Kevin Durant still just wants to hoop — and watch other people hoop.
Last season, Durant was second in the NBA in total minutes played with 2,840, and he was third in minutes per game at 36.4. When he sat down at Rockets media day on Tuesday, he was asked if, with a healthier and deeper Houston roster, the goal was to keep his minutes down this season.
“I’m better on the court. The team is better when I’m on the court,” Durant said, pushing back on the idea of a minutes reduction. “Now, if we handle our business the first three quarters, then or earlier in the game, then maybe. But just for the sake of get my minutes, just because, ‘Oh, he’s older’ or he played a lot of minutes — that’s what I’m supposed to be training for is to play the long haul. Play 48 minutes a night.
“I get the concern. But you know, if the game needs me to be out there, I want to be out there.”
Durant is under contract for this season but has a player option for next season. He is extension elegible with Houston, and Rockets head of basketball operations Rafael Stone said Durant told him he was happy in Houston. However, when asked if that meant he wanted to sign an extension in Houston or stay with the team beyond this next season, Durant brushed that conversation aside.
“I’m not thinking about anything like that,” Durant said. “I’m enjoying coming into work every day. It’s been fun going through the process with everybody. And like I said, I’m taking it one day at a time. And that’s the most I can do. You know, who knows what’ll happen down the line or in the future.”
Durant, a long-time, very vocal supporter of the WNBA, was asked about the state of the league and the culture war it’s been dragged into, in part by former Durant teammate Enes Kanter. Durant answered like the hooper he is — and echoed how a lot of people in the basketball world feel about the drama.
“All that stuff just be noise, man. The WNBA is flourishing,” Durant said. “Look what these women are doing. Look at the money they’re making, that they made over the last few years. Look at the visibility of their league. They got four or five signature athletes that are representing major brands. These women have brands for themselves. They’re businesswomen for themselves outside of the game.
“So, a lot of this stuff, you know, the politics that they bring into sports nowadays, I understand the messaging behind what they’re trying to do, but a person like me who just strictly cares for the purity of the sport, I do not give a f*** about none of that. I care about flourishing and pushing the league forward, and that’s what’s happening right now.”
Read the full article here