Suns star Kevin Durant turned 35 years old this past September, but don’t think for a second that he’s got any plans to lighten his load for the upcoming season. As Durant explained in a recent conversation with the media, he’s not in the business of sitting out games or lowering his minutes for the sake of preventing injuries.
“Some sh*t is going to happen, it’s going to happen,” said Durant. “You try to prevent me from being injured or being out there, I honestly don’t know what good that does. Just let me play. Whatever happens happens and just trust that we’ll figure it out from there. If we do what we have to do on the floor every night, guys won’t have to play 40 minutes a night. We just go to be ready to play.”
Kevin Durant could care less about injury concerns in an 82-game season.
“Some shit is going to happen, it’s going to happen. You try to prevent me from being injured or being out there, I honestly don’t know what good that does. Just let me play.”
Via @Suns for photo from… pic.twitter.com/Dk0j56eJkW
— Trevor Booth (@TrevorBoothNBA) October 22, 2023
Injuries have become an increasing concern for Durant as his career has progressed. Last season, with the Nets and Suns, he suffered several injuries that limited his total games played to 47 out of 81. Even after their string of offseason moves this summer, the Suns will need Durant at his best if they want to come out on top in 2024.
Kevin Durant Isn’t Slowing Down
As the NBA recognizes stars like LeBron James and Chris Paul for their longevity, Kevin Durant isn’t too far behind in terms of maintaining his game deep into his career. Last season, the 15th of his career, Durant was still among the best players in basketball with averages of 29.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game on 56% shooting. Assuming that Kevin can stay healthy, there’s no reason to think that he shouldn’t be able to replicate those numbers this season alongside Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
Under Frank Vogel, we will see an emphasis on size and defense for the Suns and those are two areas in which Durant excels. Standing at 6’10” with a 7’5″ wingspan, the 13x All-Star makes a profound impact in more ways than one, and his play this upcoming season will no doubt have an impact on how the Suns finish in the West.
The Suns Are Favorites In The West
Just a few years ago, the Suns were leaning on Devin Booker and Chris Paul to carry their title hopes. But after their Finals loss in 2021, Phoenix struggled to capture the same magic and they were forced to mix things up. Two seasons later, they put all their chips on the table for Kevin Durant and now stand as one of the favorites to win the West. The only concern now for Phoenix is not about the top-level talent, but whether or not they have enough everywhere else to keep the team afloat.
Besides Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, and a few other players, the Suns don’t have much else to rely on outside their big three of Durant, Booker, and Beal, but the hope is that, with the combined talents of all three, the Suns can make a title run regardless of their depth. Only time will tell if they can really pull it off, but there will be no excuses for failure.
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