Future Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Durant is never shy to share his thoughts and made an interesting comment slighting the accomplishments of international stars. A conversation has emerged around the NBA about whether or not the league is now more international than American. Recent MVP winners like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all come from other countries.
Durant doesn’t like this narrative and shared why on Boardroom Talk:
“It’s about time. They’ve been coming into the league since the ’80s. It’s just natural evolution that guys from around the world are going to assume those positions to be the best players in the league. The real argument should be: who are they influenced by?
Most of these dudes are influenced by who? Americans. It’s cool getting MVPs and stuff, but who did you watch? You see Jokic, Porzingis, Shai, all these dudes with Iverson jerseys coming up, braids in their hair, crossing over… They’re trying to play like us too. They accomplished it and executed it in their own way, but yeah.”
KD’s claim here is that the influence of watching American stars led to these international stars becoming legendary figures running the league more than their backgrounds. The overall argument of Durant is that the game should still be viewed as American due to stars like Michael Jordan, Iverson, and LeBron James influencing the stars from elsewhere.
Kevin Durant Questioned Shai As International Star
The last few MVPs and most of the best players in the league being from outside of the United States has rubbed some American players the wrong way. Durant named Gilgeous-Alexander as someone who played in America before getting drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“You look at Shai, is he an international player,” Durant questioned about SGA’s Canadian background. “His pipeline for being an NBA player came from the American system. Where’d he go to college? Where’d he go to high school?”
Durant took extra pride in the 2024 Olympic gold medal for Team USA after he set the record for most basketball gold medals by one male player. The argument that international stars like Luka Doncic and Jokic are taking over the league sees KD having strong push back.
Kevin Durant’s Best Teammate Is International
Something interesting about Durant’s critical comments about the international appeal is that his best Rockets teammate is Alperen Sengun. The Turkish big man represents the growing shift of more international stars becoming consistent All-Stars.
Durant also had negative things to say about Sengun from his alleged social media burner account and questioned his ability to win. The best success of Durant’s career with the Thunder and Golden State Warriors featured his All-Star teammates being exclusively American.
Kyrie Irving is the only international player of the stars he teamed with on the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns, but he grew up in America. Sengun is the first instance of Durant having an international All-Star teammate and he’s still arguing against this. Houston could be forced to make a move one way or another as Durant doesn’t appear to enjoy teaming with Sengun.
Kevin Durant Throws Shade At Top NBA International Stars