The Phoenix Suns superstar spoke with The Republic about a number of topics, including why he said he doesn’t want to be traded after reports of frustration with the franchise.
Suns win 3 in a row after improbable comeback against Kings
In our latest Talking Phoenix Suns and the NBA, the Suns have won their last three games, with the latest win coming against Sacramento on Tuesday night.
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Bradley Beal has rarely seen a superstar athlete handle himself like Kevin Durant.
“He’s a very down-to-earth guy,” Beal said. “He doesn’t consider himself superior, superior to anyone else. He could be (expletive). He could be, ‘I’m 17, I got two rings, MVP.’ If he wanted, it could have happened, but it is not so. I think that sets him apart from a lot of people.”
That’s how Durant was brought into the game.
“My parents, my coaches, they always taught me it’s bigger than me,” Durant said. “Always. It’s that simple. I know my part and if I don’t know my part, I know how important I am to the whole equation, but we are all important.
Durant is unquestionably one of the best players to ever play. He essentially has the evolutionary skillset of a 7-footer with unlimited scoring ability at all three levels, but the two-time Finals MVP has been highly scrutinized for switching teams during his 17 NBA seasons.
He has been called vulnerable and his leadership has been questioned, but Durant has not only had an MVP caliber season at age 35 in his first full season with the Phoenix Suns (23-18), the 13-time All- The star has impressed his teammates on and off the court.
“He’s definitely one of the reasons I’m here,” said Suns guard Eric Gordon, who signed with Phoenix as a free agent in the offseason.
Durant: ‘Prove to them I’m trustworthy’
Durant addressed a number of topics in a recent one-on-one meeting with The Republic, starting with why he felt the need to say he didn’t want to be traded in a recent interview with Fox Sports. This was in response to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski over Christmas that he was partly disappointed that Beal is missing several stretches this season due to back problems and an ankle sprain.
It was more than just cleaning the air. Its purpose was to reassure the valley that all was well here.
“Suns fans especially, really believed Woj when he said that,” Durant told The Republic. “I felt the pulse in my ear. When I come to these new teams, they don’t trust me. I had to prove to them every day that I was a reliable soldier for the team. I have moved here and there many times. I understand that the fans don’t trust me or are confused about my leaving.
Durant left Oklahoma City, Golden State and requested a trade out of Brooklyn last summer, allowing critics to overestimate even the slightest facial displeasure on the court, but it was one of the highlights of Durant’s career. Has been a part.
His every move is analyzed. It’s all part of being a superstar, but with Durant it’s even more noticeable.
“Since I left OKC, the question has always been, ‘What if?'” Durant said face-to-face. He left the Thunder and joined Golden State, where he won back-to-back NBA Championships (2017, 2018) and Finals MVP, but he drew major criticism for that decision as OKC blew a 3–1 lead to the Warriors. 2016 Western Conference Finals.
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Durant’s latest move came just before last season’s trade deadline as Phoenix was one of his destination requests during last offseason.
Just hours after Matt Ishbia’s introductory press conference as the new team owner at the Footprint Center last February, the Suns traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a trade to Brooklyn for Durant and TJ Warren. Traded pick swaps.
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The blockbuster deal made Phoenix an immediate title contender, but the team lost to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets in six games in the 2023 Western Conference Semifinals.
Shortly after his exit, the Suns fired Monty Williams and hired Frank Vogel, later traded Chris Paul in the Beale deal, moved Deandre Ayton just before training camp and built this new-look roster. Signed several players at the veteran minimum to create the .
Durant, Devin Booker, Josh Okogie, Damien Lee and Saban Lee are the only returning players from last season’s team.
The Suns have a Big 3, but Durant still attracts the most attention from opposing teams.
“I love him, he’s one of the smartest guys I’ve ever coached,” said Sacramento coach Mike Brown, who was an assistant during Durant’s time at Golden State.
“He knows he’s smart and he knows what’s going on. He said, ‘What’s going on with all these double teams?’ (In the second Suns-Kings matchup in Sacramento), I said, ‘KD, you know you can answer that question yourself. You sit, we will double the team with one less man.
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Durant’s leadership has always been a topic of discussion as he is not considered the outspoken type.
He admitted he would prefer to lead by example, but Durant has no problem addressing teammates.
“He’ll hold you accountable, which is what a guy like me needed,” Suns backup point guard Jordan Goodwin said. “At the beginning of the season, if I made a mistake or wasn’t aggressive, he’d get on me and be like, ‘We need you to be aggressive. We need you to make this play.'”
Durant understands the importance of his words, as he told Booker to be aggressive before last week’s road game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Booker responded by scoring 16 of his 31 points in the first quarter of a 127–109 victory.
“KD came up to me before the game and said, ‘I want you to be aggressive. Don’t worry about getting me involved.’ I’ll get involved myself,” Booker said after the game.
Durant has also expressed excitement for teammates after great games, whether it was the congratulatory tap on Gordon’s head after two big 3s on the Kings on Tuesday to tie the game or Big Udoka Azubuike’s two-way You have to go a long way on the court while cheering. Dunk in Sacramento.
“He’s a guy that instills confidence in all of us throughout the locker room,” Booker said.
Goodwin said Durant is the kind of guy “if you need anything you can call him, he’ll help you.”
Grayson Allen: ‘He wants challenges’
So, when Durant hears the leadership question, he wonders how someone could think like that.
“I consider those guys ignorant because they’ve never been in a locker room, they’ve never been on a team I’ve played for, they’ve never been in a practice or a shootaround,” Durant told The Republic. ” “So how can you analyze something you’ve never seen or heard?”
Nevertheless, Durant will always be known as the first-class forward of all-time.
Arguably the game’s greatest-ever scorer, Durant is 10th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list and is on pace to reach eighth by the end of this regular season. Durant is 723 points behind eighth-place Shaquille O’Neal and just 416 points behind Carmelo Anthony.
If he continues to average 28.9 points per game, Durant will accomplish both in less than 26 games. The Suns reached the midpoint of the 82-game regular season after Friday’s win in New Orleans.
However, with the accumulation of injuries, including Achilles, at the end of the season, Durant began to guard the opposing team’s main offensive players such as Kawhi Leonard (Clippers), LeBron James (Lakers), Anfernee Simmons (Blazers), Domantas Sabonis (Kings). Is. ) and Brandon Ingram (Pelicans) in recent games.
“He wants challenges,” Suns guard Grayson Allen said. “He wants those actions defensively, which is surprising, especially for a guy who acts so aggressively, but at the same time, he’s getting older (laughs).”
Frank Vogel: ‘I like that’
When Vogel became the new head coach of the Suns, he talked about his conversations with Durant about defense during his introductory press conference.
“He said, ‘I can’t wait to have guards in your system,'” Vogel said in June. The ending and I like that.”
Durant is just telling his defensive coaches and himself to perform to the best of his ability.
When Durant was asked after Tuesday’s win what his motivation was to become a good defender, he said, “My purpose and my purpose for being a human being is to be the greatest basketball player.”
“That’s why I’m alive right now. I got a chance to understand every aspect of the game and become great at it. “I’m still working.”
Bradley Beal: ‘He’s a human being’
Durant has also developed a reputation for his interactions on social media.
Superstars tend to ignore social media, but Durant will not only respond, but clap back.
“Maybe fans don’t like how he interacts on Twitter,” Beal said, smiling. “He is a human being. He can do whatever he wants.”
Just bringing barbershop to social media.
“I love the fans,” Durant said. “I love the game of basketball and I engage in it because I would engage in conversation if I was with you in person at a game. I don’t think it’s a problem to connect with basketball fans about basketball.
“It’s always been looked at negatively that I do that, but really, it’s doing nothing but helping the game to have one of your biggest superstars, interacting with fans in all areas . I sign autographs at games. I talk to fans on Twitter. I talk basketball to anyone at the barber shop. Why is this such a problem?”
Have any opinion about the current position of the Sun? Reach Suns insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter @DuaneRankin,
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