NBA TODAY | “He’s a leader” – Austin Rivers claims KeVin Durant can lead the Suns to the NBA title

NBA TODAY | “He’s a leader” – Austin Rivers claims KeVin Durant can lead the Suns to the NBA title

Kevin Durant he’s a star that might need a little bit more love Kevin Durant is averaging 28 points per game in year 15 and the big three in Phoenix are finally clicking but take a listen to this conversation with his manager rich kimman on the boardroom where he shares

His thoughts on his ability to lead I don’t feel like I need to I don’t feel like I want people to call me a leader but I also don’t want people to say I’m not one either and they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes or

What I talk about or my intentions when guys like that say that I just got to chalk it up to them just not being aware of what goes on instead of like wanting to push a narrative for myself maybe not narrative or tell the truth on myself I

Don’t feel like it’s necessary I’ll just chalk it up to those guys not being aware of who I am how do you not know who he is now everyone has different styles of leadership no Superstars really operate the same way so the question is can KD lead this Phoenix Sun team to a

Championship off I think it’s very possible and you know to your point CH there are different types of leading you could be a Draymond who’s very vocal or you could be a Steph who kind of goes by example you could be a Qui Leonard who

Doesn’t talk a lot but had a huge impact in running that Raptor team to a championship that year uh was that 2018 or something like that so there are different types and styles of leadership to sit here and say that Kevin Durant has never been a leader to a team would

Just be a slap in the face and a disservice just considering the type of player he is you don’t do what you do you don’t do what he does on a basketball court and not have a say on what goes on in the locker room or in

Huddles or in the final final moments of a game uh leadership comes like we said in many forms and I have seen this guy night in and Night Out year in and year out perform for his team and Lead his team uh we talk about him going to the

Finals him winning championships a lot of it with Kevin Durant I think a lot of people hate on him or don’t view him as a leader just because of that move to the Warriors but people understand only thing he did with that Warriors Dynasty

Is just make it yeah he was a two times Finals MVP with the Warriors he was an MVP before that and that team became unbeatable when he went there I’m not saying the Warriors wouldn’t have won again but they let’s be honest here it is what it is and that comes from play

And Leadership man I mean that’s why him and Draymond had times where they got into it because vocally they both would voice their their concerns or frustrations within the Huddle that starts from him being a leader per he definitely has leadership qualities I mean perk you can speak on you play with

Him what what uh well well well here we are again didn’t you and I have this conversation about two three weeks ago when I specifically told you just because you’re the best player on the team doesn’t make you the leader yeah that’s when you said hold hold on hold on hold on talk

About I said okay just ke Kevin Durant I played four years with him I know Katie you could assume and see what you want to watch he leaves by example right he’s going to go out there and perform he’s going to show up and be a gy rat I’ve

Never seen a team a championship team that has won a championship without having a vocal leader in the locker room and you need that and right now I can’t point at the Phoenix Suns and say who is their vocal leader and sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort

Zone you know what was one of the best moments at this past Allstar Weekend I’mma tell you because it wasn’t too many of them I tell you that much but the one of the best moments was actually when Damen Lillard was sitting up there and Shaq gave him advice where he was

Basically telling them up your leadership hold guys accountable that’s how you’re going to get to the top hold yourself accountable he was basically calling Dame out and telling him to be more vocal and you could see Zam soaking it all in and accepting it so if the

Phoenix Sons are trying to take that leap and Kevin Durant is the only player on there with the real Championship experience cuz he finished the mission he’s the oldest guy on that team in my opinion for as vet wise he has to take that leap and get outside of his comfort

Zone and become more of a vocal leader if he hasn’t already well Wendy I know you’ve seen Phoenix play in in person a lot go ahead Wendy perk I I respect what you’re saying so much about vocal leader you are a champion you’ve been on multiple teams that have been Championship

Contenders I respect what you’re saying but the fastest way to upset me is people who disr Kevin Durant this guy’s career has been absolutely spectacular he has earned everything he doesn’t need for anything I don’t care what anybody says the 2017 Warriors do not win without him I don’t care what anybody

Says that was arguably the best C that was the best team that that maybe LeBron was ever on they got whipped and I’m not even talking directly at you perk I’m just saying in general the only flaw that I’ve ever seen in in Durant’s game

And by the way you want to see a leader how about if you ever have a Jones fracture in your foot or you ever have a torn Achilles tendon there’s a leader Kevin Durant he came back from those injuries like nothing those are devastating injuries came right back

From them the only thing that’s ever been an issue with Kevin Durant is he’s too worried about what other people think and the fact that he’s talking about worrying about people think of him as a leader is another verification of that everything else he is almost

Peerless and his hard work pays off and if you want to say that the sons can’t win because they don’t have some who can rally you the locker room you may be right on that but I I nobody has anything to say anything to me about Kevin Durant quick final word here perk

Are y are y’all picking them are y’all pick picking but I’m act like they don’t have enough fire but I’m not but I’m not disrespecting Kevin Durant even with even with the Denver Nuggets they had Jeff Green and Carwell pop as they vocal leader season Giannis and the Bucks were

The favorites to win the championship after their blockbuster trade for eight time all Allstar Damen Lillard now fast forward to today giannis’s squad has more questions than answers aralica Andrew sat down with Milwaukee’s two-time MVP to get his thoughts on getting back to the mountain top take a

Listen how would you assess the Season they made a decision to make the change this is a Milwaukee team trying to maximize this Championship window A+ great great season no wait let me let me stop joking I like the jokes I think the season is he been up ups and down yeah for sure a lot of

Changes right Doc Rivers the new man in charge in Milwaukee it’s pretty good we just have to figure it out we get have to keep on getting better L to Yannis who thums it down on the Alley Dame feeds The Greek Freak I said this in the

Beginning of the year it’s not going to be easy and it’s okay like I don’t expect us to ride off the about to be the best te in the NBA well I read a quote from our mutual buddy Eric name the other day when you’re galvanizing the group like that saying

Enough with the excuses enough with saying our own don’t stink what’s the message you’re trying to send your team in with to marinate on over the allar Drake and for yourself too no no no no I’m not trying to send any message to my team and if I was trying to send a

Message to my team and I text them directly it’s me talking to myself also I look myself in the mirror and I say do you really want it do you have it in you do you want it and I look every freaking day and I say yes I do want it we have

To we have to want it bad man we got to want it like our life is dependent on it the Milwaukee Bucks are NBA champions once again after the 2021 finals you and I sat down and you said to me if I never win another one I’ll be happy because I

Did it this one and I did it the right way but now now that you’ve had a little bit of distance do you still feel that way you know the crazy thing I um one of my mentors that I talk with he said this he said like you think that there’s not

Going to be pressure now like what do you mean there’s no pressure I want a championship like I’m good that’s all I had to do what if I told you there was more pressure like now I have to my body my mind everything about me is like no I

Want that feeling again like I want to do it again people expect me to do it I expect this from me you you know and your mind just figure out ways to kind of set another goal and another goal and another goal you know and that’s what we

Do that’s why we are great in our profession would I be happy yeah I would have been happy without winning Championship ever but uh but will I be happy to win U another one for Milwaukee damn it yeah what be able to win two the right way

Man yeah but it takes work it’s not easy and then enough with the t i I want to I want to work I want to sorry for this I love the interviews with you but I want to finish this interview finish this weekend and get to work I want to work

You know that’s all I’m thinking about I need to get better Giannis continues to dominate even in what many would consider a down year for the bucks he is on Pace to become the first player in NBA history to average 30 points per game and make 60% of their shots but that individual

Success hasn’t stopped the two-time MVP from being quite outspoken on the state of their team so Brian you read the tea leaves better than anyone listening to Giannis do you think he sounds like someone who wants to stay for the long term or someone that could go sooner than we

Think I think he wants to be a buck and he wants the Bucks to be in position to win championships year after year that said I think in the reality of the modern NBA is that you earn it with your stars year to year and a star contract

Status no longer means that he is safe in an organization and that’s not to imply anything there with Giannis the Bucks understand that as well as anybody even though he signed a big contract extension before the season that really only protected the Bucks to get a huge

Return in the event that he does ask for a trade the reason the Bucks have been so proactive when it was trading for Dame Lillard whether it was firing Adrien Griffin whether it was anything else that they’ve done over the last 12 months is because that they know they

Have no margin for air when it comes to Giannis as any team with a meast star doesn’t have in this day and age so if it’s year to year that means that the pressure is still clearly on despite winning it all what just three seasons

Ago so perk is there a time limit here for the bucks to figure things out you know what CH is hard to say for as the timeline because yes they do have Giannis and they do have Damien lill but who’s that third guy on their team is

Chris milon and it’s so much uncertainty when we talk about Chris midon especially when it comes to his health we haven’t mentioned his name one time this year we’re talking about a guy that when they won the NBA Championship we were arguing debating of who was actually the Batman and the Robin on

That team because that’s how special of a talent he is but he looks old right now he doesn’t look healthy and I’m going tell you this no matter how great Giannis and Dame could be in the postseason they’re not going to win anything without money making midon now

If he comes back in the next couple weeks or whenever and he start looking like the Chris milleron of old and all of a sudden doc get him informated into this this offense then the Bucks are going to be extremely dangerous and yes I do trust do to figure it out but right

Now I don’t have a timeline because it’s so much uncertainty when it comes to money making militant well they do have a tough road ahead because the Bucks they limped into the All-Star break and have dropped seven of their last 10 games if you look at the numbers and

They opened the second half of the season with four Road games and five outings that is a tough stretch ahead but let’s dive in deeper for more some you know some more good news because they need some Bucks fans they have some improvements I guess in transition defense they have some improvements in

You know getting quick offense but Austin what do you see well listen right now they’re having issues on both sides of the ball and a lot of that has to do with fluidity on the offensive end and on defense a lot of its communication and perimeter defense but we got some

Clips here where we’ve seen them do things the right way right here we have all guys back look all five underneath the three-point line verticality by conington no they don’t get the offensive rebound but this scrap by Jak Crowder they brought in Pat Beverly for more of that this is how they’re going

To do it they’re going to have to outs scrap teams better transition defense right there and how about offense though spacing spacing and more spacing I love a pick and roll with Giannis and Dame they need to utilize that more that’s a tough shot so I understand that but Hey

Listen that’s what you got these guys like this for again spacing Giannis and D we need to feature them more here you got Middleton over there we’re going to have Brook Lopez spacing instead of Rob look at this pass right here there Austin o Behind the B listen it’s

Nothing nothing nothing too advanced this is a simple offense a little pick and roll they’re great sometimes you just not let great be great you don’t need to do anything too crazy so you know it’s these little things like that that can help them and you know I I love

The numbers Let Me Talk Nerdy To You the Bucks have to figure things out quickly down the stretch because Milwaukee has the third toughest remaining schedule in the NBA now remember the Bucks still have two meetings against the Celtics who own the best record in the NBA so yeah the task Spee Spee Don’t spee an enemy has been defeated an ally has been Defeated fore Foreign Speech foree spee fore speech spee foreign Foreign viory my De Blood lated an enemy What what An ally has been Defeated hello Spee speee Fore speech Foreign for Fore Foree foreign foreign spe spee Foree foree speech foree To Fore my fore wa wait wait wait wait wait wait wait for spee for speech foreign speech for Spee Ohe fore Foree foree Speee

NBA TODAY | “He’s a leader” – Austin Rivers claims KeVin Durant can lead the Suns to the NBA title