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OAKLAND – A number of birthdays are part of the Milestones category and the 30th is one of them. This tends to have even greater significance for a professional athlete, especially in the whirlwind of the NBA.
Warriors striker Kevin Durant is 30 on Saturday and he is starting to feel the years. He is not old, not at all, but he has done enough and has seen long enough to realize that he was well beyond his days as the most talented puppy in the league.
He began the 12th season of a career that began in Seattle before being transferred to Oklahoma City before opting for the Bay Area. He endured the bitter reaction to his departure from OKC, where he won an MVP award, four outstanding titles and the heart of a passionate base. Since joining the Warriors, he has won two MVP awards in the NBA Finals, as well as two consecutive championships.
Having so much in his past and in the Hall of Fame in the future has apparently sharpened Durant's perspective and helped him realize his contentment, in and out of basketball, with his current status.
"I just think that playing for a selfless and caring team at one and the same time has learned a lot about it," said Durant afternoon Thursday after training. "That's what fills me more than anything. My cup was full by being here. Knowing that you can enter here and be yourself. No judgment Just all the love. It's more satisfying than anything. And the championship is the icing on the cake. "
The goal of Durant and the Warriors this season is a third consecutive championship, the coveted "triplet" but rarely achieved. ABA merger in 1977.
For Durant, personally, there is so much more to do.
"I do not think any player in this league is looking. . . Well, I'm going to speak for myself: I'm not looking for basketball to satisfy myself or satisfy myself as a person, "he said. "I like the game, I love to play, I love the championship experience. It's the best thing I've ever done in my life so far.
"But I did not expect it to heal the problems I had when I grew up, or what I went through on my own. I was not looking for that to hide anything. I have to face this alone.
The baggage of each player – physical, emotional and often very personal – stacks up over the years. The body feels it. The mind feels it. The mind faces it. Durant, however, is a special case because of his move to warriors. He pursues him and will continue to do so as long as he plays. It's unfair – thousands of professional athletes have operated the free agency over the past 40 years, but it's real.
Yet there is not the slightest sign of regret. During the beginning of the adult phase where he fully realizes that it is his life, he has only one and it is entirely up to him to determine his direction.
The physical part is not as easy as in the past. The body barks louder after 898 NBA games and occasional injuries and thousands of hours of jets.
"Once I've played so many games, like in the mid-twenties, the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh years, I'm starting to feel that your body is talking to you a little bit after a game or after a training, "he said. "So, you try to understand what it means. I improved knowing my body over the years.
Although Durant and his teammates respected the work of Chelsea Lane, the physical performance specialist who went to the Atlanta Hawks, they are already connecting with Rick Celebrini, who replaced Lane. Celebrini is highly recommended by Steve Nash, who retired at age 40.
"It's the perfect time for me," Durant said.
"One of the reasons I'm delighted to have Celebrini here is that he and Nash were partners in the crime, and he played a key role in his thirties," said the Warriors coach, Steve Kerr. "He played at a very high level All-Star until about 37, 38 years old. Rick is really competent in terms of keeping guys moving. I think it's going to be a great asset when guys get older.
Asked how long he could extend his career, said Durant 32 or 33 years.
He was joking. We think.
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