It takes a lot to be a successful athlete. Besides the God-given physical traits, hard work, discipline, and a strong mentality; there are always some intangibles that work in your favor. And Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant isnāt the exception to that rule.
Durant has a unique combination of size, length, and shooting. Heās his own prototype, a player the league had never seen before and the guy that seven-footers will try to emulate with their game from now on.
But besides his remarkable skill set and relentless work ethic, Durantās biggest ally is often his character. According to his own words, he actually plays even better when heās angry and has a chip on his shoulder.
NBA News: Kevin Durant Says He Plays Better When Heās Angry
āIāve always had that mentality where itās like Iām the skinniest guy so somebodyās gonna bully me or try to bully me. So I have to play with that chip or that edge,ā Durant said on his podcast.āI think we all wanna play with an edge. The anger kinda brings the best out of us. I feel like thatās how I play. I try to tell myself that Iām better when Iām more joyous or happy and smiling and thatās a cool part of me too but itās more fun when I play angry.ā
āā¦Cause Iām more focused and I wanna get the job done and I wanna do my best,ā Durant explained. āI always wanna do my best but itās just like Iām a little bit more focused, I really wanna complete the task. Nothing else matters, itās just me. Itās a lot of other games when Iām focused on the surroundings because of my teammates, my coaches, just trying to help somebody else, getting involved with the crowd. Nothing else matters, itās just silence, really just focused on whatās in front of me and trying to do it to the best of my ability. Itās taken me to a deeper place, darker place I guess.ā
Clearly, Kevin Durant is definitely not the guy you want to mess with when heās on the other side of the court. So if you ever get the chance to go against him, you better keep trash-talking to a minimum.
