Kevin Durant needs to be in the Bay Area for the start of training camp next Monday.
But on Wednesday, he was in LA to appear as a guest (along with rapper, Nas) on HBO's "Any Given Wednesday" with Bill Simmons.
Durant answered many questions and opened up on several topics:
Simmons: Why do people think you got manipulated? (in choosing the Warriors)
Durant: I can't go into a studio and express myself through words and it be a normal day. So if I were to come out and tweet something or Instagram or whatever, a video of me disagreeing with something a writer said, it's career suicide almost. So, once I made the decision, I knew I had to take a lot of stuff on the chin. I knew I had to keep rolling with the punches.
[REWIND: Under Armour CEO: With Durant, Warriors still 'Stephen Curry's team']
It upset me. It upset me coming from people that I had spent time with. Obviously they were upset ... When they called me weak, I think I'm the total opposite. There are plenty of times I could have quit in this whole life ... plenty of times where my neighborhood could have kept me down. But I just kept going, so how am I weak if I'm at the top, elite level of my profession? I just chose to play for a different team.
Sports
A lot of people try to tear you down when you make a decision that makes them uncomfortable, or it makes them upset. I can't control everybody.
Nobody cares about what I want as a person. It's all about what I can do on the basketball court. They don't care if I like going fishing on Tuesdays, or like taking pictures on the street. Nobody cares as long as I can shoot that ball into the hoop. Why should I care what they think if they don't really care about me as a whole?
Simmons: Do you feel like you got enough credit, just as somebody who loves basketball and is really smart about it, that part of why you did this was because it's gonna be so much fun to play in this offense with these guys?
Durant: I don't get credit for being a smart player anyway. It's just about score, score, score for me. That's how I'm labeled.
[POOLE: Lethal on offense, Durant a central figure of Warriors' defense]
Simmons: I don't mean to give you more motivation for this year, but I know you love "2K" (video game). Your rating dropped to a 93 this year. Did you file that away in the 'KD slight category?'
Durant: I feel like I'm slighted all the time, so if they had me higher rated, I'd still feel slighted.
Simmons: Larry Bird added something to his game every single summer. What did you add this summer, other than a chip on your shoulder?
Durant: I added the mental part. Kind of upgraded how I think the game.
Simmons: I can't ask Kevin this question (so he asks Nas), but what did you think of the Chef Curry's, the shoes that he put out last spring?"
Durant: "They were bad," with plenty of laughter ensuing...
