While he was probably happy to get his first game with the Golden State Warriors out of the way on Tuesday night, Kevin Durant was obviously not happy with the result of the contest. The Spurs destroyed the Warriors 129-100 in KD’s debut, and while it’s important for everyone to chill out and remember that it’s only one game, it definitely wasn’t the way KD envisioned his first game in the Bay Area going.
KD will play his second game with the Warriors in New Orleans on Friday night when his new team takes on the Pelicans, and from the looks of things, KD can’t wait to take the court. On Thursday night, a small group of reporters were on hand when KD worked out inside of an empty Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, and according to those reporters, KD was yelling at himself all throughout his workout and saying things like "They say I ain’t hungry," "They told me I ain’t have no drive," and "They called me a coward!"
After his workout was finished, he spoke with reporters about his behavior and said that it’s not uncommon for him to use criticism for motivation. "That’s what I say to myself when I’m working," he said. "I hear it all the time. You hear the noise. You hear what they say about you. Everybody hears it. So it’s a little extra motivation when you hear it."
KD also talked about some of the specific criticisms he’s heard over the last few days. "Obviously you hear everything," he said. "Season’s over, the team is the worst team in the league, you thought it was going to be easy. It’s one game. I thought, after losing in the playoffs by 30 or beating someone by 30 in Game 1 of the playoffs, and you say it’s only one game…It’s one game of 82 and you fucking guys make me feel like the world’s going to end."
We kinda thought that whatever controversy was swirling around KD heading into the season would die down once he started playing. But…we were wrong. Regardless of how well he does or doesn’t play, this is going to be a long season for KD as he tries to deal with everyone watching his each and every move.
