday Night Fever-esque pose. It was not to be outdone!
With so much happening in the NBA the NFL had been ushered off to the side, given a number to place on its back and told it would be called in due time. Last week literally sent me to the calendar to check on training camp dates. Had.Not.Heard.A.Thing!
Even a series of the worst kept secrets coming to fruition captured the imagination. Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers. Oh no, say it aint’ so…said absolutely no one. Passive aggressive messages displayed on cartoon t-shirts are messages nonetheless, folks!
Free agency may have been “a thing” for a full nanosecond when back to back Finals MVP Kevin Durant announced his departure from the Warriors. All of the gallivanting along the west coast and in the Midwest throughout his career has come to an end for now. KD—if you know who he is, you know he’s from the east coast….landing a hop, skip and a jump from home makes perfect sense!
He may have been uncertain as to whether the Earth was round or flat. Yet, everything about Kyrie indicated he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Beantown would not be home for long. According to at least one player, it was widely known he & KD would be joining up in the borough directly across the bridge from the city that never sleeps!
Whether they won, lost or somewhere in between….my early season wager was on Kawhi moving on from The North. Kudos to Toronto for pulling out all stops trying to prevent the inevitable breakup. Kawhi’s plan was without a hitch….get out of a sticky situation, push refresh, pick up hardware along the way, then make a turn toward home base. He who laughs last they say….
The reuniting of Harden & Westbrook…made possible by the ushering out of CP3…only made me wonder how far Harden, Westbrook & Durant would have gone if not for those meddling suits in OKC.
Ahhh!! We know no more about what could have been, then we know about the future…except next season will be more wide open than it has been in the last five for sure!!
FYI….by July 26th all training camps will be in full effect! In the words of that guy in Foxborough, “I’m on to football!”
