DETROIT — Kevin Durant sighed as it seemed like he was being disrespected, then turned his face sideways to eliminate all doubt on how he was feeling.
The notion his age would prevent him from having enough juice down the stretch of an arduous NBA season, the suggestion he’s a mere mortal by NBA standards was as humorous as it was preposterous —how dare someone.
“I ain’t a regular 36-year-old,” Durant told Yahoo Sports. “I condition my mind, my body, to be a pro. So what else am I gonna do? Burn out?
“How many people playing at this level at my age? So you can’t compare me to anybody who’ve burnt out. It could happen, but does it look like it right now?”
It didn’t Saturday afternoon, when Durant shook off an ugly first half to close out the Detroit Pistons on the road — scoring 30 of his game-high 36 points in the final 24 minutes, with seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.
If there’s any belief the Suns can be better than their current projections, it lies with having two shot-makers, Durant and Devin Booker, who can create outside of the offense late in games.
“Tonight was scripted,” Durant said. “We wasn’t just out there, rolling the balls out, and each possession trying to figure out what to do. No. We knew exactly what we wanted to do, where we wanted to go, and make plays.
“That’s what confident teams do, in the fourth quarter especially when things are going haywire, stay on the same page. Each fourth quarter game is helping us.”
His production and efficiency is wild to consider. He’s still shooting well over 50% from the field, right at 38% from 3-point range and averaging his ho-hum 27.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
One supposes he has every right to feel whatever combination of adjectives popped into his head, given his basketball excellence, even if the Suns sit in this muck of Western Conference teams that in a week’s time can go from the play-in to firmly having home court in the first round.
The Suns are .500 halfway through the season, but that number feels slightly misleading. When Durant plays, the Suns are 20-12 — a mark that if extended to an 82-game season would put them in the thick of home-court advantage in the first two rounds. But Durant missed a chunk of time following a left calf strain and another three games with a left ankle sprain. The Suns are 1-9 without him.
The Suns were 9-2, and then they were 15-18. It’s hard to tell which team the Suns truly are, especially as it seems very obvious everyone is bracing for a big arrival — as in Jimmy Butler, who wants out of Miami and on to Phoenix, with Durant and Booker. The Suns acquiring multiple first-round picks in a not-so-quiet trade with the pick-flush Utah Jazz was a clear signal the franchise is ready to do business with the Heat and anyone else who wants to facilitate this.
It would, of course, involve Bradley Beal waiving his no-trade clause and could be a straight-up trade with the Heat. It could also involve the Milwaukee Bucks, with Beal going to Milwaukee in some iteration of a complicated three-team deal that no longer seems impossible, sources told Yahoo Sports.
There have been whispers of the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors getting involved as well, but it seems the momentum is geared toward this getting done soon, perhaps in the next few days. Detroit and Charlotte could operate as facilitators for a large deal, too, sources told Yahoo Sports
Durant was asked if the restrictive collective bargaining agreement frustrated him, as he’s on a team desperate to contend with owner Mat Ishbia having no issue showing how deep his pockets will go, the future be damned.
“I’ve seen a lot of crazy s*** just happen in this league,” Durant said. “You know, regardless of rules and CBA is put in place, these dudes get paid a lot of money to figure out ways and stuff like that. So it isn’t frustrating. I mean, we just added Nick [Richards], which is a good pickup.”
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Richards was acquired from Charlotte days before, and he showed his value in Saturday’s win. They won’t count on him to score 21 every night, but those 11 rebounds in 29 minutes meant something, as well as going to the foul line nine times.
Finding a taker for Jusuf Nurkić is probably next for the Suns, with his $19.3 million salary for next season being an attractive sweetener for teams who’d want cap relief. But, of course, the Suns being a second-apron team limits their options to make a move.
“You got youth, it’s a young league,” Durant admitted. “You can have youth and energy, and a good mix of veterans. All the good teams have a good mix of young and old players. You see the teams with nothing but young players, sometimes they struggle. Older guys, they struggle too.”
Durant was reminded of why the notion of time was presented. A video circulated on X a few days before, of a younger version of himself with the Oklahoma City Thunder going against his future rivals-turned-mates with the Golden State Warriors.
It was before his Jones fracture in his right foot a year later, before the Achilles injury in 2019 that usually ends careers, before the MCL injury in Brooklyn that bookended his time East.
On that day 11 years ago, he torched the Warriors for 54 points — one off a career-high he’d set in Brooklyn years later.
But it was the most efficient high-scoring game of his career, taking just 28 shots and hitting 19 of them. He had the extra bounce and pop, he looked so quick and fluid — he still does now, by the way, but it was amazing to watch a younger Durant in full bloom.
And it shows just how much work he’s put to keep himself at this level despite the atrophy of his body and the bad luck and bad breaks.
“Defenses are different. You look at that footage,” Durant said. “Not a lot of pressure. Not a lot of guys in the paint (waiting). It’s a lot of one-on-ones.
“I’m not getting that nowadays, you know? I’m saying they got 16 years of film with me. I’m still playing at that level. It may look different, yeah, I’m not running down the lane, but I’m still making the same shots, still getting to my spots. That’s what you look at. Am I still getting to where I want to get to?”
The answer is a resounding yes, even though it looks different. He keeps transforming his game, year after year, to stay effective — and until it’s pointed out to you, you think it has always looked this way.
It’s a mind trick and he keeps on tricking the game as the Suns keep trying to build around him to maximize his time — to maybe cajole a deep run if things break right.
“Back then, I was trying to play how I’m playing now,” Durant said. “Where I’m picking my spots, not rushing. But for those teams I had to score. I had to have more energy. Look at me in the second half tonight, I wasn’t tripping. Back then, I might’ve tripped. Tonight, I’m more relaxed.
“I might not have the … [grunts] dunk on a [dude], but I still got it a little bit. A little bit.”
That scowl then turned to a wry smile. He’s got more than a little bit — Durant just wants it to be enough.
