The ever-candid Kevin Durant never shies away from the microphone.
The 24-year-old is having another career year, averaging nearly 30 points per game on 56.8% from the field. However, in a recent interview with ESPN’s Nick Friedell, Durant gave his opinions on current fan culture, saying that some have become “entitled” on how players approach the game and that they don’t see everything the players go through every day.
“We go as hard as we want to go,” Durant said. “We go as hard as our bodies allow us to go at this point. They only see us when the games come on, but the travel, the practices, the shootarounds—we’re constantly moving around. So every game’s not going to be a high-intensity playoff game. It’s going to be times where as a fan you’re going to have to watch and see, ‘Oh, these guys traveled. This is the last game of a road trip. They may have to dig a little deeper to win this game. It might be a little sloppy tonight.’”
The 34-year-old also said the fans should stop taking athletes for granted and “putting pressure” on them to live up to their standards.
“It’s seven, eight games a night,” Durant said. “You rarely get a day off as a fan from the NBA, so learn to appreciate the grind that we go through and stop just looking at the money and expecting us to just perform for you and perform from … those high expectations that you put on each one of us. …. And then the dialogue around the game wouldn’t be … tense. Diluted. It’s narrative-driven. It’s agenda-based. Biased. … We’re starting to take a lot of stuff for granted. The NBA is one of them.”
Durant’s effort is one that has rarely been in question, as he has led the Nets on a scorching run over the last month as they now sit tied for second in the Eastern Conference.
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