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 isn't the exception to that rule.
Durant has a unique combination of size, length, and shooting. He's 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, Durant's biggest ally is often his character. According to his own words, he actually plays even better when he's angry and has a chip on his shoulder.
NBA News: Kevin Durant Says He Plays Better When He's Angry
"I've always had that mentality where it's like I'm the skinniest guy so somebody's gonna bully me or try to bully me. So I have to play with that chip or that edge," Durant said on his podcast. "I think we all wanna play with an edge. The anger kinda brings the best out of us. I feel like that's how I play. I try to tell myself that I'm better when I'm more joyous or happy and smiling and that's a cool part of me too but it's more fun when I play angry."
"...Cause I'm more focused and I wanna get the job done and I wanna do my best," Durant explained. "I always wanna do my best but it's just like I'm a little bit more focused, I really wanna complete the task. Nothing else matters, it's just me. It's a lot of other games when I'm focused on the surroundings because of my teammates, my coaches, just trying to help somebody else, getting involved with the crowd. Nothing else matters, it's just silence, really just focused on what's in front of me and trying to do it to the best of my ability. It's taken me to a deeper place, darker place I guess."
Clearly, Kevin Durant is definitely not the guy you want to mess with when he's 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.
