By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
In an era where there’s an international influx of talent in the NBA, Kevin Durant argues that while there’s critisism to the way US players are groomed, the players coming from overseas are equally influenced by the American game.
According to Durant, the criticism is not valid, and that should be a debate.
“Our game is global”, said KD. “We play basketball all around the world. The goal is to push the game around the world. And it’s gotten there and it’s still expanding in certain countries. So it’s about time. They’ve been coming into the league since the 80s. It’s just natural evolution that guys from around the world are going to assume those positions as the best players in the league. The real argument should be who are they influenced by”.
Durant explains his point: “They are influenced by Americans. It’s cool that they win MVPs and stuff, but who did you watch? Jokic, and Porzingis and Shai… All these dudes with Iverson jerseys and braids in their hairs, crossing over… They try to play like us too and they accomplished it by executing it in their own way”.
For Durant, Canadien champion and MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the prime example of that influence: “And then you look at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Is he an international player? But most of his pipeline into being an NBA player came from the American system. Where did he go to college? Where did he play high school? So it’s a lot of factors into why these guys are where they are, and mainly it’s because of the hard work that they put in. But all this stuff is imitation. Who do you look up and try to imitate on the court? That’s how everybody gets better. Who did they imitate? The Dream Team, American players. So they just learn from us, like I also learned from American players. My generation learned from the guys before me. That’s the natural evolution”.
The counter argument might be that right now international NBA stars are influencing more the next generation of players, but for Durant this is also part of an evolution that started from the US: “Where did Luka Doncic get his move from? And in the end of the day, it doesn’t matter… I love guys want to be like Luka Doncic and Michael Jordan… We need more inspiration from different countries and different backgrounds. Why not? I love seeing Luka from a different country crossing up like we do and he is also bringing a piece of American basketball culture to his country and I love that too”.
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