Kevin Durant nearly won his second straight scoring title this year and despite the fact that he is one of the best players in the NBA, he knows what it is like to finish in second place and his most recent cover story for Sports Illustrated, he talks about just that.
According to SI.com, Durant made his fifth cover for the magazine and the profile by writer Lee Jenkins gives off a full picture of the star, including his life of being 'second', including second in the draft, second in the finals and second in MVP voting. Durant also talks about his relationship with LeBron James as well as the state of the NBA.
The Thunder are currently up one game on the Houston Rockets as game two is on Thursday night and after their emphatic 120-91 victory, the team is gearing up for a run to the finals for the second straight season. Durant speaks about James in the article, saying that he keeps an eye on his box score as well as how he plays each game.
Durant says that he and James are friends and that he works hard at analyzing data and looking for ways to score from everywhere on the court. Durant has improved his basketball IQ since coming into the league and despite the fact that the Thunder traded away James Harden last season, Durant feels that the team has championship pedigree and can go toe to toe with the Heat.
Here are some highlights from the cover story:
From the cover:
"I've been second my whole life," Durant tells SI's Lee Jenkins in a profile that will hit newsstands on Thursday. "I was the second-best player in high school. I was the second pick in the draft. I've been second in the MVP voting three times. I came in second in the Finals. I'm tired of being second. I'm not going to settle for that. I'm done with it."
About LeBron:
"I don't watch a lot of other basketball away from the gym," Durant says. "But I do look at LeBron's box score. I want to see how many points, rebounds and assists he had, and how he shot from the field. If he had 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, I can tell you exactly how he did it, what type of shots he made and who he passed to." Durant and James take flak for their friendship, but it is based on a mutual appreciation of the craft. They aren't hanging out at the club. They are feverishly one-upping each other from afar. "People see two young black basketball players at the top of their game and think we should clash," Durant says. "They want the conflict. They want the hate. They forget Bird cried for Magic. A friend was getting on me about this recently, and I said, 'Calm down. I'm not taking it easy on him. Don't you know I'm trying to destroy the guy every time I go on the court?' "
About working on his shooting and analyzing stats:
Durant has hired his own analytics expert. He tailors workouts to remedy numerical imbalances. He harps on efficiency more than a Prius dealer. To Durant, basketball is an orchard, and every shot an apple. "Let's say you've got 40 apples on your tree," Durant explains. "I could eat about 30 of them, but I've begun limiting myself to 15 or 16. Let's take the wide-open three and the post-up at the nail. Those are good apples. Let's throw out the pull-up three in transition and the step-back fadeaway. Those are rotten apples. The three at the top of the circle - that's an in-between apple. We only want the very best on the tree."