Kevin Durant on how he learned to ‘grind’ in the NBA
NBA legend Charles Barkley dropped by on Kevin Durant and Eddie Gonzalez’s podcast, the ETC’s, to talk about all things basketball and how social media has impacted the modern day basketball athlete. Barkley and Durant admitted that although social media can present hardships at times, the money it brings in is second to none.
When touching on how older players helped in their player development as young athletes in the league, Barkley praised Karl Malone and Julius Erving for setting him on the right path both on and off the court. For the Nets star, not only did he praise many of his former Sonics teammates, but he also credited them for being responsible for his work ethic.
“Kurt Thomas, Donyell Marshall, Andra Griffin … my rookie year. Francisco Elson … Got Wally Szczerbiak. They kind of introduced me to what it means to work as an NBA player. You have an idea in college and high school what it means to work after practice and how to practice hard, but once you get into the league and you got six months of this everyday (for) 82 games, you got to condition your mind and your body and have older dudes that have been through the grind. That definitely helps.”
Recently, after both Barkley and Durant made it to the list of the 75 best players of all time to celebrate the NBA’s 75th anniversary, the legends reflected on what it meant to them.
“There’s 75 guys that are all guys that touched a basketball,” said Barkley. “Somebody said, ‘You were one of the best to ever do it.’ That is pretty humbling. I mean, you think about that, there’s a lot of guys that dribbled a basketball and for your peers to say, ‘You were one of the best to do it.’ It’s an amazing thing — It gives you a chance to thank everyone that has helped you along the way … When you win anything like that, there’s a lot of people that helped you to get there.”
Durant added, “You see everybody who played the game and how many people aspire to be basketball players and to be amongst that 75 greatest is a surreal feeling. You put in so much work and to be recognized for something like that is just sweet. Your peers voted for you, people that have been around the game for 75 years voted for you, it makes you feel like you’re doing something right … I called up my moms, I called up my AAU coach from when I was 8-9 years old, you know people that were around for the journey. You hit them up because they know how special the game is too. I love that the NBA did that.”
Barkley and Durant will leave a legacy on this game that will never be forgotten along with all the other players that made it to this list. “You can’t tell the history of the NBA without any of these guys,” said Barkley.
