Nerds are nerds, no matter what they are into. While some folks get excited over classical music masters and others get geeked on sneaker collaborations, everyone has their own obsessions. Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant is a nerd for basketball and he proved it with an aside during a recent interview with The Athletic.
Durant makes everyone who comes over to his house watch Michael Jordan highlights, like an otaku for dunks.
“Everybody that comes to my house, whether it’s friends or family, I make them watch Jordan highlights. This is equivalent to [Albert] Einstein … fucking [Ludwig van] Beethoven … or [Barack] Obama," he said. "This is the greatest talent and athletes and minds of the world. Just because they play sports, people think one way. But they’re masters, they’re geniuses. I just started realizing that a few years ago: Watching those guys can really spark my creativity.”
Can't you just see Durant watching his friends' and family's faces for a reaction, like that one dude who made you watch Akira? Durant said he's in love with the artistry of players in motion on the court, noting that Jordan was the pinnacle.
“As players, we’re artists. How we express ourselves is on the basketball court," Durant said. "Every ballplayer speaks and tells you what they’ve been through through how they play on the basketball court. That’s the beauty of the game, what I’m in love with. I like basketball 100 percent. The other shit is aight.”
Durant also told Shams Charania how he managed to put his early-in-the-season beef with Draymond Green behind him. Durant said that those same friends and family gave him the tools to work through the tension with his teammate.
“People I lean on told me to stay center field with my thoughts and my feelings. I received so many people reaching out," Durant said. "My former coaches saying to stay centered, stay measured, stay pushing forward and keeping my foot on the gas. At that time, we were losing games, and people were banged up, so it’s easy to go the other way when you’re searching for answers. It was about staying positive and going to work."
