Through his first 10 seasons, Golden State Warriors star forward Kevin Durant has earned the recognition from his peers as one of the top players in the league.
Much of this has been due to his unique skill set offensively that has made him a premier scorer. However, Durant recently made it clear that there is another aspect of his game that he wants to become an elite player on the other end of the floor, according to Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News.
“I want to be one of the best defenders in the league,” Durant said.
The 29-year-old has earned numerous accolades throughout his career for his play offensively with eight All-Star selections, five All-NBA First Team nods, two All-NBA Second Team selections, four scoring titles, an NBA MVP award, and NBA Finals MVP honors. That said, he has yet to receive awards for his play defensively.
Durant has shown the ability as an effective defender as his length and lanky body frame have lent well to him on that end of the floor. He had taken some strides in that aspect of his game last year after averaging a career-high 1.6 blocks with 1.1 steals per game.
On top of that, he's already off to a strong start with 11 blocks through the first two games, which is four more than another player in the league. Although this type of pace is unrealistic to keep up throughout an entire season, if he's able to stay healthy there's no reason to believe he can't continue to be a major factor defensively.
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