Kevin Durant's podcasts with the Ringer's Bill Simmons are always a home run. In their latest interview—the fifth installment of this KD-and-Sports-Guy series—Durant called out the "blog boys" who take something from each conversation and make a headline out of it. So, on behalf of the Blog Boys of America™: Hi, Kevin. We appreciate the content.
Simmons excels in the interview setting, and KD is as forthcoming and transparent as any major modern athlete, so the stories practically write themselves. Durant discussed the notion that superstars are somehow not human—as if they're better than all the other people walking the earth. He was reminded of his humanity shortly after winning his first ring and the Finals MVP with Golden State this past June.
Durant was at the highest point of his career to date when he elected to eat some Taco Bell, like a normal person. "People tell us we're superstars, and we really aren't...after we won the championship, I had Taco Bell and it ran through me just like it would a normal person," Durant said. "I'm like, 'Oh shit. I thought I had a golden stomach. I thought I was immune to everything, but no.'"
Durant was being facetious, of course. He used the hilarious situation to make a larger philosophical point about celebrity and fans' idolization of athletes. "That's the perception of it all—we’re just immortal," Durant added. "We're normal fucking people who are really good at what we do. But at the end of the day, we go to sleep just like everybody else. We really put on our pants just like everybody else...it made me realize that I am not king anything because we won a championship."
The conversation goes in many different directions, including the Warriors' approach to this season, how Twitter has changed the NBA, K.D.'s involvement in Silicon Valley, the All-Star Game, the modern media culture (and why Durant resents many basketball writers), their picks for the All-NBA teams, and more. Listen to the full interview here.
