NBA News: Durant's Effort On Defense Paying Off; Steve Kerr, Warriors See More Potential In Him
Four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant, who currently leads his Golden State Warriors team in scoring, ironically spent a considerable amount of time on Tuesday talking about DEFENSE. After joining the Dubs, Durant has slowly amped up his defense, and it has not gone unnoticed.
Durant want to focus more on defense
"It's fun," Durant said on his newfound appreciation for the defensive end of the floor. "I feel like I'm having a solid defensive year so far. I could even be a lot better and I still think I could do a better job of putting a nice streak of games together on the defensive end. Durant closed this statement by saying that he may not be the greatest defender in the league, but he has grown a lot of appreciation towards it lately, according to CSN Bay Area.
Durant improving more on defense
Though Durant is currently making more than his fair share of individual plays - currently ranking 10th in blocks, averaging a career-best 1.71 per game -- he is also taking to team concepts and proving to be a willing learner. Which is what Durant promised after he left Oklahoma City last July to join the Warriors.
The results of Durant's efforts has been impressive so far. Currently, Durant's defensive real plus-minus ranks 39th in the NBA and eighth among small forwards, right behind Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and well ahead of Houston's Trevor Ariza (12th), San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard and even Cleveland's LeBron James (29th).
Durant enjoys playing defense
According to NBC Bay Area, Durant clearly enjoys producing game-altering defensive plays. His defensive presence is always at peak condition especially if it's an important game; take for instance his rejection of a driving LeBron James at the rim during the Warriors-Cavs game on January 16, or when he emphatically blocked Charlotte's Kemba Walker's shot to spark a fast break that ended with a Stephen Curry three-pointer.
With Durant's passion for defense growing each and every game, there's going to be another reason to fear him and the Golden State Warriors.
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