{"id":90715,"date":"2025-07-25T06:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T06:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/90715\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T06:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T06:46:11","slug":"get-buckets-have-fun-be-a-good-teammate-kevin-durant-explains-the-legacy-hes-quietly-been-building-for-15-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/90715\/","title":{"rendered":"“Get buckets, have fun, be a good teammate” – Kevin Durant explains the legacy he’s quietly been building for 15 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Get buckets, have fun, be a good teammate” – Kevin Durant explains the legacy he’s quietly been building for 15 years<\/a> originally appeared on Basketball Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant’s name rarely enters a conversation without the heat. His move to the Golden State Warriors still sparks debate, and his time with the Brooklyn Nets felt like a drama series. Even now, as he is getting ready to suit up for his fifth team, the discussion rarely focuses on how he plays but on why he chose certain paths.<\/p>\n

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But beneath the noise, Durant<\/a> has been building something quieter. Something lasting. Not through speeches or public campaigns \u2014 but through consistency, precision, and the kind of professional habits that outlive the hype.<\/p>\n

“That’s the precedent I want to set as an NBA player,” Durant\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0while discussing his career on “Out The Mud Podcast.” “Get buckets, have fun, be a good teammate, and keep getting better every day.”<\/p>\n

It might sound simple, but there’s a reason very few have done it as long or as efficiently.<\/p>\n

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Built to be reliable not adored<\/p>\n

Durant has always been a true basketball fanatic and a unicorn. Even as a rookie, it wasn’t just the smooth jumper that stood out \u2014 it was how fast he adapted to the big league. By his third game, he was closing in crunch time. By year two, he was averaging 25 a night.<\/p>\n

He was never interested in theatrics; he was always interested in the process. Oklahoma City gave him room to grow. He learned under Scott Brooks, clashed and connected with Russell Westbrook\u00a0and became a true superstar.<\/p>\n

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Even his lone MVP campaign wasn’t built on flash. It was a season-long collection of greatness \u2014 32 points per game with a rare efficiency, and 59 wins without Westbrook for half the year. In his MVP speech, the same themes Durant still talks about now come through: gratitude, team, and growth. None of it was about image; it was about the love for the game.<\/p>\n

Related: “You play 10 minutes and whatever you do, it’s not good enough” – Isaiah Hartenstein reflects on his Nuggets days as Nikola Jokic’s replacement<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Playing through backlash<\/p>\n

What Durant may not get credit for is just how durable he’s been \u2014 especially after suffering an Achilles injury. In the seasons following the Warriors’ move, he played under more pressure than any other player in the league.<\/p>\n

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Every possession in Golden State was dissected. Every failure in Brooklyn was scrutinized. And yet, on the court, he remained steady. He was the best player in the 2017 and 2018 Finals.\u00a0He took on the toughest matchups and adjusted to every role he was given.<\/p>\n

It’s easy to forget that in the 2021 playoffs, with Kyrie Irving hurt and James Harden hobbled, Durant came within an inch of knocking out the eventual champion Bucks. He played every minute of that Game 5. In Game 7, he dropped 48 and nearly beat Giannis by himself.<\/p>\n

But he didn’t brag or complain. He just got buckets. Played his part and put a team on his back.<\/p>\n

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Durant isn’t trying to rewrite his legacy \u2014 he’s just clarifying it. Yes, he’s a two-time champion. Yes, he’s one of the most efficient scorers in NBA history. But the thing he’s most proud of? The standard he upheld \u2014 showing up every day, putting in the work, and leading without needing to be loud.<\/p>\n

In a league that often rewards flash, Durant’s focus has always been substance. That’s the part that will outlast the debates. Not the rings, not the burner accounts \u2014 but the example.<\/p>\n

“If people are influenced by that, that’s cool. If not, that’s cool too,” he said.<\/p>\n

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Fifteen years in, it’s clear: Durant didn’t just want to be remembered for greatness. He wanted to show players how to quietly earn it \u2014 and how to keep it going when nobody’s clapping.<\/p>\n

Related: “The 7\/11 duo of me and KD will never be topped” – Kyrie Irving says Kevin Durant is the best teammate he’s ever played with<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network<\/a> on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Get buckets, have fun, be a good teammate” – Kevin Durant explains the legacy he’s quietly been building…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":90716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3124,28733,60331,3140,18169,3359,11018,1260,6949,21596,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-90715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-brooklyn-nets","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-giannis","11":"tag-golden-state-warriors","12":"tag-james-harden","13":"tag-kevin-durant","14":"tag-kyrie-irving","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-oklahoma-city","17":"tag-russell-westbrook","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114912531849450511","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}