Kevin Durant is the second best basketball player walking planet earth right now. He leads the second best team in the NBA. He was second in the MVP voting last year and almost certainly will be again. He was the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft (behind Greg Oden and his unfortunate knees).
Durant is tired of it. He is fired up.
Durant is on the cover of the new Sports Illustrated that hits newsstands this week, and he is featured in a profile by SI’s fantastic senior writer Lee Jenkins. In that Durant is open about not liking that No. 2 label (quotes via The Oklahoman).“I’ve been second my whole life. I was the second best player in high school. I was the second pick in the draft. I’ve been second in the MVP voting three times. I came in second in the finals. I’m tired of being second. I’m not going to settle for that. I’m done with it….
“I’m not taking it easy on [LeBron]. Don’t you know I’m trying to destroy the guy every time I go on the court?”
I love that his has this fire in him. It is that drive that will some day get him all the things he wants.
But sorry Kevin, but you’re going to have to live life as No. 2 a little longer.
There will come a day when the Oklahoma City Thunder will win an NBA crown (if they keep this core together). There very likely will be an MVP or two in Durant’s future. There may well come a day when we acknowledge Durant as the best player in the world (right now I would say he’s the best scorer in the world, just ahead of ‘Melo, but he doesn’t have LeBron’s all around game).
But that year is not this year.
Barring something radical happening, it’s hard to see how the Heat team that beat the Thunder in five games last finals, that beat them twice in the regular season, that is better than they were a year ago is going to lose to the Thunder.
Just know that Durant is not going to stop trying to make it so. He wants what LeBron and Miami have.
