National Basketball Association

Rounding up the end of the NBA summer

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Which caught you more off-guard: Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors or Kevin Durant getting Rick James’ face tattooed on his leg?

Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares, Nylon Calculus): The shock of Durant picking the Warriors wore off pretty quickly. It was a bit like jumping into a swimming pool in that, even though we saw it coming, there was still a moment of surprise. After a few days, that surprise wore off. The shock of the Rick James tattoo will never go away. In 20 years I’ll see a photo of it and still scratch my head. It’s the most famous and gaudy tattoo since Kenyon Martin put Trina’s lips in a crown on his neck. And you know what? I’m glad he did it! The NBA is amazing because sometimes guys do things like put a Rick James portrait on their body.

Brandon Jefferson (@pengriffey_jr, Friendly Bounce): Definitely getting Rick James’ face tattooed. The Tupac one I can understand because his meaning to culture extended beyond his music. James on the other hand is most well-known for “Super Freak” and the classic impersonation of him done by Dave Chappelle (link is NSFW). After the Thunder bowed out to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, all Durant spoke of was making a “basketball decision” and the Warriors made the most sense from a basketball standpoint. On a different note, if KD is turning his right leg into a musical shrine I’m placing the odds at which legend he adds next in the following order: Biggie Smalls 2:1, Chuck Brown 5:2, Phife Dawg 15:4 and Wu-Tang Clan 30:1.

Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg, Hardwood Paroxysm): Dude went from the Thunder to the Warriors. That’s leveling up two or three tiers in the Western Conference. It was a smart thing for Durant to do. It made a ton of sense. In fact, anything but would have made a lot less to zero sense. I was all on board the Durant-makes-decisions-that-just-make-sense train until he went from a Tupac tat which made sense to Rick James???? Like what? That’s leveling down multiple levels. Durant’s entire summer made sense until Rick James. He joined the Warriors aka the best team out West and got Tupac ink aka the best rapper out of the West Coast. But Rick James is…not.

Matt Rutkowski (@MontaWorldPeace, Friendly Bounce): I can’t say either caught me completely off guard because both seemed like reasonable possibilities at the end of the season. But I’m going to go with the move to the Warriors. Tattoos, to me, are whatever. The interesting part is their story. I don’t know what the story behind Rick James’ face is, but I’m sure if I were to hear it my reaction would be “oh, that’s nice” and then I’d move on with my life. I still do double takes when I have to confront the idea that former MVP still in his prime joining a 73-win team. I’m sure my being freaked out by the Warriors will wear off eventually, but Rick James isn’t all that freaky.

Philip Rossman-Reich (@omagicdaily, Hardwood Paroxysm): Definitely the Rick James tattoo. I was not even sure Kevin Durant would be old enough to know who Rick James was outside of the Chapelle’s Show sketch. This is the NBA. Crazy things happen all the time with player transactions. It was not like we were not warned. Adrian Wojnarowski dictated . . . err reported . . . the Warriors would be interested in Durant and had made some moves to free up the space for him in February. It was on everyone’s radar that some big teams would be lining up for Durant. The odds were unlikely, but there was a chance. A Rick James tattoo? Where the heck did that come from? Cocaine is a hell of a drug, I guess. Note: That is not libel, that is a quote from Chapelle’s Show.