NBA: Durant etches against media because of LeBron: “Too many fanboys”

Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors has spoken to the Los Angeles Lakers and put forward theses as to why no second star came in the summer to play with LeBron James. According to the final-MVP, it was mainly the media who were to blame.

“The hype surrounding LeBron is so huge, especially in the media,” Durant told Ric Bucher of the Bleacher Report. “There are just so many fanboys in the media, even the beatwriters are bumping into each other. Actually, we play basketball, but often it’s not about that anymore.”

For Durant it is therefore only understandable why the Lakers in this Free Agency could not land another big fish. Among other things Paul George decided against the Lakers and instead signed a long-term contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“The whole environment is just poisonous. All this attention given to the team is often just bullshit.” But KD didn’t want to blame the King himself for that. “That’s not his fault. There’s just too many groupies hanging on his lips all the time. These people should let us play basketball and rest.”

Durant’s respect for other stars who have shared the field with James over the years is correspondingly great, especially for Kevin Love and Chris Bosh. “Kevin has totally adapted his game. I think he should get more respect for it, the same goes for Bosh. It just needs players who understand the game and can throw it well.”

So Durant is not surprised that the youngsters of the Lakers like Brandon Ingram or Lonzo Ball are still looking for their role in the newly formed Lakers. “Young players still have to develop and that’s hard for them because LeBron dominates the ball so much. He demands control and then creates for the others.”

James now dominates the game at the Lakers as he did at the Cleveland Cavaliers. His usage rate is currently 30.8 percent. In addition, LeBron plays the most minutes at L.A. (34.6) and is the only player in the team that spins more than 20 points per game. After all, this has so far been a recipe for success. After a weak start, the Lakers have won 13 of their last 17 games and now have a record of 15-9.