Raiders won’t talk on future of Kaepernick

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick worked out for the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday afternoon and reportedly it went well.

Kaepernick, 34, last played played in the NFL in 2016 with the 49ers, then went unsigned the following season. During the 2016 season, Kaepernick kneeled as the national anthem was played before games in what he said was a protest against social injustice and police brutality.

The former Pitman High-turlock and University of Nevada Wolfpack star has said over the years that he has been staying in shape while hoping another NFL team would give him a chance. He visited the Seattle Seahawks in 2017, but the team did not sign him.

That same year, Kaepernick filed a collusion complaint against the NFL, alleging owners conspired to keep him out of the game because of his protests. The sides later agreed to a confidential settlement.

Raiders owner Mark Davis recently told NBC Sports Bay Area that he would welcome Kaepernick to his team with open arms, but will leave it to general manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh Mcdaniels to decide if Kaepernick will be signed and added to the roster.

The Raiders for now have three quarterbacks who will compete to back up starter Derek Carr. They are Jarrett Stidham, Nick Mullens and rookie Chase Garbers.

“I believe in Colin Kaepernick,” Davis said. “He deserves every chance in the world to become a quarterback in the National Football League. I still stand by it. If our coaches and general manager want to bring him in or want him to be the quarterback on this team, I would welcome him with open arms.

“I think Colin is a very misunderstood human being. I’ve gotten a chance to talk to him. I never really knew Colin, and I didn’t understand him. I didn’t understand the kneeling, what that meant initially. Over time, I have learned a little bit more about it.

“I understand where he was coming from. He’s got a message for society as a whole.”

Mcdaniels didn’t comment on Kaepernick’s tryout after Thursday’s organized team activities.

“Just by standard procedure, we will only talk about the people that are on our team,” Mcdaniels said. “Dave and his staff have worked out tons of

special kind of athlete to have both dynamics.

“It's the skill and athleticism, but it's also being incredibly competitive and wanting to win so badly. It's the only way you can have a run like that because you get exhausted, tired and frustrated. If you don't have that type of competitive desire and skill combined, it's just not going to happen six times in eight years.”

If NBA history offers context on the difficulty of this kind of run — at least for franchises other than the Celtics and Lakers — a look at other major sports provides confirmation. Consider these tidbits, gleaned through a combination of Chronicle research and the Elias Sports Bureau:

— No NFL team has reached the Super Bowl six times in eight years. The New England Patriots came close, making it five times from 2012 through `19.

In the pre-super Bowl era, three NFL teams advanced to the championship game at least six times in eight years: The Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and Green Bay Packers.

— The New York Yankees are the only majorleague baseball team to make six World Series appearances in eight years (many times), dating to 1921. But even the Yankees have pulled it off only once in the past 57 years, with six trips to the Series from 1996 through 2003.

— Four NHL franchises have gone to the Stanley Cup Finals six times in eight seasons: the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers. Still, the Oilers (1983-90) — led by some guy named Wayne Gretzky — are the only team to do it in the past 48 years.

That's the instructive takeaway here: the rarity of the Warriors' accomplishment in the modern era. It just doesn't happen often in any sport amid expanded leagues, free agency and relative parity compared to the “old days.”

In the Warriors' case, their run revolves around three homegrown players in Curry (drafted in 2009), Thompson (2011) and Green (2012). They're the constants, the central characters alongside Kerr and Andre Iguodala, involved in all six Finals runs but injured for most of this year's playoffs.

“That's a special story, to be able to make it this many times,” said center Kevon Looney, who has been on the roster for each Finals trips except 2015. “Once you stop making it to the Finals, the team usually goes away. Usually, you have to rebuild a different way with different players.

“We were able to retool around the same three guys and do something special. I think that just shows you how special Draymond, Klay and Steph are as humans and basketball players — their determination, their leadership, to fall down and get back up and claw their way back to the top.

“They have been great leaders. ... They set their goals high and they hold everybody to high standards.”

Looney gathered 18 rebounds Thursday night, a tidy bookend to the 22 he corralled in the conference semifinal clincher against Memphis. His emergence into a reliable inside presence who didn't miss a game all season shows how the Warriors have grown over the past eight years, beyond Curry/ Thompson/green.

Still, the core is the core for a reason. Curry was named Western Conference finals MVP. Thompson busted loose for 32 points Thursday night, sinking eight 3-pointers. Green was his typically forceful all-around self, with 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Blend it all together and the Warriors completed a rapid ascent from the depths of that 15-50 mess of two years ago.

“After being counted out, the dynasty is over, all those things — to get back here, it's fantastic,” Green said.

Let's be honest: It probably embellishes the core's legacy to return to the Finals without Kevin Durant. The Warriors made their first two Finals appearances in this run pre-durant, with Harrison Barnes as the starting small forward, but the conversation changed when Durant hopped aboard as a free agent in July 2016.

Golden State suddenly became a “super team,” as Thompson referenced Thursday night. The Warriors abruptly morphed from an endearing, homegrown cast to the villains who dared add one of the game's greatest players to their already-loaded roster.

But now, with Durant in Brooklyn, the Curry/ Thompson/green trio found its way back to the NBA'S biggest stage. Andrew Wiggins obviously helped — filling the Barnes/durant spot in the starting lineup — as did Looney and a bench bursting with contributors, from Jordan Poole and Otto Porter Jr. to Gary Payton II and Nemanja Bjelica (at least in Game 5 against Dallas) to rookies Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga.

“When Kevin was here, we were like an unstoppable force,” Thompson said. “I think now we have to be more meticulous with our offense and defense, because we don't have as much leeway without him. We're happy to be here, but it would help our legacy a lot if we completed the mission and won the whole thing.”

That chapter of this history book awaits, starting next Thursday night.