Durant Shold learn From Dirk

There is the saying "Those who fail to review history are bound to repeat it." If Kevin Durant is wise he should look take a look at the career of Dirk before making decisions about his future. Why Dirk you may ask? Dirk has traveled a lot of the roads Durant is about to go down. 1) Loyalty is overrated - Dirk has been loyal to Mark Cuban, the Mavericks Franchise, and the Fans of Dallas. Being loyal has brought him one ring, a MVP, a whole bunch of records. Dirk has a respectable career that any NBA player would love to have. But is it legendary? No. Being loyal to Dallas has allowed precious years of Dirk Career to go to waste. Dallas just recently got blown out by the Bobcats. Cuban has failed to put a championship caliber team around Dirk since they won the big one several years ago. Durant should learn Should learn from Dirk that staying with a team for your whole career is a huge gamble that usually does not pay off. IF Durant is going to pursue greatness, he is going to have to probably cut ties with the Thunder. 2) Offense Brings you scoring titles and records, Defense brings you rings - Ok I could have just said "Defense wins Championships." but I did not want to use that cliche. Dallas for years was a high power, high octane offense under Don Nelson. but they didn't win anything. Then came Avery Johnson, who brought a defensive mentality, but did not have the personnel. To use a cliche " Its not the x's and O's , but its the Jimmy and Joe's'." Johnson had the schemes, but lacked the personnel but he did usher in a mindset of defense that Rick Carlisle built upon. But Cuban brought in the Joe that made all the x's and o's work. His name was Tyson Chandler. Everything that Dirk lacked in Defense Tyson was able to supply in abundance. Couple that with good defenders in Jason Kidd, Deshanw Stevenson, and Shawn Marion, Dirk was able to capture his ring. Since the defensive personnel has left Dallas, so has the Championship opportunities. Durant and Dirk like most offensive players try to conserve energy when playing defensive, so they need role players who can do the heavy lifting defensively. Ibaka is good, but he defensive presence alone will not bring the Thunder a Championship. Therefore Durant will have to find a team (ie the Bulls, Bobcats, Blazer, Pelicans) that has a championship level defense. 3) Good intentions is not the same as your best interest - There are a multitude of fan-bases who would love to have Mark Cuban as their owner. He has money, He is willing to criticize and stand up to the League. His team is very successful. But like his NFL Counterpart, Jerry Jones, Cuban makes decisions that have good intentions; but are not necessarily in the best interest of their star player. I am not advocating that a star player should hold his team hostage or should be making personnel decisions. You cannot allow the inmates to run the asylum. But as a player, you cannot allow your owners good intentions to override what is in your best. You have to do what is best for you. In my opinion Cuban had good intentions not resigning key components of the Championship team to clear salary to be able to offer max contract to another player like Derron Williams or Dwight Howard. Dirk obviously thought this would work. It did not. Dirk allowed Cuban's good intentions to override his best interest. Dirks best interest at the time should have been to get out of dodge. Durant has to know that Clay Bennet, owner of the Thunder, may have good intentions for his team, but it may not be the best interest for Durant. Bennet has already allowed Harden to walk which had good intentions for the organization, but was not in the best interest for Durant. Dirk has had a successful career in the NBA. But there is no fine line between being successful and being great. The gap between the two is as wide as the Grand Canyon. Kevin Durant has made his desire known. He wants to be on the level of the NBA greatest. Being able to see the success and failures others have had is one way to get there.