Kevin Durant has started the vast majority of games in his career, but he’s been highly effective in his few outings off the bench for Brooklyn this season. On Sunday night against the Phoenix Suns, Durant was left out of the starting lineup but exploded for 33 points in a 128-119 win.
It turns out Durant called the shots on whether or not he was going to start. The reason why he chose to come off the bench was because he felt like it would be a more difficult challenge. He elaborated on his decision during the postgame press conference.
“Coach asked me today if I wanted to start or come off the bench and I felt like it would be a bigger challenge for me to focus in and lock in if I came off the bench.”
Kevin Durant on the strategy for managing his minutes today:
"I felt like it would be a bigger challenge for me to focus in and lock in if I came off the bench, so I just wanted to see how that worked" pic.twitter.com/ehL6nnyBlI
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) April 25, 2021
If you’re one of the game’s most lethal scorers to ever play, you know yourself more than anybody, so it’s easy to see why Steve Nash asked Kevin Durant what he wanted to do. He followed his decision up with a 33-point clinic.
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