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Kevin Durant is in the enviable, if tiresome, position of being asked often about his legacy. Note: It’s enviable simply because most NBA players don’t have much of a legacy. And it’s certainly not something they have to spend time thinking about during the middle of the season.
But then most NBA players are not Kevin Durant, the 2x NBA Finals MVP and one of the most talented and ferociously competitive players to ever lace ’em up.
Durant may be tired of considering his legacy — especially when he’s in the middle of trying to figure out how to make the Brooklyn Nets win games. But he’s always respectful and thoughtful (if decidedly energetic) when asked, because he understands the media has a job just like he does, and there’s quid pro quo.
In a revealing talk with veteran NBA journalist Chris Haynes, Durant gave a very interesting answer to the legacy question, name dropping a young teammate many non-Nets fans might not even be familiar with. Durant said:
“My legacy is predicated on what Cam Thomas is learning from me and what he’ll take away to help him by the time he’s in his 10th year. That’s my legacy. What I did with Andre Roberson, the confidence I helped him build when he was in the league. That’s my legacy. Being able to play with Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry and Kyrie and still be me. Yeah, that’s my legacy.”
Durant is here acknowledging the underappreciated fact that true legacy players radiate out their gifts, bestowing wisdom and work ethic practices on teammates as well as cementing their places in the stat sheets. Are championships the measure of a champion?
Yes and no, Durant implies, saying his influence — how he affects the 21-year-old Thomas, less than 80 games into his NBA career — is just as vital a metric when it comes to determining whether Durant really fulfills his potential.
It’s a terrific but unsurprising perspective from the veteran whose 2014 NBA MVP acceptance speech was way more about the importance of family and sacrifice than it was about points and rebounds.
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