Kevin Durant disputes the narrative that this year’s NBA champion will lack respect.
Durant made an appearance on Joe Budden’s podcast on Monday. He was asked whether this year’s NBA champion would be respected in the same way as the champions of a standard season.
“Yeah, of course. You still have to play against these dudes,” Durant said.
Durant added that you can’t hold it against the players for winning amid the circumstances.
The Brooklyn Nets forward went a step further, saying he thinks this year’s champions will be even more respected.
“I think it will be respected for sure. Probably more respected. It’s tough for the boys in there. They’ve been away from everybody for that long. To be the last one standing? That’s going to be tough,” Durant said.
There are reasons to view this year’s champion differently from other seasons. This season had a four-month interruption; the regular season was cut short; not all the teams were involved in the restart; there is no homecourt advantage; there are no fans; and there is no travel. All these factors might mean we will get a pure champion that won in a neutral environment. The champion will have had to endure a few months of living in the NBA’s bubble environment. Achieving success in this environment is not easy, as one star showed us.
So even though a prominent NBA analyst felt this year’s champion deserves an asterisk, Durant is arguing otherwise.
