Quote No. 2
"2. “So much hype comes from being around LeBron from other people,” Durant said. “He has so many fanboys in the media. Even the beat writers just fawn over him. I’m like, we’re playing basketball here, and it’s not even about basketball at certain points. So I get why anyone wouldn’t want to be in that environment because it’s toxic. Especially when the attention is bullshit attention, fluff. It’s not LeBron’s fault at all; it’s just the fact you have so many groupies in the media that love to hang on every word. Just get out of the way and let us play basketball.”"
As things stand, right now, LeBron’s the MVP of the league. There’s no question about that, but he’s also the unofficial off-the-court MVP of the league as well.
Before the season started, all of the “experts” in the media talked about how the Lakers, with Lance, Michael Beasley, JaVale McGee, and Rajon Rondo had the highest chance out of any team in the league of imploding. The Lakers were even dubbed “Meme Team.”
Has there been one problem with any of the Lakers players? The “Meme Team” have been perfect citizens. Lance is averaging 15 minutes a game and Beasley has only played in nine games this season, but neither has complained once. I love Luke Walton, and with all due respect to him, he’s not the one keeping the Lakers in-line, its LeBron.
I felt genuinely happy when the bench exploded after Moritz Wagner scored his first points in the NBA because I could tell that these guys really like each other. Is that the toxic environment Durant is talking about? Durant’s the one who argued with his teammate during a game. The atmosphere around the Warriors is much worse than the Lakers right now.
I give this Durant quote a 7 on a scale from 1-10.