Kevin Durant

The Minnesota Timberwolves just swept the Phoenix Suns.

This was a huge loss for Kevin Durant, who was unable to even get one victory in the first round of the playoffs this year. Every year, every few games or milestones basically, there’s a heated debate about who the GOAT is: Greatest of all Time. Michael Jordan? Is it LeBron? Kobe? Steph Curry. Durant isn’t mentioned in GOAT conversations; I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that, and he’s not the GOAT. However, he’s an exceptional player. Kevin Durant is a legend, plain and simple.

The Last Dance documentary shed a lot of new light onto a topic everyone already knew. Michael Jordan is competitive. The fierceness and almost sociopathic nature of his competitive fire were on full display in this phenomenal sports documentary. This brought a lot of focus into the societal conversation of competition, what separates good from great, and great from elite. What separates elite from The GOAT? After The Last Dance, it was easy to believe that being insanely ruthlessly focused was the only way to win. Kobe Bryant certainly had a good dose of what Michael Jordan had. I love this particular story. Watch the whole clip below. It is about the time Kobe Bryant and his teammate had to face each other in the Olympics. I have queued up the link to the essential portion. But to get the whole background of how deep and insane it is, watch the beginning as well, hear Pau speak about it.

So Kobe and Michael Jordan, who are agreed to be among the greatest (and the greatest) to ever play the game, both had this ruthless competitive fire. Is that required? Don Bradman, a cricket player and the most dominant athlete in the history of any sport, was characterized as being kind, dignified, and full of humility while Jordan and Kobe were known for being ruthless and extremely confident, to the point of cockiness. What about another GOAT? Wayne Gretzky's demeanor is characterized by his humility, grace, leadership, and approachability.

Sir Donald Bradman, the Undeniable, G.O.A.T of all G.O.A.T.S. (consult wikipedia)

Where am I going with this? Back to Kevin Durant. At a time where some of the NBA’s elite are aging (Curry/James/Durant), their legacies are being measured. There is a collective consciousness that the way these players perform will be their final opportunity to contribute to their legacy and towards their ranking in the list of all-time greats.

Durant just got swept. Lebron James almost did too. LeBron gave due credit in the post game i to the Denver Nuggets team and coach. Then the interview was largely about himself, his future, his son’s future, which admittedly comes from the way he was asked and his role as the NBA’s figurehead. His situation with his son entering the draft is a pretty unique and interesting one; naturally, that’s gonna get questions from the reporters. All that said…

Kevin Durant’s post-game interview post being swept was an absolute class act. It made me like the guy so much. I don’t really know all that much about Kevin Durant. Maybe this is a good time to say, I do not watch basketball. I do not watch NBA games, not small ones, not big ones. But I follow. I read. I love the stories, the narratives, the personalities. Kevin Durant was exceptional in this interview.

I think his attitude is best summed up in this amazing display of irreverent trash talk fueled by competitive fire on the part of Anthony Edwards. Watch this whole thing. It’s 40 seconds. I love this so much. https://twitter.com/i/status/1781890771534094582

Michael Jordan would have tried to end Anthony Edward’s career in the following plays, game, years, and probably forever. There’s definitely something very remarkable about that. Kevin Durant’s reaction was incredibly different, polar opposite. Kevin Durant, who is a competitive beast (you do not win an NBA Finals MVP award without being so), does not want to lose, at all. But he rejoices in the youthful talent and the fiery spirit of Anthony Edwards. His entire post-game interview is incredible. It’s full of praise. I find the whole thing to be such a testament to true competition. He doesn’t want to knock Anthony Edwards down in order to be better; he wants the whole level to elevate. The full interview video is here. Below that are the quotes I love. Watch the video because Kevin Durant’s tone says so much.

Reporter: Kevin, Ant was saying that he's looking forward to playing with you at the Olympics. What have you thought about his growth and the leap and his performance in the series?

Kevin Durant: So impressed with Ant, so impressed with Ant, um, my favorite player to watch. Just grown so much since he came into the league at 22. Just his love for the game just shines bright, and that's something that's probably one of the reasons why I like him the most, because he just loves basketball. He's grateful to be in this position, he's taking advantage of every opportunity he's gotten. Um, love everything about Ant, everything. And um, be watching him going forward and, um, you know, you know he's going to go out there and play extremely hard every single night. But was really impressed with him, um, and he's going to be somebody I follow for the rest of his career.

Reporter: Hi Kevin, uh, this is Sou Qu. At this point in your career, with all that you've accomplished and being as healthy as you've been in seasons past, when you have a season end like this, in this way, what's kind of the level of motivation going into next season for you individually?

Kevin Durant: I live and breathe this, bro, like I have nothing else, but like, you know, at this point in my life, I got a lot going on outside of basketball, but what I mainly focus on is ball, bro. So, like, yeah, I got motivation, I love to play, I'm going to come back next year, you know, ready to hoop, you know, so yeah, I don't think you should question that then.

I also appreciate the moments in this interview where Durant declines to "provide context" or "specifics" because he doesn't want anything he says to be perceived as making excuses. This, to me, epitomizes true competitiveness at its finest. All accountability rests on my shoulders. If anything contrary to that is true, it's inconsequential. This stance stands in contrast to LeBron James expressing frustration with officiating and the replay center: 'It bothers me,' in a game where he missed a crucial shot. (And by the way, he's receiving too much criticism for that shot; he's a clutch shooter. However, mentioning officiating in such a scenario is ridiculous.)

Wrapping it all up, this was such a beautiful interview to me, I needed to highlight it. The love Kevin Durant has of basketball is incredibly apparent and very endearing. The way he respects and reveres that love of basketball he sees in Anthony Edwards, incredible. So… as I said… I do not watch basketball, but I feel that I understand energy. I think we’re in a new era, it is hard to stay on top. Giannis, Curry, Butler, Luka, Irving. Dynasties are very difficult now, any random guy you’ve never heard of can drop 50 points in a game. Everyone is a problem. I was speaking with my cousin about how staying champ in the UFC is so difficult. Remaining dominant in the sport of MMA seems extremely difficult. However, I feel that this is the case for a lot of sports now, given the insane level of play and the immense talent of countless individuals. The game has leveled up tremendously. Boy is Jokic amazing, incredible. He feels unbeatable at times. I read energy though and I believe what Kevin Durant was speaking to, witnessing, realizing, was that the torch was getting passed down and this new young guy is the truth. And I’m putting my money where my blog is.

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Preservatives.