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“I’m Kevin Durant, You Know Who I Am”: How Patrick Beverley goaded then-Warriors superstar to average nearly 39 points for 8 games in 2019 NBA playoffs before calf injury

Ashish Priyadarshi
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Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant seemed to look mortal in game two against Patrick Beverley and the Clippers, in the 2019 playoffs, turning the ball over more times than he shot it.

The Warriors would also surprisngly lose that game to the lowly eighth seed Los Angeles Clippers, who tied the series up at one game a piece. After the game, questions started to swirl about Durant being irritated by Beverley, his lack of aggression, and whether the Warriors were done for.

It took one simple press conference, and some crazy performances by the ‘Slim Reaper’ afterwards to prove to everybody just how wrong they were.

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Kevin Durant Shut Patrick Beverly Up With His Performance Following Beverley’s Durant Stopper Comments

If there’s one thing you should know about Kevin Durant, it’s that he will never back down from you. That’s why you should always be careful when you’re calling out the man.

Beverley didn’t adhere to this warning, and he set off a chain reaction that resulted in one of the most cold blooded press conference answers ever and a stretch of dominance over the 2019 playoffs.

When reporters crowded around Kevin Durant to ask him what exactly he thought of the Clippers defensive scheme and Patrick Beverley, Durant had one of the most unfiltered comments ever. Beverley is known for being a pest and an irritant on defense, and it was his play that led the Clippers to victory in game two of that series.

However, Durant didn’t think it was anything to worry about as after all he is Kevin Durant. This is something he explicitly said in the interview by the way.

“I’m not going to get in the way of the game because I want to have a back-and-forth with Patrick Beverley. I’m Kevin Durant. You know who I am. Y’all know who I am.”

You can watch the full interview here:

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If only Beverley’s humilation could have ended there. The then Warriors superstar would go on an absolutely scorching run right after this interview, averaging nearly 39 points per game before he eventually went out with a calf injury.

Well, safe to say, Beverely may have learned his lesson about taking on Durant.

Also Read: “LeBron James just came up and said now is the time”: Carmelo Anthony reveals Lakers superstar’s simple recruiting pitch for the Knicks legend ahead of his 19th NBA season

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi

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Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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