The NBA has tried to put forth measures to make regular season action more intense and intriguing, like curtailing load management and implementing a midseason tournament, in addition to already adding the play-in tournament.
But if you ask Kevin Durant, the adjustment needs to come from the fans, who would benefit more from seeing the grind the players go through and just enjoying the plethora of games.
“Fans have become more entitled than anything,” Durant told ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “So they're starting to question our motives for the game, or how we approach the game. The ones that do question, like who are you? Just shut up and watch the game tonight. We go as hard as we want to go. We go as hard as our bodies allow us to go at this point.”
Noting the extensive travel, playing back-to-backs at times, and the wear and tear of an 82-game season, Durant says the regular season still boasts plenty of intensity, even if it’s not to the same level of a postseason series.
Durant believes the complaints about the regular season would dwindle if fans were able to get out the way of their own expectations.
“Every game's not going to be a high-intensity playoff game,” Durant told Friedell. “It's going to be times where as a fan you're going to have to watch and see, "Oh, these guys traveled. This is the last game of a road trip.
They may have to dig a little deeper to win this game. It might be a little sloppy tonight. We can appreciate that about the NBA because there's so many games and these guys go through a lot of moving around throughout the season." So if fans just stop taking us for granted, for one. Stop putting too much pressure on each athlete to live up to their standards. But then everybody appreciate what we bring to the table.”
The commissioner’s office seems to at least slightly side with the fans, as the league continues to try and make the regular season more interesting and increase the stakes. But Durant wants to see some changes from the fans who are voicing the complaints.
“It's narrative-driven. It's agenda-based. Biased,” Durant told Friedell. “I just think a lot of stuff, because we consume everything at all times, we're starting to take a lot of stuff for granted. The NBA is one of them.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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