According to the league’s favorite loudmouth, Kevin Durant really is not nice.
Anyone who watched the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar in his transcendent single season at the University of Texas knows that. Durant was one of the most intense competitors we’ve ever seen in college basketball; the image of him “encouraging” a little-known teammate with a quick but authoritative slap to the head is one we’ll never forget. He’s always been a killer.
But throughout his first few years in the NBA, Durant’s public relations team constructed a different narrative. We were led to believe that the world’s most effortless scorer was among its quietest and most humble professional athletes, too. You were more likely to hear Durant leading prayer circles at Sunday sermon than a simple, innocuous curse word.
That finally changed in 2014, though, when Nike and Foot Locker rolled out an ad campaign in conjunction with Durant’s signature shoe that championed his “bad” side. And once the 2014 MVP called out the media at All-Star weekend last February and then insisted that he’s “a dick” in a GQ cover story, he’d finally come full circle. Now, other players have begun to confirm what Durant has recently made sure the public fully understands.
During his appearance on ESPN’s Freddie Coleman Show, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green – hardly one to avoid on-court confrontation, of course – singled the four-time scoring champion out when asked to name a trash-talker that’s close to his own personal standard.
Courtesy of The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater:
But when asked his opinion for his biggest challenger for the crown, Green had an interesting answer…
“You know who I always thought (was a great trash-talker), but has been under the radar, I think Kevin Durant,” Green said. “Lotta people don’t know that. But if you play against him you know.”
What does Durant say?
“KD makes you feel bad about yourself, that you ever talked junk,” Green said. “It’s the funniest thing in the world.”
Green was also quick to point out that facing a chatty Durant isn’t always so amusing. After saying that he’s enjoyed battling with the not-so-silent scoring assassin during his three years in the league, Green added that “when [Durant] end up with 53 (points), it ain’t much you could say back at that point.”
Probably not. Though the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up didn’t specify which matchup he was referencing, it’s safe to say Green meant the Thunder’s 127-121 win over the Warriors in January 2014 – when Durant scored a career-high 54 points.
Oklahoma City and Golden State meet on three occasions in 2015-16, the first of which comes on February 6. Fortunately for Green, he has ample time to figure out how to stop Durant – something he and the eventual champions had a lot of trouble with when the reigning MVP dropped 30 first half points against them last December.
Can you imagine the talking to come between Green and Durant? For the former’s sake, here’s hoping their individual matchup is a little less one-sided than it’s been in the recent past once February finally rolls around.
[Via The Oklahoman]
