Video/quotes: Kevin Durant on Suns' second day of training camp
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant said some of the team's younger players are keeping him excited about the season.
PHOENIX — Here is what Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant said after Wednesday’s practice.
On returning to practice
“It’s always fun getting back into the swing of things. It’s a long summer. You kind of miss the guys, you miss the routine a bit. Anxious to see what the new coaching staff is like.”
On adding Tyus Jones to the Big 3
“Just three guys that can handle the ball, bring the ball up (and) be able to make plays off the dribble, shoot the basketball as well.”
“I think turnovers is an emphasis on every team. I think sometimes we struggled with it a lot last year, trying to get on the same page with one another. So that’s been an emphasis since our first meeting with coach Bud is just nipping that in the bud. Just making sure that we make the correct play, not trying to hit home runs all the time.”
On improving his screening
“When I was in OKC, I was a slip guy, lot of defenses would try to hedge on Russell because he’s so quick getting out over the screen, so I slipped a lot. Once I got to Golden State, you practice screening every day. And screening for Steph Curry, screening for Klay Thompson, you in a bind sometimes.”
On himself, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal adding more threes per game
“I think threes are a part of playing great defense. If we can get out and rebound the basketball and push and create a disadvantage in transition, that’s where a lot of the threes come from. So you see the great teams in the league, the Bostons, Dallas, they switch a lot, they swarm at the rim and they get out and get stops. That’s able to get them some numbers in the transition, which can add to your 3-point total. You got guys who can break you down off the dribble as well. That’s the half-court, how you generate threes in the half-court. We want to be able to do both of those things well, but it starts on the defensive end if we wanna add more 3-pointers to our repertoire.”
On Mike Budenholzer’s personality
“The great thing about this team is we got competitors already. We got guys that take pride in who they are as individual players. When you have that along with coach that’s preaching competition, every time he brings us together as a team. That helps. So we’re all on the same page when it comes to that. We got guys on this floor that’s trying to establish themselves on this team, in this league, all-time. We got a lot of stuff that we’re playing for individually. And once we bring that to the team, coach is going to make sure we’re put in the right positions to succeed.”
On wanting to shoot more threes himself
“I’m a 3-point shooter. That’s been my role when I first came into the league. I think I just evolved my game to put pressure on the defense. Yeah, if it’s an opportunity for me to shoot a lot of threes that night, I will. But if teams are up into my body and they want me drive the basketball and be more aggressive to the rim and get free throws and get to my mid-range, I’ll do that too. What the defense is dictating, I’ll try to play off the defense a bit. I’m not just shooting mid-range out of spite to piss people off. I want to do what it takes to win the game, and sometimes I got to put my head down and be aggressive, go to the rim.”
On the mentality of the Suns
“In the back of your mind, you know what the main goal is of the season, and you can see that everybody in this locker room has that main goal. So we’re just trying to keep going up every day, stack those days, build chemistry with each other and the coaching staff and go from there.”
On Damion Lee’s double posterior root repair surgery and recovery
“That’s just life, man. It’s life now. I’m just grateful to be around this long and be able to gain so much information and knowledge across these decades, two decades basically I’ve played in. I’ve gained a lot of energy from the younger players, as well. So the younger, I guess, the better for me.”