It’s done, Kevin Durant performed in front of his new fans. It was Wednesday night in the Suns’ narrow win over Wolves. Still undefeated in his new colours, the 2014 MVP has two weeks to make up for lost time and enter the playoffs in top form. But he warns, he is no longer there to try to convince observers or measure himself against the greatest in history. All that is over. What he wants, at the age of 34, is simply to play.
“I don’t care about my heritage…I used to. I used to want to carve my way or space in this sport that people would remember, but now it’s taken on too much importance. I focus too much on other people. he recognizes in The Athletic. “What did he do, what did he do? Comparisons. Before, when there were all these debates, I cared about it… I’m about to be in the wake of the greatest, and it was huge. Today, I don’t care at all. I just want to go out there and be productive. I want to be the best I can be, go home, spend time with my family, and that’s it.”
His time with the Warriors changed public perception
What weighs Durant down is this impression of wanting to chase the title at all costs. We thought for a long time that he was the man of only one franchise, the Thunder, and finally, he joined the Warriors, the Nets, and now the Suns! A trajectory reminiscent of that of the Shaq, who went from franchise to franchise, at the end of his career, and that inevitably damaged his “legacy” to use the term usually used.
“Once I joined Warriors (in 2016), I thought there would be nothing logical written about me anymore,” Durant said. “When it comes to me, people aren’t going to think logically or just look at what I’ve done and say that’s it. They need to add a story to it, put forward something to discredit me. As soon as I joined the Warriors, they did gymnastics to discredit me every step of the way. It’s like it’s not even fun to get involved with people anymore because you weren’t even sincere. We vary the objective each time, we expect the maximum from me and if I don’t reach it, I’m a failure. It makes you wonder what the problem is? »
Tired of spending time trying to convince
In general, Durant assures us that he no longer seeks to please everyone, or at least to convince them. Other stars, before him, could not stand the criticism and the fact of not being unanimous. He promises that he has passed this milestone.
“I’d say it’s from the Warriors days. I wouldn’t say I was trying to please people, but I was just trying to make them understand who I was as a player. The way I left OKC caused a lot of confusion about my personality. I felt like I had to explain it to the media and NBA fans, but after a while I figured they were going to believe what they felt like believing. So I don’t need to try to change their way of seeing the situation. After a while, I said to myself: “And then shit, you can think what you want”. I know that’s part of the problem. I’m tired of trying to convey who I am as a person and as a player. »
| Kevin Durant | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2007-08 | SEA | 80 | 35 | 43.0 | 28.8 | 87.3 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 20.3 |
| 2008-09 | OKAY | 74 | 39 | 47.6 | 42.2 | 86.3 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 25.3 |
| 2009-10 | OKAY | 82 | 40 | 47.6 | 36.5 | 90.0 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 7.6 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 30.2 |
| 2010-11 | OKAY | 78 | 39 | 46.2 | 35.0 | 88.0 | 0.7 | 6.1 | 6.8 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 27.7 |
| 2011-12 | OKAY | 66 | 39 | 49.6 | 38.7 | 86.0 | 0.6 | 7.4 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 28.0 |
| 2012-13 | OKAY | 81 | 39 | 51.0 | 41.6 | 90.5 | 0.6 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 4.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 28.2 |
| 2013-14 ★ | OKAY | 81 | 39 | 50.3 | 39.1 | 87.3 | 0.7 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 5.5 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 0.7 | 32.0 |
| 2014-15 | OKAY | 27 | 34 | 51.0 | 40.3 | 85.4 | 0.6 | 6.0 | 6.6 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 25.4 |
| 2015-16 | OKAY | 72 | 36 | 50.5 | 38.8 | 89.8 | 0.6 | 7.6 | 8.2 | 5.0 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 28.2 |
| 2016-17 | GOS | 62 | 33 | 53.7 | 37.5 | 87.5 | 0.6 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 4.8 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 25.1 |
| 2017-18 | GOS | 68 | 34 | 51.6 | 41.9 | 88.9 | 0.5 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 26.4 |
| 2018-19 | GOS | 78 | 35 | 52.1 | 35.3 | 88.5 | 0.4 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 26.0 |
| 2020-21 | BRK | 35 | 33 | 53.7 | 45.0 | 88.2 | 0.4 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 26.9 |
| 2021-22 | BRK | 55 | 37 | 51.8 | 38.3 | 91.0 | 0.5 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 6.4 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 29.9 |
| 2022-23 * | All Teams | 43 | 36 | 55.9 | 38.8 | 92.9 | 0.4 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 5.2 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 29.2 |
| 2022-23 * | BRK | 39 | 36 | 55.9 | 37.6 | 93.4 | 0.4 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 5.3 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 29.7 |
| 2022-23 * | PHX | 4 | 32 | 56.7 | 52.9 | 86.4 | 0.5 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 24.0 |
| Total | 982 | 37 | 49.9 | 38.4 | 88.6 | 0.7 | 6.4 | 7.1 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 27.3 | |
