The Miami Heat may be the overwhelming favorites to win their second straight NBA title, but Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant plans to do all he can to stop that from happening. Durant and company came in second place in the NBA last season. They were one of a number of teams that fell victim to LeBron James taking his game to another level.

Second place may be acceptable for some, but Durant has grown tired of it.

“I’ve been second my whole life,” he told Sports Illustrated in an interview for the magazine’s April 29 edition. “I was the second-best player in high school. I was the second pick in the draft. I’ve been second in the MVP voting three times. I came in second in the Finals. I’m tired of being second. I’m not going to settle for that. I’m done with it.”

Don’t even think about telling Durant he is only 24 years old and has a ton of basketball left ahead of him. He doesn’t want to hear it. Finishing as the runner-up on so many occasions has clearly taken its toll (though he did not seem too concerned about the scoring title this season), but my guess is no second-place finish on the aforementioned list bothers him more than coming up short in the NBA Finals.

As for whether or not he goes easy on LeBron because of their friendship, that’s just absurd.

“I’m not taking it easy on [James],” Durant insisted. “Don’t you know I’m trying to destroy the guy every time I go on the court?”

Most of us would be shocked if Durant didn’t win an NBA championship during his career. It may not come this season, but he won’t fall short because of a lack of effort. You think it’s a coincidence that his grandmother had to send him this message regarding cussing during games? KD wants it, and he wants it right now.

H/T Eye on Basketball
Photo Credit: Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Earlier in their careers, it would probably be a bad thing if we told you that Kevin Durant had pulled a LeBron James. LeBron has been working to improve upon his public image over the past year or two and has been doing a tremendous job of it. On Saturday, Durant took a page out of LeBron’s book when he tackled a fan who drained a $20,000 half-court shot.

“I’ve seen the LeBron footage many times and I was watching the game that night when it all popped up,” the fan said after hitting the shot. “I was telling the guys in the back and I told my girlfriend, ‘Hey, I want Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant to tackle me.’ So as soon as I hit it I went to find my girlfriend, then I went to find Kevin Durant and we made eye contact and I was like, ‘Kevin, come at me!’ He came right at me and was totally game for it. It couldn’t have worked out any better.”

LeBron gets more props than Durant here since it was spontaneous and genuine when he tackled the fan, although Durant certainly looked happy for the young man. If we told you two years ago that LeBron would be starting a fantastic trend like this, you would have never believed us. I guess that’s one of the many things winning a championship does for a player.

Do you know what Kevin Durant does? He makes the impossible possible.

The Thunder forward made this unreal reverse layup during the first quarter of Oklahoma City’s game at the Denver Nuggets Friday. After getting past Wilson Chandler, Durant went up for the layup but realized JaVale McGee was waiting to greet him with a block. KD improvised by pulling down the ball, faking out McGee, and throwing in a sick reverse layup off the glass.

Simply sublime. That may have been Durant’s top play of the season, which is impressive considering he had this highlight in December.

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