Q&A: Kevin Durant

Courtesy of Anthony Slater

You had a reevaluation yesterday. Were you happy with what you heard?

Um, I’m more so just focused on trying to get this pain out of it and coming back when I’m ready, when I’m 100 percent ready and not trying to force it or play with pain. Just trying to conquer this little stage I’m in right now, which is getting this thing right, working as hard as I can in the weight room and on the court. Yeah, it’s tough, but I just gotta be ready to go.

Was there any relief that the pain you were feeling, there was a reason for it?

Yeah, now I know what happened in that Memphis game, in that Dallas game. I know why I was having so much pain and to have that corrected feels so much better. It’s just a matter of when somebody digs in your foot, you’re going to have some pain. That’s what happened when they reinserted a different screw. The pain that I had before is gone, but there’s still some pain there obviously from them going in there and stitching me up. But I should be fine soon.

You feel very confident you will return this season?

No doubt. No doubt. I’m looking forward to returning this season. No doubt. I’m not packing it in at all.

You’ve been pretty much injury free before this year. Are you frustrated, what’s your mindset?

Obviously, I’d love to play. I love playing basketball, I love my teammates and I love the organization. I want to play for them. But it happens. It happens. It’s a part of the game. And once I figured that it’s a part of the game and I’m not the first one to go through it, I was at peace with it. But obviously I didn’t take it too well because I wanted to play. But I know I can’t be out there hobbling around, limping around on one foot. I want to be out there at full strength.

What did you think when you saw the dent in Russell (Westbrook)’s face?

To be honest, I didn’t know what to think. That was a first. I’m glad he’s fine. He was in a daze a little bit after the game, but that was something I hadn’t seen before.

You haven’t played with the new guys yet, but do you like how they’ve meshed in?

Yeah, most definitely. D.J. (Augustin), I’ve known him since I was 17 years old. So I played with him in college, so I know exactly what he brings. And seeing Enes (Kanter) and Kyle (Singler) and we’ve yet to see Double-Check (Steve) Novak in the game. But I’m looking forward to playing with those guys. We’re tight already, everyone feels like a family already. That’s the most important part. On the court, it’s the easy part because we all know how to play. Smart players, they brought in.

So many injuries, so many ups and downs, what does it say about this team that you’re still in a playoff spot?

Resiliency. We fight through it all…Says that we don’t listen to the outside noise. We may talk about it, you’ve seen the last few weeks we may talk about the outside noise, but we don’t listen to it. We just plug away. That’s the type of organization we have, the type of city we have and the type of state we have.