KD did a fantastic interview with Nick Friedell, recommend reading the whole thing:
>**Make it so that there’s more intensity during regular-season games — or feel free to disagree with me if you don’t think that’s an issue?**
>I don’t think there’s an issue at all. I think the game is in a good place. I think people have learned how to consume things a little different. They might not appreciate a basketball game as much as they used to back in the days. The more something’s around, the more people take it for granted. We’re a huge, huge corporation. We move a lot of things on this earth, as NBA players, as a league, so at this point people are just nit-pickin’ cause the numbers show the popularity, all of these ratings, analytics how popular the NBA is because people are intrigued and watching all aspects of the NBA — regular season, summer league, free agency, trade deadlines, draft. They’re all, it seems like from the chatter and popularity of the league, that everybody loves us, so I don’t see where a problem is.
>**Do you think there is a perception issue in those regular-season games that don’t get the extra spotlight, that the average fan wonders just how hard somebody is playing in an average regular-season game?**
>Fans have become more entitled than anything. So they’re starting to question our motives for the game, or how we approach the game. The ones that do question — like who are you? Just shut up and watch the game tonight. We go as hard as we want to go. We go as hard as our bodies allow us to go at this point.
>They only see us when the games come on, but the travel, the practices, the shootarounds — we’re constantly moving around. So every game’s not going to be a high-intensity playoff game. It’s going to be times where as a fan you’re going to have to watch and see, “Oh, these guys traveled. This is the last game of a road trip. They may have to dig a little deeper to win this game. It might be a little sloppy tonight. We can appreciate that about the NBA because there’s so many games and these guys go through a lot of moving around throughout the season.” So if fans just stop taking us for granted, for one. Stop putting too much pressure on each athlete to live up to their standards. But then everybody appreciate what we bring to the table. … (Laughs) It’s seven, eight games on a night. Every day. You rarely get a day off as a fan from the NBA, so learn to appreciate the grind that we go through and stop just looking at the money and expecting us to just perform for you and perform from the standards — those high expectations that you put on each one of us as individuals. And then the dialogue around the game wouldn’t be, wouldn’t be so — what’s the word I’m looking for?
>**Tense?**
>Yeah, tense. Diluted. It’s narrative-driven. It’s agenda-based. Biased. I just think a lot of stuff — because we consume everything at all times, we’re starting to take a lot of stuff for granted. The NBA is one of them.
[Source](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35386776/kevin-durant-opens-trade-request-tanking-fans-free-agency)
by urfaselol
30 Comments
He’s 10000% right
The part about travel is very true, that shit wears on you physically and mentally. You can tell when a team has tired legs on an away b2b or a long road trip.
‘Playoff intensity’ is a lot easier to have when you have one game every other day consistently in the postseason.
Our sub right now is full of folks absolutely decimating the character of people in the Rockets organization because we have been shitty for like a couple years
It’s nothing but hot takes and nonstop bitching. Be it Reddit, Twitter, any other online space. People have completely forgotten they’re watching humans, that have families and other interests and private lives and thoughts and feelings.
Complete fucking detachment. Some dude just bitched me out for “pearl clutching” because I thought comparing Silas’s job so far to “burning down your house” was an overreaction, and even then I put that criticism as politely as I could
Fuck me, what has happened to people? It’s a fucking game. Like it’s a game. A team sport. Bright uniforms and dancers and disco lights. Why did it all become about legacy and being literal perfect embodiments of business, culture and intelligence?
Some may think it’s silly, but small (in the context of greater humanity) things like this I think are also result of inequality mixed with social media.
Bunch of people are without and no one seems to listen, well *this* person has money and they may listen. And then people begin to “eat their own” (i.e. fans getting after players, in this case), because its one of the few outlets they have.
Not the whole pie of the issue, just a piece.
What does he expect? Sadly everyone has social media to post their garbage opinion at any time. Fans were entitled in the 80s and 90s too, they couldn’t post their opinions for everyone to see
I agree with KD, it’s time we all cut the Clippers some slack for last night.
I know it’s always been like this but I feel like it’s gotten worse since the pandemic. Stan behavior is at all all time high and people end up being really weird online/irl with athletes, artists, anyone with any online presence it feels like
I don’t take anything this guy says seriously. He joined a fucking 73-9 team that he had just blew a 3-1 lead too.
He acts like he’s above all the silliness of sports media but he’s just as big a goofball as any of the goofball fans and talking heads. And there’s nothing wrong with that, just stop being so sensitive and stop pretending you’re so much better than that
Most of y’all smelly losers will act like this is facts but continue to slander a player’s mental state the very next post 🙄
Uncommon KD L. The players’ entitlement is also at an all time high.
Players aren’t getting paid hundreds of millions of dollars for their skill alone. It’s because that skill is expected to translate into more eyes on the tv, butts in the seats, fans buying merch etc. When fans purchase tickets they’re allowed to be pissed off if players are clearly not giving a fuck on court or missing time to load manage.
These poor little millionaire athletes.
Fans used to be able to expect players to show up and do their jobs. Now they get to guess whether a player’s fee-fees are good enough to show up to work.
This coming from the mental midget who has burner accounts on twitter talking about himself. Pathetic.
KD is spot on. He’s trying to speak to the human element. These aren’t just “players paid to play”.
Coming from the guy that played with a part time player for a year
Yah, but you get paid millions, and the fans are complaining for *free*.
The narrative of “they just didn’t want it enough” is something that always was weird to me. Like how do you judge that. Everyone wants to win, it’s a lot other factors other than they didn’t try hard enough
That last line was really on point. People just get comfortable and then they forget reality.
And this is why 1 football games gets several times the viewership of basketball.
KD can feel this way sure but not every player in the league is even close to as dedicated to the game as him. Stuff like players forcing their way out of teams or taking every other game off for rest is a lot more common today than a couple decades ago.
Love this energy from a guy whose homeboy Kyrie speaks on shit he has no business chiming in on to a higher degree than Bill in the third row at the Barclays centre.
I’m not sure that’s entitlement on KD’s part but definitely a hint of delusion.
Yes, the infamous **shut up and watch the game tonight**
telling fans to shut up and calling them entitled. really makes me want to go to a game ROFL
“In total, the three NFL Christmas Day broadcasts averaged 22.9 million viewers, an increase of 14.5% from last year’s doubleheader. The NBA’s five-game Christmas Day broadcasts on ABC and ESPN averaged 4.27 million viewers, a 5% bump from last year.”
NBA is a distant second to the NFL.
Players are also more entitled than ever, Kevin
What’s KD on lately? People that watch sports are gonna get invested like what the fuck?????
He had a great answer outside of telling people to just shut up and watch.
Ahh yes I have to shut up and watch the game, while these morons line up to give us the worst collective takes on every social issue.
I shut up and watch the game, Lebron you tweet about deshawn Watson, Kyrie and JB grab the mic.
It really is crazy how the pendulum has swung with NBA players and there takes.
Hey Kevin have you seen the price of a ticket in 2023? Fans aren’t entitled they are just paying your $40 million salary and providing input.
I saw you play in Portland last month, I paid a lot and drove 7 hours from Canada and spent a weekend. If you didn’t play that night due to rest I would have every right to be cheesed.
KD maybe the most miserable multimillionaire in the world
As someone who has owned and worked for small businesses, customers asking questions about your motive is just life. KD is coming off like a snowflake here.
“Shut up and watch us dribble”