Kevin Durant On Players Not Wanting To Play With Kobe: “That’s [Expletive]”

After Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, Kevin Durant sent him a congratulatory text. The 2014 NBA MVP recently spoke with USA Today‘s Sam Amick and extolled the Lakers great for his work ethic and commitment to the game. When asked if the ideas in Henry Abbott’s infamous ESPN feature — that reported players didn’t want to play in LA because of Kobe — were true, Durant couldn’t hold back about the “BS.”

Here’s KD cursing up a storm when asked about whether he would want to play with Kobe, despite Mamba’s often prickly interactions with teammates:

“Excuse my language, but that’s (expletive),” said Durant, who congratulated Bryant via text message after he surpassed Jordan on Sunday. “I want to play with a winner every single night, especially somebody who wants to win that bad, who works that hard, who demands a lot, who raises up your level. I’d want to play with a guy like that every day. … (His style) may make people uncomfortable, how he acts and just how he approaches the game, but I love that type of stuff. I think (the accusation) is BS.”

Durant continues to use the same no holds barred language when he was asked what he admired about the five-time NBA champion:

“Just his work ethic, just his demeanor man. He doesn’t mind being an (expletive), and he comes to work man. He’s intense. He demands a lot out of his teammates, and I’ve seen that just playing alongside him in the Olympics (in 2012). He demands a lot out of everybody. He makes them better. Everybody out on the court. You’ve got to respect that. As a player, I study guys like that. We might not have the same personality, but I think we approach the game the same way and I’ve learned a lot from just watching him.”

KD isn’t the only who has spoken up since Abbott’s piece was published. Former coach and current Knicks president Phil Jackson defended his former player, as well as injured Pacers star, Paul George.

Durant’s comments to Amick are the brawniest argument yet in favor of Kobe’s sometimes off-putting methods as a teammate.

Here’s the problem the Lakers face, though. Kobe doesn’t play with KD or the injured PG-13, he plays with Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin. While Boozer and Lin aren’t bad players, they’re not the all-timers Kobe is used to going against in practice, and they’re certainly not at the level of Durant.

Still, we’re sure there are some players who would recoil at the thought of battling Bryant in practice every day while also dealing with his trash talk and competitiveness to spur them on to greatness, or break them down completely to build them back up. Not every NBA player has that sort of mental toughness, which is why some have withered under the Mamba gaze. We’re guessing Durant and other players of his ilk would have no problem playing alongside the NBA’s No. 3 all-time scorer. It’s just that there are only a handful of players who qualify, and the Lakers don’t have any of them.