Tag: 2010 NBA Playoffs (Page 26 of 32)

Last week, Phil Jackson said that Kevin Durant gets too many calls and the third-year superstar took umbrage. Now it’s a thing and Durant is showing irritation when he gets asked about it repeatedly.

The easy-going Oklahoma City Thunder star became riled up when responding to yet another question about his reaction to Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who last week criticized officials for how the call the game for Durant.

And so when Durant was asked once again whether he overreacted to Jackson, Durant, well, overreacted.

“Do you think I overreacted?” Durant asked the reporter, who responded by saying he didn’t know.

“Are you one of them?” Durant continued. “Nah, I didn’t overreact. Why, because I’m a third-year player I can’t say nothing back to Phil Jackson? I’m standing up for myself and what I believe in. I really don’t say nothing to too many people in this league who say stuff about me and our team and how I play and how we play. But I felt I had to say something back.

“I’m always quiet. I’m always nice and (respectful) to other people, not just on the basketball floor but off the basketball floor, like you guys. But I felt at that time I had to take up for myself. It is what it is. It’s over with. It had nothing to do with this series.”

Phil Jackson has taken residence in Durant’s kitchen and it doesn’t look like he’s leaving anytime soon. Had Durant simply said something like “Phil’s a great coach and he’s entitled to his opinion” and left it at that, the story would have died quickly. Instead, he got defensive and it became a bigger story that is going to follow him around for the rest of the series, maybe longer.

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