Kevin Durant has no time for rappers or mascots

There’s a certain je ne sais quoi when it comes to top-tier NBA athletes.  Jordan, Bird and Magic all had it.  Kobe and Shaq had it.  For the longest time, we wondered whether LeBron had it.  He ultimately proved he did, thanks to his buddy, Dwayne Wade.

The baby-faced assassin has it but we’re still not quite sure about his newest running mate, Kevin Durant.

You can always play the role of nice guy on the court or in commercials – cue Magic Johnson’s and Isiah Thomas’ bright and beaming grins – but to win a championship, to truly become an NBA great, you have to care a rat’s ass about the opponents outside your locker room and apparently even less about their mascots and fan bases.  Cue Kevin Durant’s long, arduous path to not giving a shit.

I’ve always liked Durant… perhaps because I don’t live in Oklahoma City.  I always respected the kid’s soft-spoken fearlessness.  His game represents exactly that, dunking with reckless abandon or canning jumpers from thirty feet as if he wasn’t aware a man of his gangly stature isn’t supposed to be doing either.  But hearing him tell a reporter that he “doesn’t give a damn about no damn Drake night” or telling a mascot to “get the fuck off the court” gives me the impression that the one they call Durantula is one step closer to reaching greatness.  Sometimes all it takes is a curse word and a gesture.

Not long ago, Toronto hosted a night celebrating the most famous Raptors fan north of the border: Drake.  Durant didn’t care too much for the honor.  He has a job to do and any blaring of Drake’s music only interferes with that order.  His Warriors went on to beat the Raptors by six that night.  Durant scored thirty.

After the game ended, assuming a friendship that didn’t exist, Drake bumped into Durant who was in the middle of giving an interview.  Durant took care of that in quick order.

Drake’s not the only one this season to feel Durantula’s sting.  Last week, in Utah, the home team’s mascot named Jazz was on the floor trying to get fans fired up.  Note: I’m not sure why Jazz fans would be fired up facing inevitable defeat against a far superior Warriors team but the bear was doing the best he could.

During a time out, Durant felt the mascot was spending a little too much time on the court as play was about to resume.  In no particular order, Durant told the man in the mascot uniform that ten men and one bear on the floor was one bear too many.  He coolly muttered “get the fuck off the court.”  There’s no telling whether Drake was the one in the bear outfit.

This was no Charles Barkley wrestling a mascot for fun.  This was Durant in game mode, just a glare that says no bear should get in this man’s way.  The mascot won’t make the same mistake twice.

Kevin Durant is smack dab in the middle of defining his legacy.  You can be great without ever winning a title (Barkley, Iverson, Malone, Ewing) but Durant knows that greatness comes with a stipulation, an asterisk… a but.  Durant will go down as perhaps the baddest, 6’11” perimeter player we’ve ever seen.  He wants what LeBron has, what his current Warrior teammates have.  He’s now taking it out on anyone who gets in his way, including rappers and mascots.

Fourteen years into the league, three titles and four MVPs later, LeBron James would never dream of telling a mascot to “get the fuck off the court.”  In a frilly, fluffy, well-designed interview, he’d go on and on about how he loves Drake’s music.  He jokingly grabs beers from courtside waitresses as his momentum carries him into her path.  His image is carefully crafted.  Durant doesn’t give a shit.  He has the look in his eyes that he will destroy anyone and anything on his path to greatness.

We have another month to see if that happens.

James and Durant are once again on a collision course with legacies on the line.  It’s starting to look like Durant will stop at nothing to etch his name in NBA lore.  The only problem is that he has one really big bear named LeBron still standing in his way.

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20 Replies to “Kevin Durant has no time for rappers or mascots”

  1. He joined the Warriors for a reason…To win a ring.

    This attitude he’s developing is a good thing for Golden State fans….Whether it parlays into beating LeBron remains to be seen, but I like it.

  2. Where are the idiots now who felt that KD wouldn’t be a solid fit for the Warriors ?

    Is it me but are the Mets a real frigging mess ? Matt Harvey gets suspended , with the playing filing a grievance against the ball-club. Harvey apparently suffered a migraine having played a round of golf prior to the day he was meant to be pitching in a game for the team. Sandy Alderson , states that it isn’t the first time the player has failed to adopt to the team’s rules. Harvey does have things going good for him though , as he’s dating supermodel Adriana Lima . That might be enough to give him a headache and for his game to take something of a dive.

    By the way what’s up with Red Sox fans ? Hurling racial abuse at Adam Jones of the Orioles is meant to achieve what ? Last I looked , there were also black/ minority players on the Boston roster. WTF !!!!

  3. Great post. LOVE those video clips! Just his LOOK sez it all. And you can feel his annoyance… but he handled it in a pretty classy way w/that Drake guy. Its like Durant’s the only adult in the room. Great post SC.

  4. Bleed…

    I already plan on tuning into at least ninety minutes pre-game and probably about the same post-game coverage, not to mention the actual games for every damn one of these Finals games.

    I’m amped…. with a capital A, baby!

  5. Al…

    I’m not sure who it was that felt KD wouldn’t be a fit on that roster. He’s the second best player in the league. What team wouldn’t benefit by having a little Durantula in their life?

    So who’s going go take the fall for all this Mets madness? Alderson?

  6. Bleed…

    Remember in one of those Austin Powers when he asks of one of the villains “Who throws a shoe?”

    Well, who the hell blocks a gunshot with his leg, other than a hockey goalie, of course.

    Kudos to B-Roy for having the reflexes to do so… but again, who throws a shoe?

  7. It appears that Durant has gotten like me in my old age – too late to worry about being humble and nice. People will either like you or not. Time’s running out for him to knock down a ring although that won’t change the fact that the guy is freakishly good and that’s probably wearing on him.

  8. I’d like to thin there’s some sanity in the world until I turn on ESPN and then listen to the idiocy coming from several of their NBA analysts.

    It looks as if the Spurs’ season will come to an abrupt end against the Rockets. They may well have lost Tony Parker for the rest of the series against Houston and there seems to be one else on the roster ready to step into his shoes and display some type of calming influence. Kawhi Leonard is having one hell of a postseason , but he can’t do it all by himself.

    So how often have you suffered a migraine playing golf and then decided not to turn up for work the next day ? I mean will your boss accept your excuse ? LOL,LOL,LOL !!!! The New York Mets’ Matt Harvey is full of it. The Mets continue to be a bad joke and nightmare all rolled into one. Has there been a sighting of David Wright as of yet ? GM Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins have to be on the ” hot seat” right now . If the team fails to make the postseason , then heads will certainly have to roll.

    Did you catch last weekend’s fight (boxing) between Saul Canelo Alvarez and Jesus Chavez Jr ? Why is it that the promoters believe the fans want to see mismatches ? Alvarez pounded Chavez Jr , leaving the losing fighter looking like he’d been assaulted by a group of soccer hooligans. Now De La Hoya (Alvarez’s promoter) wants Saul Alvarez to face Gennady Golovkin in what is likely to be ” The Fight of The Year ” in 2017.

  9. Durant is only 28, Moose, but you’re right. He’s been in the league ten years.

    This is by far his best shot to win one, plus I think Golden State has this team locked up for a while.

    It’ll be an interesting couple of years if Cleveland and Golden State continue to monopolize dominance.

  10. Well LaMarcus Aldridge came to play and he sealed the fate of the Houston Rockets last night was the Antonio Spurs pulled off the game six victory to take their conference semi-final series 4-2.

    Can you explain to me why J J Redick believes he’s worth a 300% salary increase (from $6.45 million a year to over $20 million a year) ? Redick and his agent must be passing around some of that Jamaican Kush’ . No way in hell he’s worth that sort of money in comparison to the other shooting guards around the NBA. The NBA is completely out of sync when it comes to its salary structure and collective bargaining agreement.

    The fallout this off-season with the Los Angeles Clippers will be catastrophic . Chris Paul will either want out or the front office will seek to offer him a max contract that will be one of the most lucrative in NBA history.

    So now that A Rod is in the Yankees’ front office , it gives him cart-blanch to be critical of Derek Jeter and the fact his former teammate will soon be an owner of MLB team (Miami Marlins) ? Alex Rodriguez remains a retard and a bombastic moron. Is Rodriguez really that jealous of Jeter , the success achieved and the fact he (Jeter) is the most beloved and respected Yankees’ player of the last fifteen years ? A Rod has never indicated that he ever wanted to become an owner of an MLB ball-club and the fact that he wasn’t approached by Jeter’s consortium of partners has pis$ed him off ? Rodriguez remains a douche .

  11. So, Al, can we finally put to bed the thought that D’Antoni can coach in this league? I mean, what exactly what that the last two games?

    And re: Reddick, I’ve got one word for you. Memphis. Stick him on the Grizzlies, pay him what they can afford to pay him and let him bring the outside presence that team so desperately needs to get to the next level.

    I can’t fault the guy for trying to land one last hefty paycheck. Heck, the salaries in the league are already exorbitant. Remember, Al, in a free market, a player is worth exactly what the most desperate team is willing to pay him.

    And there are a lot of desperate teams.

  12. I don’t know if KD was like this in OKC and we just didn’t notice or he “adopted” this persona after being dissed for chasing a ring to Oaktown. I tend to think it is the latter. In any event if it personally helps him excel more power to him although I think picking on anyone other than an opposing player is bad form. The inevitable faint drum beat has already begun speculating if he gets his ring will he return – or be wanted – in OKC. Others think he might gravitate back to his birthplace in DC. To be honest, I think it would be nice if we could tip the NBA map to one side and get a few more superstars into the Eastern Conference besides himself.

  13. Pingback: Nine reasons you MUST watch these NBA Finals | Sports Chump

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