Kevin Durant: ‘I Think I’m Established Now. My Time is Now’

Kevin Durant had quite the year—he led the NBA in scoring, made an NBA Finals appearance, won Olympic gold, etc. All of which, you’d think, would have some people saying it’s finally KD’s time to step up and win a couple chips, but from the sounds of it, people are still hitting the forward with the “You’re the future” speech…and Durant isn’t having it. Per the Washington Post: “Back home in Washington for a brief reprieve to promote and premiere for family and friends his feature film debut, ‘Thunderstruck,’ Durant also wanted to let it be known that while he won’t turn 24 until late September, the Oklahoma City all-star forward considers himself too much of an essential element of the NBA’s present to be clumped into discussions about its future. ‘I’ve heard a few times, in three or four years, this league is going to be yours. . . . I don’t like that. Because I think I’m established now. My time is now,’ Durant said. ‘I feel as though I’ve proved myself these last five years that I can be one of the top players in the league. I’ve got a long way to go to being the ultimate best, but I think my time is now. And I’m starting to enter my prime.’ Durant explained that he felt he belonged in the discussion of the league’s best since playing in the 2011 All-Star Game in Los Angeles but has mostly kept that sentiment bottled up, because, ‘I don’t like to talk about myself, but I had to get that out there.’ He probably felt a bit more comfortable after a dominant run this summer for the U.S. Men’s National Team, capped off by his 30-point outburst in the closely contested gold medal victory against Spain. Durant led the team — which featured nine all-stars, including two Finals MVPs and regular season MVPs in Kobe Bryantand LeBron James — in scoring at 19.5 points and set a new American men’s record for most points scored in an Olympic tournament with 156.”