Kevin Durant is going to go down as one of the greatest basketball players of all time whenever his career ends. Before that happens, though, Durant received an award for the level of excellence he has achieved as a player in the Association by making it to the 75th anniversary team that the league is announcing this week.
While the list will be revealed over the next three days in segments of 25 players each, Durant was among the players who saw their names included on Tuesday before the season tipped off on TNT. In the aftermath, Stephanie Ready of TNT caught up with Durant to ask him his thoughts on being named one of the 75-best players to ever step on the hardwood.
“It means everything to be honest. … To be amongst the greatest that this game has ever seen, just to be in the same company is pretty sweet.”
KD on making the #NBA75 list pic.twitter.com/F9ElLUcGWA
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 19, 2021
“It means a lot, it means everything, to be honest,” Durant said. “You wanna leave your mark in this league, in the game of basketball itself. And to be amongst the greatest that this game has ever seen, to be in the same company, it’s pretty sweet, so. As a kid, I’d seen the 50th anniversary [team], and always dreamt of having one of those jackets on and being amongst that group, and being in that brotherhood. So, it feels good to be a part of it.”
Durant will look to follow up his inclusion in the team with a big performance in the first game of the 2021-22 NBA season, as he’ll lead the Nets into Milwaukee to take on the defending champion Bucks.