Kevin Durant has let go of the attachments to his legacy in recent years, and it’s led to an unabashed purity of simply playing basketball for him. He’s known for his back and forth with fans on social media, a good-natured battle for a player who spends genuine time speaking to fans in settings such as Team USA trips in the past. But as far as legacy goes, Durant — who has 13 All-Star game appearances, two NBA championships, two Finals MVPs and one league MVP award — no longer has a desire to chase.
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“I don’t care about legacy,” Durant told The Athletic. “I used to. I used to want to carve out a lane or space in this game for myself that people can remember, but it’s become too much of a thing now. It just becomes too much of a focus on other people. What’s he done, what’s he done? Comparisons. Before, when we wasn’t doing all this debating, I cared about it … I’m about to be in the same breath as these top guys. It was big.
“Nowadays, I truly, truly don’t care. I truly just want to go out there and produce, be the best that I could be, go home, hang with my family, that’s it.”
Durant made his return to the Phoenix Suns lineup in Wednesday’s win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He suffered a sprained ankle slipping on the court in pregame warmups on March 8 following a 3-0 start to his Suns career. The Suns are among the contenders to win the championship this season, buoyed by the All-NBA duo of Durant and Devin Booker, big man Deandre Ayton and guard Chris Paul. In his 15th NBA season and five years removed from a torn Achilles tendon, Durant is playing at his usual elite level, averaging 29.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 43 games this season.
Durant’s offseason was tumultuous, to put it lightly. He requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets and had a high-stakes meeting with owner Joe Tsai, during which he asked the team to consider changing their head coach and GM. That trade request was eventually put aside, but the subsequent moving of Kyrie Irving ultimately led to Durant’s blockbuster deal to the Suns at the February trade deadline. Durant is still competing for his first title since 2018, but believes his accomplishments will always carry some judgement from the audience.
“Once I left to go to the Warriors (in 2016), I figured any logical thing, when it comes to me it’s out of the window,” Durant said. “When it comes to me, people are not going to think in a logical way or simply look at what I’ve done and say that’s it. They gotta add a narrative to it, they gotta push something to discredit me. Once I left to go to the Warriors, it’s been the gymnastics on how to discredit me every step of the way. It’s like, damn, that’s not even fun no more like engaging with people because y’all aren’t even being truthful. You move the goalpost every time, you expect the most out of me and if I don’t reach it I’m a failure. It’s like, what’s the problem?
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“I don’t throw my s— at people. People want their own experience in the NBA. Their experience is their experience. I can’t say anything. I let it be. When some fan says, ‘KD, I don’t like how you did this.’ I can’t be upset at that. That’s your view and how you look at the league. I just learned how to accept that, move forward and be the best me.”
The future Hall of Famer recently went one-on-one with The Athletic to discuss his return to action with the Suns, legacy, Booker, his Brooklyn exit and much more.
Now that you’ll be back in the lineup, what does it mean to you?
We all look forward to this situation after being out for weeks. Everybody was excited for me to come back, so once I’m finally out there and we get a look at how we’re going to look when we play, there’s a lot of energy around the building.
You seem to have reached a point where you are unfazed about what’s going on away from the court. How did you get there?
I would say around the Warriors years. I wouldn’t say I was trying to please people, but I was just trying to get people to understand who I was as a player. There was so much confusion over how I left OKC about who I was as an individual. And I felt like I needed to explain that to the media and NBA fans, but after a while I was just like, they going to believe what they going to believe regardless. So there’s no need for me to even f— up their experience and try to shift and change the way they think about the situation.
After a while, I was just like f— it — you can think however you want to think. I know that’s just a part of it. I’m done trying to get you to understand who I am as a person and player.
What film are you watching these days?
I’m watching college more so than anything. A lot of NBA stuff too. A lot of MJ (Michael Jordan), a lot of Kob’ (Kobe Bryant). I watch a lot of MJ highlights.
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It’s always good to see what’s going on from the outside perspective. When you’re in the game, it’s hard to figure out what’s going on around you, so you look at film and it gives you a clearer view. It also looks at other players.
I know you spent time working out with Devin Booker last summer, how was that for you?
It was one day. I’ve been monitoring Book’s career and following him since he was at Kentucky. Just his evolution and his growth of his mentality as a player has just been remarkable to see. He can score from every area, knows how to run the point guard and command the offense and us all as well. He’s evolved since he was at Kentucky in a way that I enjoy seeing because he was more so a shooter at Kentucky, and a lot of people didn’t see his full game. A lot of those guys on that team were like that because they were stacked. But once he got to the league, Book showcased his full game and I’ve been following him ever since. It’s good to be on the same team.
How do you feel on this team of you, Booker, Ayton and Paul?
I feel pretty good. I know we gotta bring it every night now. We got to target on our back. So it’s still somewhat … a little anxious, a little anxiety coming into each game. Just because you want to be at your best, and you know everybody is targeting us. I’m looking forward to the challenge. We all are.
After Kyrie Irving demanded a trade out of Brooklyn, how did you handle your situation?
Once he asked out, I was just trying to figure out what direction the team is going in. Once I had no understanding of what direction we’re going in, I tried to make the best decision for me.
Do you feel vindicated?
Nah. Hell nah. I want the best for that organization. I wanted the best for us every game. I hated it had to go down like that. I wasn’t trying to prove the Nets is a s—ty organization. I was trying to prove that the Nets are a great organization, that they care about their players, want the best for their players. Certain s— just didn’t work out. I understand that. I’m not here trying to prove that the Nets was wrong, I think they did amazing by me the whole time I was there, not just with the trade. Coming off the Achilles injury, get back into playing — they made sure they were there for me every step of the way. And I appreciate that for life. I feel like we’ll be tied as family members for life regardless of how it finished.
How do you view your championship window at the age of 34?
I take it one day at a time. I don’t even look at windows. I’m not talking about championships. I’m focused on: How can we be great, how can we maximize every day.
(Top Photo: Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
