The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Durant strives to emulate James’ mindset
As Finals matchup looms, new Warrior aims to lift his game.
Kevin Durant admires LeBron James from afar, marveling at how Cleveland’s main man finds ways to elevate his game at age 32.
Kobe Bryant was much the same with the Lakers.
Ten years into his NBA career, Durant strives to emulate those superstars. Soon he likely will go against James in the NBA Finals for a second time, this season in a matchup that has been talked about from the moment Durant departed Oklahoma City to join Golden State last July.
Durant, 28, understands it’s time to take his game to another level.
“It’s a mindset, when you don’t realize how old you are or how many years you’ve played or mileage or the moment,” Durant said. “You’ve just got to try to keep getting better. You have that mindset when you step on the court that you want to be the best player on the court. It may not happen every game ... but just having that mindset you never get satisfied with what you do.
“That’s the mindset ( James) has taken on, that’s the mindset Kobe did . ... On the basketball court, I want to be consistent and great every night.”
James and Durant have squared off 23 times, and James has an 18-5 edge, including 4-1 in the playoffs and 1-0 in battles for the championship. That came when James’ Miami Heat beat the Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals.
Now the basketball world is watching and waiting, even hoping for a rematch. It would be James’ seventh consecutive year in the Finals.
After swatting aside their opponents in the first and second rounds, the Cavaliers and Warriors stand 16-0 combined as they await their conference finals opponents. The teams have a chance to meet for the third straight season in the Finals; the Warriors won in 2015 and the Cavaliers won last season.
The series would feature two of the league’s best players in James and Durant and a marquee All-Star cast that includes two-time MVP Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Kevin Love.
It’s a showdown made in hoops heaven, but Durant downplays a matchup with James as anything worthy of stealing the spotlight from others.
“If we do end up making it to the Finals and Cleveland makes it to the Finals, it’s never going to be me versus LeBron,” Durant said. “It’s going to be team versus team. It’s not an individual sport. We’re not playing 1-on-1 out there, as much as people want us to.”
Durant and James were on the U.S. Olympic team that won gold in 2012, and they have become close friends and workout companions.
They spent two summers pushing each other during training sessions in James’ hometown of Akron, Ohio.
Durant approached James for advice on dealing with fans’ venom when he returned to Oklahoma City, because James faced the same when he left Cleveland for Miami in 2010.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue is impressed with how Durant has blended in.
“When Steph and Klay have a bad game — which is not very often — then you can give the ball to Durant and he can go get his own basket and his own shot,” Lue said. “So you have that third player who is definitely one of the top three players in this league that can go get his own shot at any time, and that’s what makes them more dangerous.”