“Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan were the first brands in basketball”: Kevin Durant raves in appreciation of the legendary Lakers guard ahead of new documentary release

Kevin Durant knows that his generation of basketball players is standing on the shoulder of giants like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

There are a few things you can criticize KD for. But being disrespectful to earlier generations is not one of those. The Slim Reaper knows exactly what his place in basketball history is.

Kevin Durant has given us some amazingly quotable quotes over the years. He also never fails to praise generations of ball players who came before him and began new trends.

Also Read: “I felt like I had beef with Kobe Bryant but he didn’t even know about it”: Kevin Durant opens up about his on-court relationship with the Lakers legend

In his most recent podcast, Durant spoke about the influence that 80s basketball has had on today’s game. One of the topics that came up was obviously regarding the defining rivalry of that generation, between Bird and Magic.

Kevin Durant praises Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, can’t wait for new Magic documentary

Speaking about Magic’s influence on the league, KD referred to his shoe deal with Converse:

“They don’t realize, as far as having an individual brand in the NBA, a new league at the time, Magic was the first guy to be a national brand at the time, then MJ came after.”

“That kind of started the trend with guys, and basketball being a global sport because of guys like Magic being a pioneer. He meant a lot to the game, I can’t wait to watch that doc… Especially after the Last Dance, I know a lot of docs will be competing with it.”

Also Read: “Let everyone say whatever sh*t they want, come playoff time, I think we’ll be ready”: Marcus Morris is taking Clippers slander personally ahead of the playoffs

Another amazing documentary devoted to the Magic-Bird rivalry is called When the Game was Ours. It is a must-watch for basketball aficionados, especially those who want more context on 80s basketball.

We’ve all been waiting for Kevin Durant to return to action for more than 4 weeks now. He last played an NBA game against the Warriors on February 13th. In his absence, James Harden has been leading the Nets to a 13-1 record over the past 5 weeks.