Getty Kevin Durant (left) and Kanye West.
Kevin Durant, the 11-time All-Star who recently led Team USA to gold at the Tokyo Olympics, is something of an influential force as one of the preeminent faces of basketball. But his impact isn’t just confined to the court.
Ahead of the long-awaited release of Kanye West’s tenth studio album “Donda,” the 22-time Grammy-winning rapper reportedly reached out to Durant to pick his brain about what he thought about the album during its creation, according to a report from Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
Per Reynolds, the Brooklyn Nets superstar said West was “a master at his craft,” referencing his experience listening to the then-still-in-progress album earlier this summer.
Among those who advised Kanye on what they liked and didn’t like about Donda when it was being put together: Kevin Durant.
“He’s a master at his craft,” KD said during the Olympics, talking about his experience listening to the then-still-in-progress album earlier this summer.
The non-explicit version of “Donda” was released over the weekend and has already taken the rap world by storm. Whether or not Durant’s influence on the project was significant remains to be seen.
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Durant Has Influence on Nets Roster
Even within basketball, Durant’s influence is not confined to the court. He also has something to do with how Brooklyn’s roster is constructed.
As arguably the best player in the world, Durant’s thoughts on such matters hold significant weight. The opinions of fellow Nets superstars Kyrie Irving and James Harden also matter. Nets GM Sean Marks explained as much during a media session earlier this month.
“Those three are incredibly talented without a doubt,” Marks said, per NBA.com. “We’re very fortunate to have those guys on the roster and also participating in — and we talk about this a lot — participating in the roster build. There’s no surprises for them. They knew what we were doing as we go through the first three, four, five days of free agency. And it’s not just those guys. We involve a lot of the players in these decisions because with their up-close and personal playing against these guys, who am I to tell them who can’t play and who’s better? I’ve gotta take their opinions and I enjoy those conversations, honest conversations. We don’t always agree, but at the same time, I think it’s great to have those conversations.”
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Durant Shines Brightest on World’s Biggest Stage
Durant’s 29-point effort in Team USA’s gold medal game to conclude the Tokyo Olympics came on the heels of 30-point games in each of his previous two gold medal games, in 2012 and 2016.
Damian Lillard summed it up best: “He (Durant) is the best player in the world,” he said, per Yahoo.
Durant, meanwhile, said his mindset was to simply leave it all on the court with a gold medal on the line.
“It’s winning time,” Durant said, per NBA.com. “It’s one game where you go home, it’s no series. I’ve gotta give my all every second I’m out there and I prepare the right way. I’ve just gotta go out there and trust that work. I was able to knock down some shots to keep us afloat a little bit. In the fourth quarter (Damian Lillard) took over for us and guys made plays at the end.”
Overcame obstacles. Got it done.
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