Throughout the NBA playoffs, we’ve seen a few constants: Dirk Nowitzki putting up points, the Thunder blowing leads, and reporters asking stupid questions at press conferences. One of those dumb questions came after Oklahoma City was eliminated from the playoffs Wednesday night. A reporter asked Kevin Durant, the franchise player for the Thunder, how he felt about seeing Dirk succeed at his expense. KD gave about as good of a response to the bad question as he possibly could have.
“I’m not happy at all. I’m a competitor,” Durant explained. “I really didn’t care about what he went through the last three or four years. I know it’s been tough for him, I’m sure he’s happy now he’s going back to the Finals, but I’m not happy for him at all because I wanted to be there. But [sometimes] it happens like that.”
Durant is as frustrated as an athlete can be. His team just got eliminated from the playoffs after coming close to reaching the Finals. Worse yet, they blew a late lead in Game 5, not to mention their collapse in Game 4. Even though he displayed proper sportsmanship after the game by shaking his opponents’ hands (unlike Russell Westbrook), he shouldn’t be expected to be happy for them. He’s a competitor, he wants to win, and he doesn’t want to lose. Just a bad, bad question by a reporter.
As for the rest of the press conference, Durant was the model citizen he’s proven himself to be.
He talked about improving his game to become a great player and great team. He talked about improving small things and paying attention to details in order to become a championship team. Lastly, Durant ended his season with optimism saying “It’s tough right now, but I’m excited about what the future holds for us.”
So are we Durant, so are we.
