LeBron James cannot stop talking about Kevin Durant. The reigning NBA MVP is falling the race to repeat as the Oklahoma City Thunder star is putting up big numbers every game. Do not expect that Miami Heat to simply give up striving for the title again. After Durant put up another career-high night, James admits that the Thunder forward is inspiring his play on the court.
Durant has finished second to James in three of four MVP voting occasions. Some would think the Thunder forward was jealous of James, but the Heat star admitted it was the other way around, saying Durant's shot totals had him jealous. As Durant puts up the best season of his career in wake of Russell Westbrook's injury, is James going to fold and let him have the MVP title?
"Nah, I ain't beyond that. I ain't beyond that at all," James said, via ESPN.com. "I love when I see K.D. do something like that. It gives me an incentive. I don't get that many shots around here, but I might be able to do a little something. I might be able to get a couple of dunks."
James has been watching Durant's season. The forward leads the league in scoring, averaging 30.6 points entering the weekend. He has scored 48 points twice in the month of January. Against the Golden State Warriors on Friday, he shot 19 for 28 from the field. He went 5 for 9 from the 3-point line. James has been watching and he is inspired.
"I do a lot of checking and seeing what guys have done overnight," James said. "After every game, I always go ... and see what guys did. I didn't have to look too far to see what K.D. did last night. As soon as I looked at my phone, a family member of mine said, 'K.D. had 54, you only had 21. You stink.' So, there it is."
The Miami Heat have sputtered a bit in the middle of the season. They are on a three-game losing streak heading into a matchup against the Atlanta Hawks. Head coach Erik Spoelstra admits that he is concerned about energy from the team and hopes that little adjustments to playing minutes will help bring people back up for a late-season run.
"We were able to give him more rest than I anticipated," Spoelstra said. "The last couple of games I did that, I regretted it, playing him all the way through the second half. We don't need to do that now. And he's on board with that."
Can James catch Durant in the race to be MVP? THe Miami Heat star is not sure. He notes that right now he does not see Durant slowing down.
"Once a scorer like that gets going, you ain't going to stop him," James said. "I saw like the last 20 points he had, and they were all contested jumpers. He was hitting ... barely touching the net. When you're in a zone like that, it doesn't matter as a defender. There's nothing you can do about it. It was a big-time, big-time game for him.