Warriors forward Kevin Durant, who has been more ambiguous about his potential free-agent plans for next summer, said he understands why certain stars might balk at joining forces with LeBron.
"It depends on what kind of player you are," Durant said. "If you're Kyle Korver, then it makes sense. Because Kyle Korver in Atlanta was the bulk of the offense, and he's not a No. 1 option at all, not even close. So his talents benefit more from a guy who can pass and penetrate and get him open.
"If you're a younger player like a Kawhi, trying to pair him with LeBron James doesn't really make sense. Kawhi enjoys having the ball in his hands, controlling the offense, dictating the tempo with his post-ups; it's how he plays the game. A lot of young players are developing that skill. They don't need another guy."
"Kevin Love, he had to totally change his game to fit, to be a shooter," Durant said. "Which, I think, he deserves way more credit for switching his game. Bosh, same way. LeBron is a player that needs to play with guys that already know how they play the game—and shooters. Like, young players that are still developing, it's always going to be hard because he demands the ball so much, he demands control of the offense and he creates for everybody."
Durant also noted that the suffocating media attention around James doesn't help, either.
"So much hype comes from being around LeBron from other people," Durant said. "He has so many fanboys in the media. Even the beat writers just fawn over him. I'm like, we're playing basketball here, and it's not even about basketball at certain points. So I get why anyone wouldn't want to be in that environment because it's toxic. Especially when the attention is bullshit attention, fluff. It's not LeBron's fault at all; it's just the fact you have so many groupies in the media that love to hang on every word. Just get out of the way and let us play basketball."
I am genuinely mind blown kd was so open and honest about his feelings about playing with lebron.
There is this awkward tension were reporters don't want to outright say no one wants to play with lebron but they highly allude to it.
The same shit that Kyrie hated too, seems the players who are surrounded by it each day are frustrated and annoyed by the toxic LeBron circus. KD wants to beat LeBron, he doesn't want to help him win rings, boost his legacy, play 2nd fiddle in the media and have everybody fawn over LeBron for the success. It remains to be seen if Kawhi stays in Toronto, it might depend on the season they have. Anthony Davis is a toss up though.
This post was edited by Marieusz on Dec 5 2018 05:01pm