in recent years, it has become fashionable to hate on a certain 6' 9 small forward by the name of kevin durant. even before his earth-shattering decision to join a golden state team fresh off an nba record 73 regular season wins, a move that rubbed many the wrong way, there was bay area rapper lil b’s diss track ‘f*ck kd’. released in 2014, the song is classic lil b, simultaneously embracing and parodying the machismo that still very much defines hip-hop today. the opening moments of the track are a perfect example; mere seconds after growling that he “ain’t never seen [kd] play a damn”, the rapper begins to croon “f*ck kevin durant” off-key. nobody was quite sure as to why lil b had picked the then-star of the oklahoma city thunder as a target. it didn’t matter. in the 21st century, you either die a hero or live long enough to become a meme and with one line — “i like roc nation and i love jay-z but on west side im screaming ‘fuck kd’” — lil b managed to transform his opponent into a punchline with impressive staying power. in many ways, lil b’s career exists in direct opposition to that of kevin durant. if lil b has been defined by being tastefully bad, kd’s time in the nba has been characterized by being good, great even, in all the wrong ways.
every athlete needs a moment in which their brilliance, or lack thereof, is distilled, now more so than ever that brief youtube clips and 280 character arguments have become the principal medium for the discussion of athletic greatness. in normal circumstances, kevin durant’s moment would have arrived late wednesday night in the fourth quarter in game 3 of the nba finals. as the clock ticked under a minute, durant brought the ball down for what every person in a packed quicken loans arena knew would be the defining possession of a back-and-forth game. the play itself was a simple one; andre iguodala jogged across the key, followed by his defender, the much-maligned j.r. smith, a man who will be remembered as much for the shots he did take as the one he didn’t in game one. the beauty of the warriors is that they have turned that simplest of basketball plays into a lethal weapon for which no team has the answer, a fact that was on display again on wednesday night. to say that smith hesitated as he switched to guard durant would be a disservice to both players involved. smith didn’t pause so much as durant’s quick release made it appear as if the former had done so. as his three pointer dropped through, the finishing touch to 43 point, 13 rebound masterpiece, durant simply turned around and walked back to the bench. while his teammates rushed to congratulate him, yelling words of celebration, the small forward allowed himself little more than a smirk. perhaps he knew what the next morning would bring.
watching kd is what i imagine watching sisyphus attempting to push his massive boulder up the hill day after day. the reality is there is little that kevin durant could do on a basketball court that would impress nba fans. the morning of june 7th, responses to durant’s performance ranged from indifference to total denial of the value of the small forward’s performance. never mind that the two best shooters in the nba spent most of the night firing blanks while draymond green looked to be more interested in finding an opportunity to deliver these hands unto tristan thompson. never mind that durant practically declared himself the new owner of quicken loans arena with a variety of fade away jumpers and running bank shots. the derision that accompanies so much of durant’s basketball excellence — and let us be clear, he is a source of basketball excellence, regardless of the team that he plays for — was still there on thursday. you sense that kd knows this. here is a man that went as far as to create burner accounts to highlight his own achievements because the rest of the world refuses to. in this light, the best part of kd’s game three performance is that he will wake up and try do it again, knowing that if he wins, he will likely receive more insults and less praise. that in doing his job, and doing it better than every human being bar one, he will be booed and called any variety of names. it is a tribute to his capacities that, in spite of all this, he is in pole position to return to oakland as the finals mvp.
one of the principal complaints about kd’s success is that it’s too easy. while lebron seems to collect a battering each game, carrying the weight of every defeat on his shoulders, durant glides across the court, grabbing a rebound there, popping up with a jump shot here. you can see the wear and tear from this series in lebron’s face, a red dot, presumably the result of a popped blood vessel, marking his left eye. durant, on the other hand, leaves the court covered in nothing more than a layer of sweat, having shared the responsibilities with his all-star teammates. in his essay ‘everybody’s protest novel’, james baldwin wrote the following of harriet beecher stowe’s uncle tom: “he is black, born without light, it is only through humility, the incessant mortification of the flesh, that he can enter into communion with god or man.” it wasn’t long ago that lebron bore the ire of fans across the country for abandoning the heartland of america for a supposedly easier life in south beach and it seems no coincidence that his return to cleveland has coincided with his return to favor. in america, black suffering must preclude black success. when i hear critiques of kd, i hear echoes of the accusations thrown at black students and black interns, black people everywhere, who are perceived to have arrived at prestigious schools and high-paying jobs by virtue of the legacy of racism and slavery, because they are victims of unseen suffering, a belief that ignores the work of the individuals as well as the communities that have supported them. if you do not think that kd, a man who has lived, breathed and ate basketball all of his adult life to reach this point, has not worked hard enough, i cannot help you. this is not to say that to root against kd and the warriors means to be in favor the legacies of racism. simply, i am as much a fan of lebron’s tireless performances as i am a fan of the ease with which kd covers the entirety of the court in mere seconds. i like cleveland and i love lebron but on west side i’m writing ‘go kd.’
