Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is no longer driven by the championships. After all, he has won two. Instead, he says it’s the desire to be at the best of times that feeds him.
“I didn’t expect to be a happy human being with a title,” Durant told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols in an interview aired Saturday on SportsCenter. “I was just waiting for the end of a movie, because you’ve worked so hard and everyone tells you,‘ Yeah, that’s why you have to work, it’s that golden ball and those rings. ’And I’m like,‘ Very well , great, let me block it. ”And I was left wanting to get it, but I also realized that there are a lot of things that take into account things that are out of my control.
“And once I won a championship [with Golden State]I realized that my opinion on this game is really developmental. How, how good can I be? It’s not about, you know, let’s look for this championship. I appreciate these things and I want to win to experience these things, but it’s not the end, that is, the reason I play the game. ”
Durant averaged 28.4 points, 7.3 points and 5.3 assists in his first active season with the Nets after losing the entire 2019-20 season after recovering from an Achilles tendon injury · Les.
“I’ve been around, I’ve been out of the game for two years and I’m anxious to say,‘ What do I do when I come back? “” Said Durant, 32, who is in his 14th NBA season after stopping with the Warriors and Thunder. “Being out of Achilles makes you think about the game in a different way. And my goal is to be out there, you know. Who knows what will happen when I’m out there. I just want to be available. And I think that’s all I really want to be available for as long as I can. And we’ll see what happens between the lines. “
After losing 23 games this season due to a hamstring injury, Durant made a standing ovation Wednesday night, coming off the bench for the second time in his career and responding with 17 points on a 5-yard touchdown run. 5 from the field 19 minutes from an explosive win against New Orleans.
That game was only the seventh in which the team’s big three (Durant, along with James Harden and Kyrie Irving) had been together on the court this season.
“I think our experiences with Team USA definitely helped,” Durant said about the chemistry that is developing between the three stars. “When you’re in that environment, I wouldn’t say you have to shrink, but you really have to check your ego and find out when you need it. You may have to take a step back for the team to be good. And I think that we all understand.
“… I love what we’re building … Everyone contributes their part. Everyone is valuable. And we’re just trying to create something fun enough for people to see and for the players to come in. Play.”