NBA Q&A: Kevin Durant

Courtesy of Anthony Slater

SI ranked you recently as the second best player in the NBA. Did they get it right?

That’s not my concern, to be honest. I know where I am as a player and I respect their opinion and being the No. 2 player in the world to some people is cool. I appreciate that, but you know, all I got to do is worry about getting better every day.

Where are you as a player?

Not where I want to be. I can tell you that. I got a long ways to go.

You’re known for having a lot of tattoos, but business tattoos on the torso and the back, but none on the arms. What’s up with that?

Nothing. I’m eventually going to get some on my arms. Having tattoos on your arms, does that make you a worse person? I don’t know, I guess. There’s nothing against getting them on my arms, I eventually will. But I guess it’s hardest to get them on your torso and back, they hurt the most, so I had to get them out the way.

Dwight Howard is now in Houston, Doc (Rivers) with the Clippers. When you look at the West, who you got your eye on?

I don’t really care about anybody else, I’m concerned about who we play that day. That’s all I look at. I’m just trying to get better with my team. If I focus on anybody else, it’s taking the focus off my team and how we can get better. We need as much time as we can to grow as a unit. All those other teams are really good, but I don’t care about them until we play them.

We saw a video of you on Instagram playing Dikembe Mutumbo on some little kids. What kind of satisfaction do you get out of swatting those little kid’s shots?

They got more out of it than I did. They really enjoyed it from what it looked like. When I was doing it, they were smiling, their parents enjoyed it, so they got a kick out of it. It was funny, once I posted it, I didn’t know how hard I was blocking the shots until I saw the video. The little kids enjoyed it, so that’s all that really matters.

Did you at least let some of them get a shot up or did you block them all?

No, I blocked them all (laughs). It made me feel better as a defender. I got some confidence off it.

You picked up more technicals than ever before last year. What was going on?

Nothing. I was just getting upset a little more at stuff. But there’s nothing different for me, I’m sure I’m going to get more techs, maybe not as many as last year, but I’m sure I’m going to get some techs this year at some point. That doesn’t define who I am as a person. I’m just a feisty basketball player who enjoys competing at the highest level. Sometimes thing don’t go your way and I reacted more than I should have. I apologize to anyone who I offended by my techs, but I’m sure I’ll get a few more.

If you were to pick a starting five lineup of all-time NBA greats, who would they be?

My point guard would be Magic, my two would be Michael Jordan, my three would be Larry Bird, four would probably be Hakeem Olajuwon and my five would be Shaq. We got a big team right there.

Who would you assume would be the MVP of that team?

MJ, of course. Best player to ever touch the floor.

This week we heard the NBA is considering letting the Heat and Nets have nicknames on the back of their jerseys. How would you feel about Durantula on the back of your jersey?

I like the idea of bringing nicknames, I think that would be pretty cool to see what other players come up with. But I wouldn’t put Durantula on the back of mine, that’s not my nickname. I’d put KD before I’d put Durantula on the back of mine. But that would be pretty cool to see what guys would come up with.

You’re a huge Redskins fan. RGIII isn’t playing as well as he did last year. As a fan, do you want to see Kirk Cousins get an opportunity to start?

I’m rolling with our starting quarterback. He’s one of the top ten quarterbacks in the league, in my opinion. We just struggling a little bit as a team. It’s not all on him. He doesn’t control the defense, he doesn’t control the guys catching the ball. We all need to be better, of course he needs to be better, that’s how he feels, so you can only root for a guy like him. He takes all the blame sometimes, so I’m going to roll with him. I’m not going to criticize him. It’s not my job to do that. I’m a fan. But Kirk Cousins is probably one of the best backups in the league and if he gets a chance, I’m going to support him, as well. We’ll see what happens.

You were the honorary captain at a Texas earlier this year, obviously have ties to the school. How would you feel about Nick Saban taking over that program?

I love Mack Brown and I love everything about Texas football. That’s not my decision at all. Nick Saban, of course does phenomenal things down in Alabama. But I love Coach Brown and all the things he brings to the table and I’m going to support Texas sports to the end. So we’ll see what happens. I’m sure Nick Saban enjoys where he is in Alabama. I haven’t heard anything about that and I’m going to be a Texas fan no matter who is there.

You had a birthday party this weekend, with a bunch of rappers there: Fabolous, Wale, Drake, Jay-Z. Since you’re close to all these rappers and others, who’s the best rapper in the game now?

I don’t know. Man, I enjoy all those guys. I can’t really say who is the best. Jay-Z is the greatest of all-time, so you can’t put them in the same category as the Drakes, the Wales, the Fabolouses, the Kendrick Lamars and those guys. But everyone had a great album this summer. Wale’s album was great, Drake’s album just dropped the other day and it was great. Kendrick Lamar had a great album. I just like good music, I don’t really rate guys or anything like that. I enjoy the competition of music and I enjoy listening to it. It helps me so much as a basketball player, getting ready for games and everything.