Kevin Durant Dismisses Talk of a Tarnished Legacy

Kevin Durant is a 27-year-old multi-millionaire, one of the best basketball players in the universe, and has found the working environment that makes him happiest as he enters the prime of his Hall of Fame career.

The last thing he’s worried about is those who question his legacy.

Durant says what he’s done on the court—and more importantly, what he’ll do once in a Golden State Warriors uniform—speaks for itself.

Per Yahoo:

“I just felt that this is where I should’ve been, where I should be, and I made the decision. And I’ll live with it. Because obviously, by making this decision, like Charles Barkley said, my legacy has dipped, I guess,” Durant said after Wednesday’s U.S. Men’s Olympic team practice, with a hint of snark. “I don’t even know what ‘your legacy’ means. I look at legacy and I associate that with family.

 

“As a basketball player, what I’ve done, when I’m done playing, look at what I did. And ask yourself how you feel about it. The numbers are going to be there. Everything I’ve done, you’re going to see it. No matter if I play well or fall off, it’s your decision to tell me what my legacy is to you. That’s how it is now. Individually, what do you think Michael Jordan’s legacy is about, LeBron James’ legacy is about? That’s an individual, personal thing. I can’t control that.”

 

From the time he entered the NBA as the No. 2 pick in 2007, Durant has taken the steady climb from trying to stick in the league, to establishing himself as one of the best players in the game, but his individual successes – the four scoring titles, the MVP award – have always been met with slippage the closer he came to the ultimate team prize. […] “As time goes on, you taste winning a little bit, it becomes infectious and you want to feel it all the time, especially now,” Durant said. “As you get older and older, that’s all you really want to do. I know what I am as a basketball player. I know what I bring. I know how I am and what type of a teammate I am. That stuff is a given to me. I just want to be part of helping a team. I want to be a part of being a great teammate and leaving a long-lasting impact on my teammates for the rest of our lives. That’s my whole goal.”