puis dans la liste qui s’affiche, cliquez sur AdBlock
Par Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Journaliste sportif
Before establishing himself as one of the league’s young stars, Paolo Banchero grew up in contact with a certain Kevin Durant. The latter’s influence had a particular impact on him… so much so that the Slim Reaper ended up reacting to his comments.
His career may have been the subject of constant bashing since he signed for the Warriors, but he remains one of the league’s most admired players. Indeed, Kevin Durant has a solid reputation in the NBA, where all his counterparts pay him immense respect. Even the youngest among them, who were lulled by his exploits before finding him as an opponent on the court.
Kevin Durant reacts to Paolo Banchero’s admiring take on him
Born in November 2002, Paolo Banchero was just four years old when Durant made his NBA debut. Two decades later, he was facing him at the All-Star Game 2024, for his first selection for the event. In fact, he didn’t have to wait for this occasion to get to know him, as he had trained alongside him the previous summer and had fond memories of it. In The Old Man and the Three:
Paolo Banchero: Training with him helped me a lot with my shooting. It kind of made me realize that I still had a long way to go. Not that I wasn’t doing my workouts to the hilt, but Kevin was at a whole new level that I hadn’t reached yet. That summer, he was literally shooting 85% during those workouts! It forces you to be fully concentrated.
Those workouts with KD were probably the most skillful days of my life. And that’s because I told myself I couldn’t let him down. (…) We’d do drills where he and I had to put up three shots in a row to change positions. I wasn’t going to be the guy who held everyone up and needed four tries to do it.
As you can imagine, KD has had a big impact on Banchero and his work ethic. In fact, the Italian-American’s rhetoric recently resurfaced on social networks, which didn’t go unnoticed by the main man involved. The latter reacted via his X account with a big message about his legacy:
@CuffsTheLegend: Keep inspiring the youngins @KDTrey5, f*** what these internet incels talking about
Kevin Durant: Stop playing and put me on that Mount Rushmore of influence man lol
There’s no doubt that the Slim Reaper is one of the most influential players of the younger generation. Whether or not he can claim a place on the aforementioned Mount Rushmore, however, will be anyone’s guess.
