The Warriors on Thursday officially introduced F Kevin Durant in a press conference at the team's training facility, and it "seemed calculated to normalize Durant's league-altering change of scenery, to present it as the logical move" for him, according to Eric Freeman of YAHOO SPORTS. Warriors TV play-by-play announcer Bob Fitzgerald "opened the press conference by directing his first two questions" to GM Bob Myers and coach Steve Kerr, "not to the star of the show." The "lack of glitz or bold pronouncements was the overarching takeaway of the event." Freeman noted it is possible to view the Warriors' approach as a PR move "intended to suppress the growing feeling that the Warriors are the NBA's new villains." But Durant's "statements and answers to media questions seemed quite genuine" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/7). In S.F., Bruce Jenkins in a front-page piece writes this "was no ordinary news conference." The Warriors "invited advertisers, corporate interests and selected season-ticket holders to the affair, adding a couple hundred folks who broke into applause at the choice moments" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/8).
BIG RINGS: USA TODAY's Sam Amick reports Durant's meeting last weekend with the Warriors "lasted more than two hours and ultimately sealed the deal." Durant hosted teams at a mansion in the Hamptons, and during his meeting with the Warriors he "looked through a pair of virtual reality goggles and saw his next step." There were "shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, footage from the Warriors practice facility," of Kerr talking to his team inside the Oracle Arena locker room and "even a courtside view inside the building where there had been so much basketball bliss." There "was music in the NextVR production, too, a song" by Drake, "Big Rings," which has "become a favorite in the Warriors' circles" (USA TODAY, 7/8). In S.F., Rusty Simmons notes the Warriors "planned to show a multimedia presentation during their sit-down" with Durant, but they "ended up mostly talking about basketball." As soon as Durant announced his decision on The Players' Tribune, Myers asked Durant "if he could come back to the Hamptons," where he "landed at about midnight and spent the next three hours getting to know Durant on a personal level." The two, along with Durant's family and representation, "took a private plane that landed in Oakland on Thursday morning" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/8).
SUPER VILLAINS: The S.F. CHRONICLE's Jenkins writes the Warriors have "moved beyond the category of NBA elite." The team must now "be regarded with the contemporary titans in all of sports, apparently on the verge of long-term dominance." One "can't escape the feeling that they're about to become a modern-day version" of the Cowboys, Yankees or Lakers (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/8). In San Jose, Tim Kawakami in a front-page piece writes if Durant and the Warriors are "destined to become NBA super-villains this season and for all the seasons they're together, he seemed fairly reasonable about it" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/8).
