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Kevin Durant to Lakers almost off, playing with LeBron toxic because of media

Utkarsh Bhatla
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Kevin Durant is a free agent next summer and will have an important decision to make about his future.

The Warriors have a brilliant team in place, one that has already ruled the NBA for some time now. But KD on some level feels that he has already gotten everything that he could of this relationship and thus is looking for a change of scenery.

Going to LA and joining forces with LeBron seemed high on the priority list for sometime, as the Lakers are looking to build a dynasty of their own, one that could overthrow the incumbent Warriors dynasty.

But KD’s recent comments about playing with LeBron and why not many superstars want to go down road, suggest that his move to Lakers could be off.

Durant has highlighted a very good point on why it is really difficult for existing and upcoming superstars to play with LeBron.

He spoke about how LeBron plays a certain way and is not really looking for someone who controls a lot of the ball, but instead someone who is good shooter. So, for someone like Kawhi, who loves to have a lot of the ball in his hand will not really want to go to the Lakers and play with LeBron

“It depends on what kind of player you are,” Durant said.

“If you’re Kyle Korver, then it makes sense. Because Kyle Korver in Atlanta was the bulk of the offense, and he’s not a No. 1 option at all, not even close. So his talents benefit more from a guy who can pass and penetrate and get him open.

“If you’re a younger player like a Kawhi, trying to pair him with LeBron James doesn’t really make sense. Kawhi enjoys having the ball in his hands, controlling the offense, dictating the tempo with his post-ups; it’s how he plays the game. A lot of young players are developing that skill. They don’t need another guy.” he added.

Durant went onto emphasise that LeBron demands a lot of the ball and he wants to create everything in offense. He commended Kevin Love and Bosh for altering their game in order to suit LeBron’s style.

“Kevin Love, he had to totally change his game to fit, to be a shooter,” Durant said.

“Which, I think, he deserves way more credit for switching his game. Bosh, same way. LeBron is a player that needs to play with guys that already know how they play the game—and shooters. Like, young players that are still developing, it’s always going to be hard because he demands the ball so much, he demands control of the offense and he creates for everybody.” he added.

But the most important factor for KD is the media attention around LeBron and how it could get really toxic for any other superstar joining him and his team.

He was critical of the media for making it all about LeBron, something that could hurt any superstar coming into the team. Thus, for KD, he feels that not a lot of stars in the NBA would want to enter into such an environment.

“So much hype comes from being around LeBron from other people,” Durant said.

“He has so many fanboys in the media. Even the beat writers just fawn over him. I’m like, we’re playing basketball here, and it’s not even about basketball at certain points. So I get why anyone wouldn’t want to be in that environment because it’s toxic.

“Especially when the attention is bullshit attention, fluff. It’s not LeBron’s fault at all; it’s just the fact you have so many groupies in the media that love to hang on every word. Just get out of the way and let us play basketball.” he concluded.

This could have been the exact reason why Kyrie left for Boston too and maybe why KD is now not looking at LA as a possible destination, if he finally decides to move on from the Warriors next season.

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