Kevin Durant Q&A Part I
Kevin Durant was on the circuit Tuesday in New York City to unveil and promote NBA ELITE 11, on which he is the cover athlete. I caught up with Durant in the middle of his day, and in part one of our conversation talked about the new cover, his trip to China and his and his off-season workouts. In part two of the Q&A, which I’ll post soon, I also got his thoughts on the draft, this summer’s contract extension, his thoughts on last year’s accomplishments and his outlook on next season. Enjoy.
Q: How does it feel to be a cover boy again?
A: It feels good, man. It never gets old, I’d say. It’s a real blessing. As a kid that’s something you really dreamed of. To have an opportunity to be on the cover is something that you can’t take for granted so I’m very happy about it.
Q: Which cover do you like more, the NCAA March Madness 08 or this new NBA ELITE 11?
A: I like this one better because it’s new. It has a new name and it’s a new game so I’m excited about that.
Q: What are your thoughts about going head-to-head with Michael Jordan who is on the cover of NBA 2K11?
A: I really haven’t thought about it. Of course M.J. is who he is and you really can’t compare me to him in any aspect of anything. It is what it is. I’m just very happy to be on the cover of a videogame. I’m not worried about 2K and what cover M.J. is on. I just got to worry about what I did over here.
Q: You always talk about trying to represent Oklahoma City and put the city on the map and more specifically the Thunder franchise. Do you view this as another step in that direction?
A: Oh yeah, because I’m going to have ‘Thunder’ on my chest when the game hits stores. It’s a lot of people who still don’t know who the Thunder are. And hopefully this makes them aware of who we are. I just try to do my best to represent my family, the name on the back of the jersey which is where I came from, and also the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Q: What was your favorite game as a kid?
A: NBA Live was. That’s the only one I played. That and NBA Jam.
Q: Have you played the new NBA Jam?
A: Yeah. I just played it. It’s the same. It’s exactly the same as the old one but a little bit better.
Q: Talk about your trip to China. That looked like a pretty exciting trip.
A: Yeah, man, that was a great experience. Not too many people can say they’ve gone to China and do the things that I’ve seen over there like the Great Wall. I went to the panda park and got to see something different. I went to the Forbidden City. It’s just so much history over there. It’s a great tradition over there. It’s something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I had to take pictures and things like that because you never know when I’ll get the opportunity to go over there again.
Q: You weren’t at all nervous by the pandas?
A: Nah. To be honest with you, they do everything like humans. They move, they eat like humans. It was cool.
Q: Is it true you got dunked on over there?
A: Nah, man. I was in the vicinity, I ain’t gon lie. I was under the basket and he dunked it. He surprised me. I was going to jump but…
Q: Was it one of those times when you were laying back and he was going hard but you didn’t know he had it in him?
A: Yeah, it was one of those things. But the footage will show that I didn’t jump. So I didn’t get dunked on.
Q: Talk a little about your off-season workouts. What have you been focusing on.
A: I’ve been focusing on everything, mainly my mid-range game and my back-to-the-basket game. And my isolation game, I’ve been working on that and my ball-handling as well. So these past couple of weeks have been big for me. I finally got a day off (Tuesday). I had been going for eight days straight. I go back (Wednesday) and start working out. It’s been good. Right after the season I got going and started getting back into the swing of things.
Q: Are you going that hard with your workout schedule from now until the season?
A: Yeah. I’m going to always at least try to go in the gym. I work on the things I think I need to try to get better at and I go hard. It’s not about going long like people think. I don’t go three hours and then I’m done. I go about an hour and a half straight of hard work and get a good sweat in and get better. That’s all I need to work. I might go twice a day and get some shots up after that. But I go in and work as hard as I can for an hour and a half and have the rest of the day to myself.
-DM-
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Comments
It’s pleasant to see an athlete who is as well spoken as Mr. Durant. Many of them in various disciplines seem barely able to put one word behind another in a clear, coherent way. In addition, Oklahoma City may not seem like a very fun place to be from for those who are accustomed to bigger cities, but I know from personal experience that it is a wonderful city with much to recommend it, not least the countryside surrounding it. It’s also refreshing to hear of a basketball player with such a commendable attitude of humility. I trust that Mr. Durant will enjoy a long and prestigious career as a basketball player, and I hope that others will take him as an example.
Donald from Sage Tea Side Effects
i love how he always represents the Thunder and OKC so well.. and how he takes pride in being a member of this organization and wants to promote us..