The Phoenix Suns didn’t face much difficulty in defeating the Washington Wizards and came on top with a scoreline of 140-112. Despite handing Brian Keefe’s boys a blowout loss, Kevin Durant was lauding a few youngsters on the team. During the postgame interview, Durant shed light on the gruelling defense that he witnessed throughout the game when Deni Advija and Bilal Coulibaly guarded him.
Advertisement
While Deni Avdija had a solid 24-point outing, Bilal Coulibaly posted a subpar 0-point, 0-assist performance. However, both forwards received lofty praises from Kevin Durant for physically imposing themselves on him on the defensive end.
While talking to the reporters, KD revealed how he respected opponents who played physically. Further, he expressed admiration for the youngsters for not putting him on any sort of pedestal while playing defense.
“Just physicality, just making things tough… I respect dudes that play physical, that just don’t give a sh*t what my name is and that just pushes me to become a better player,” Durant said.
Kevin Durant did commend the two players who were assigned to guard him for their physical defense. However, neither Avdija’s nor Coulibaly’s presence had any effect on the Suns’ leader’s accuracy.
While scoring 18 points in 26:07 minutes, the Slim Reaper went 3/3 from beyond the arc and had an efficient 7/9 display from the field. But, they did manage to prevent Durant from getting the ball on numerous occasions. Fortunately for Frank Vogel and co., Bradley Beal did a majority of the heavy lifting, recording 43 points in his return to Washington for the first time. Hence, the Durantula didn’t need to put up a high-scoring performance like he usually does.
Kevin Durant has always displayed his love for young hoopers
This isn’t the first time that Kevin Durant has revealed his admiration for youngsters. The 2014 MVP has often dished out advice to youngsters. Back in 2017, during his stint with the Golden State Warriors, Durant shared a few encouraging words when talking about the confidence that a player requires after missing his first attempt.
“What’s your mindset when you start off a game and you’re not playing your best?” KD received a query during a YouTube Q&A session.
Durant’s detailed response:
“You gotta know what you’re playing for. If you’re playing to impress people, nine times out of 10, you’re always gonna be disappointed when you miss a shot or you make a mistake because you’ll feel embarrassed. But if you know why you’re out there, if you know that you want to just get better and you want to master the game, you’re gonna be excited about mistakes.
Durant has been a role model for youngsters ever since his initial years in the league. For as long as he’s been a professional, KD has been paving the way for the others who follow him, trying to help in any possible way.
Back in 2012, KD also had an inspiring message for all the kids who wanted to grow up and become athletes. While speaking about the same, KD highlighted the importance of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.
“My advice to high school athletes will be just always continue to grow each and every day work hard… Hard work to me is really this dedication, sacrifice… Wake up in the morning go work out and always getting inside the gym… Always being consistent with which at times you work out and how often you work out and quality before quantity,” KD advised.
Kevin Durant is still in the prime of his prowess. However, as he reaches the tail end of his career, it’s great to see him share such mentor-mentee relationships with the youngsters in the league.
