The Oklahoma City Thunder has a lot of prove before they can consider themselves as real championship contenders.
These are not words of a "hater" or even an analyst. It is from their Most Valuable Player, Kevin Durant. After a heartbreaking loss to the LA Clippers-another aspiring contender who's breathing down their necks in the standings, KD shared his sentiments, and USA Today caught his quotes.
"If we want to be a great team, we're fooling ourselves," Durant, said. "If we want to be a great team, we're fooling ourselves with the way we're playing. We're fooling ourselves. If we want to win a bunch of games in the regular season, then that's cool, but we're fooling ourselves the way we're playing ... There's just no discipline. We're playing too loose. We've got to be better."
Sam Amick of USA Today notes that the Thunder have lost six of their last 10 games in a crucial stretch, and they have to play the Golden State Warriors in 24 hours from this loss.
There was a controversial shot from Russell Westbrook which was a turning point in the game, but Coach Billy Donovan refused to dwell on it.
"It was turnovers, it was maybe not great shot selection, it was not getting back in transition, it was giving up threes," Donovan said. "It was just everything that we were doing at such a high level in the first half, and really most of the first three quarters, we didn't do at all in the fourth quarter."
Losing a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter will make them face some hard questions, specifically how they will fare against elite teams. Their next game will reveal a lot about them as a team.
As always, the stakes are high for this season because of the impending free agency of Kevin Durant. Statements like these will be given much weight, perhaps more than what they should get.
ESPN's Royce Young called it a "meltdown" and there are questions raised again on why Russell Westbrook is taking the crucial shot. The Thunder prides itself as the team that has the best duo with a seamless relationship, but should the pecking order be more defined?
It's not like the Thunder will have a situation similar to Houston where their stars wanted to trade the other star, but Durant will make a choice at season's end, and he might wonder whether two franchise players at the top of their game is the best set-up to win a title.