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Bench Warmer
Kevin Durant has fired back at an ESPN.com TrueHoop blog that was, in part, critical of his contributions to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Durant, who led the Thunder in 2008-09 with 25.3 points per game in his second season, defended his dedication and work ethic in a series of Twitter posts Sunday.
Durant, 21, presumably was writing in reaction to a blog by ESPN.com's Henry Abbott citing Durant's plus-minus, which Abbott said revealed the forward is "killing his team."
Plus-minus indicates the points a team produces relative to the scoring of the opponent when a player is on the floor.
"Everybody that is doubtin me as a player and my team as a whole," Durant wrote, "..all i can say is that we all are tryin and workin our hardest!"
In the Thunder's first season in Oklahoma City since relocating from Seattle, Durant often carried his team, which finished ahead of only the Los Angeles Clippers and the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference standings.
"What more do u want? let me be the player i am...i come to practice everyday..and push myself to my limit, God has put me n a gr8 position!!" Durant wrote on Twitter.
In his TrueHoop blog posting headlined "The Kevin Durant Conundrum," Abbott chronicles Durant's dominant physical attributes, relative youth and expectations said to be approaching "ridiculous" proportions.
But he transitions into the perceived downsides of Durant's game, the thrust of which outline the reasons Durant might be dragging the performance of his teammates into a rut.
"Just as it's undoubtedly a challenge for young Kevin Durant to perform the duties of a superstar, it may also be hard for his young teammates to know how to account for his abilities," Abbott wrote. "In other words, when Durant is benched, [Russell] Westbrook, [Jeff] Green et al can make basketball decisions more or less as they have their entire basketball lives.
"When Durant, superstar-in-the-making, is on the court, his teammates would presumably be aware of that."
But Durant points to his supporters, which likely include many of those who helped sell out the Thunder's 2008-09 season-ticket allotment in five days.
"I love all the REAL basketball fans who appreciate hardwork, passion and love for the game..and not jus 'plus and minuses'...wateva dat is!" Durant wrote.
Durant, who led the Thunder in 2008-09 with 25.3 points per game in his second season, defended his dedication and work ethic in a series of Twitter posts Sunday.
Durant, 21, presumably was writing in reaction to a blog by ESPN.com's Henry Abbott citing Durant's plus-minus, which Abbott said revealed the forward is "killing his team."
Plus-minus indicates the points a team produces relative to the scoring of the opponent when a player is on the floor.
"Everybody that is doubtin me as a player and my team as a whole," Durant wrote, "..all i can say is that we all are tryin and workin our hardest!"
In the Thunder's first season in Oklahoma City since relocating from Seattle, Durant often carried his team, which finished ahead of only the Los Angeles Clippers and the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference standings.
"What more do u want? let me be the player i am...i come to practice everyday..and push myself to my limit, God has put me n a gr8 position!!" Durant wrote on Twitter.
In his TrueHoop blog posting headlined "The Kevin Durant Conundrum," Abbott chronicles Durant's dominant physical attributes, relative youth and expectations said to be approaching "ridiculous" proportions.
But he transitions into the perceived downsides of Durant's game, the thrust of which outline the reasons Durant might be dragging the performance of his teammates into a rut.
"Just as it's undoubtedly a challenge for young Kevin Durant to perform the duties of a superstar, it may also be hard for his young teammates to know how to account for his abilities," Abbott wrote. "In other words, when Durant is benched, [Russell] Westbrook, [Jeff] Green et al can make basketball decisions more or less as they have their entire basketball lives.
"When Durant, superstar-in-the-making, is on the court, his teammates would presumably be aware of that."
But Durant points to his supporters, which likely include many of those who helped sell out the Thunder's 2008-09 season-ticket allotment in five days.
"I love all the REAL basketball fans who appreciate hardwork, passion and love for the game..and not jus 'plus and minuses'...wateva dat is!" Durant wrote.
