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Durant is just like the rest of the superstars.
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After the speech, everyone focused on Durant’s wonderful words about his mother, and rightfully so — that section alone could have been a pantheon sports speech. But I couldn’t get over how graciously Durant treated his teammates. They were sitting behind him like little kids, fighting to keep their composure as he mentioned them one at a time. He explained how each player resonated with him, sprinkling each story with a personal touch and smartly saving his buddy Westbrook for last.
“I know you guys think I forgot Russ,” he joked as everyone laughed nervously. “I could speak all night about Russell. An emotional guy who would run through a wall for me. I don’t take it for granted. There’s days where I just want to tackle you and tell you to snap out of it sometimes. I know there’s days you want to do the same thing with me. I love you, man. I love you.”
Stop there. No way Jordan would ever describe Pippen that way. No way LeBron describes Wade that way. No way Kobe describes ANYONE that way. Durant’s best quality was always Duncan’s best quality — he doesn’t care how his team wins, just that they do. He’s one of the best teammates ever. And just with those eight sentences, he squashed even the most remote possibility of an Avon-Stringer ending. But Durant wasn’t close to being done yet.
“A lot of people put unfair criticism on you as a player,” Durant said, his voice quavering. “And I’m the first to have your back, man, through it all. Just stay the person you are, man. Everyone loves you here. I love you. I thank you so much, man. You made me better. Your work ethic — I always wanted to compete with you, I always wanted to pull up in the parking lot of the arena or the practice facility, and if you beat me there I was always upset. I always wanted to outwork you. And you set the bar, you set the tone. Thank you so much, man. Thank you. You got a big piece of this [trophy]. You’re an MVP-caliber player and it’s a blessing to play with you.”
So much for trading Russell Westbrook. I have been following sports for something like 40 years — I can’t remember a teammate sticking up for another teammate better than that. Not ever. The point was made. Russ is my brother. We are in this together for better and worse. And just like that, we went from thinking They’re trading Westbrook if they don’t win the title soon to They’re never, ever, EVER trading Westbrook. Kevin Durant flipped the script on the “journey,” just like that, in less than 50 seconds. Either KD sticks around like Duncan stuck around in San Antonio, or he’s a greater actor than Daniel Day-Lewis. I’m betting on the former. You can’t fake that stuff. You just can’t.
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Grade 1 strain for Parker. Says it's not that bad and he will be able to play. For comparisons sake, he suffered a grade 2 strain of the hamstring during game 3 of the nba finals last year. He should be alright.
Hope clips win tonight to give him a couple extra days rest though.
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My biggest highlight of Durant this season was when he screamed "get off me *****" at Terrence Jones after making a contested layup on him.
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My biggest highlight of Durant this season was when he screamed "get off me *****" at Terrence Jones after making a contested layup on him.
A player in the NBA playing with emotion? Shocking. There is only one Kawhi Leonard.
