Kevin Durant believes “pure hate” will likely keep him from winning the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award this season.
“You know they’re not gonna give me anything,” says Durant.
“I mean, it’s just pure hate for me obviously.” – KD on why he didn’t get more support for DPOY 🔥 #warriors pic.twitter.com/yABLAnF96t
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) September 25, 2018
Draymond Green considered his teammate—who fell short of making an All-Defensive team—a “leading candidate” for DPOY early on last season.
Per NBC Sports Bay Area (via 95.7 The Game):
“You know they’re not gonna give me anything,” Durant said Monday on 95.7 The Game. “Even if it’s on the fence, I have to be clear-cut better than everybody for me to even get a look.
“It’s just pure hate for me, obviously, and no appreciation for my real skill for the game. But I get it. I understand where we coming from. I understand what we have here in this building that scares everybody.
“But for me, I was just proud of the growth that I had in that area. I just wanted to be able to be relied on to guard anybody — whether it was helping guys at the rim, switching out onto point guards — so I just tried to do everything. I feel like I grew so much on the defensive side of the ball last year.
“I feel like my whole game is unlocked now, when I was able to see the things I can do on that side of the basketball. … I’m never gonna get a look when it comes to that, especially playing here for the Warriors.”
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