👀 Kevin Durant Capturing NBA Finals Spotlight

As Warriors battle Celtics for the title, Kevin Durant is casting a long shadow. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider with Martin Rogers: Kevin Durant is making a huge impact on the NBA Finals, even though he isn’t playing in it ... why the Packers aren’t worried about replacing Davante Adams ... and more! The NBA Finals are underway and Kevin Durant is in the news. Like, right in the middle of the news. Pick an article, any article, that relates to the ongoing matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics, and there is a better than even chance Durant’s name will pop up somewhere in it. Three years after his stint with Golden State ended in a split, the superstar forward and his former team can’t quite seem to fully uncouple from each other, providing exactly the sort of subplot spice that the league’s fan base thrives on. Some NBA players spend their summers heading for a tropical beach and shutting themselves off from basketball. Not Durant. He’s here for the Finals, every step. Twitter jousts involving Draymond Green. Railing at media pundits whose take he happens to disagree with. Mind-boggling stats that give a taste of just how much impact he had during his time in the Bay Area. Speculation as to what might have happened had he not left. Another day, another KD story at the front and center of the headline stack. And, as a side note, the Celtics took a 1-0 Finals lead on Thursday with a fourth-quarter comeback for the ages. OK, it’s not quite gotten to the point of overshadowing the action, but Durant is inextricably linked with the Finals narrative, and the public is in no mood to shift that reality. His latest contribution was ostensibly his tamest — a Game 1 tweet referring to the quality of basketball on display — but things have reached a stage where even that offering led many to wonder if the message contained a deeply-layered and nuanced jab at his old colleagues. The peculiar thing is that there were times when he didn’t get this much attention while actually playing in the Finals. In 2017 and 2018, Golden State was the most powerful juggernaut in professional sports. A team full of big characters, it had Steph Curry as its undisputed leader and Bay Area media darling, Green never shy to offer a tasty quote, Klay Thompson as a fan-favorite shooting wizard and Durant, off the court at least, sometimes feeling like the odd man out. To read the full story, [click here.]( [STORY IMAGE 1] [IN OTHER WORDS] - Portugal rallied late to earn a tie against Spain at the UEFA Nations League, and [Doug McIntyre has his takeaways from the game](. - The Packers have a tall task in replacing star receiver Davante Adams, but Green Bay has confidence in the plan it has in place, [Bucky Brooks writes](. - Al Horford has waited a long time to play in the NBA Finals. In Game 1, he took full advantage of his big moment, [Melissa Rohlin writes](. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] Pittsburgh Maulers vs. New Jersey Generals (USA, 8 p.m. ET) The Generals (6-1) seek their seventh straight win as they take on the Maulers (1-6). Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) The Rangers look to build on their 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers (SNLA, 10:10 p.m. ET) Two first-place teams meet up as the Mets (35-18) take on the Dodgers (34-17) at Dodger Stadium. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( USFL: Breakers (+3.5) over Stallions From FOX NFL Analyst Geoff Schwartz: The Breakers are 5-2, and they would clinch a playoff berth with a win this weekend and a Bandits loss. New Orleans is third in offensive efficiency and second on defense. Those numbers are right behind Birmingham's. The Breakers also have the best passing attack in the league and convert 42.7% of their third down attempts, which makes them leaders in that category, too. New Orleans needs this game more, and now that the Stallions' streak against the spread is over, it’s safe to wager against them covering. [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download FOX Sports App: [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [Google Play]( [App Store]( [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [App Store]( [Google Play]( Also available on these devices: [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2022 Fox Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. Fox.com Business & Legal Affairs - Manager Digital Media P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, California 90213-0900