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GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 22, 2017

Kevin Durant

Oakland, California

Q. Can you just take us through what this past week, the different emotions just given what happened with the Twitter stuff?
KEVIN DURANT: Nothing really. I mean, I moved past it. I spoke on it and looking forward to starting camp tomorrow.

Q. Kevin, you were pretty forceful in the summer about your thoughts about visiting the White House. And everyone's kind of come up and said the team will discuss it. It hasn't been decided but Steph was like, it's going to be tough to change my mind. Where are you at right now with that?
KEVIN DURANT: It's going to be tough to change my mind, but we're going to talk about it as a team and figure out the next steps from there.

Q. What are some -- you seem like you accomplished everything there was team-wise and individually last year. What are still some goals of you moving on to the next season?
KEVIN DURANT: Just do more of it. Just do more of what we did last year, try to duplicate the success, knowing it's a different season, knowing that we've got to leave that in the past, and just try to get better from it.

And we know we're not thinking about being better than last year at all. It's a new season. It's come in, work hard from day one, man, and see where it takes us.

Q. What was it like when you walk into this locker room and you're the new guy, and when you think about Nick and Omri, like, is it a little intimidating? I know you're a great player, but is it a little intimidating walking into this group and trying to fit in?
KEVIN DURANT: No, I think those guys, Omri and Nick, you know, they feel like they walked in here, feel like they belonged, feel like they've been here with us for a while. And nobody on the team is -- Steph and Dray and Klay and myself, Andre, (indiscernible), we just feel like we welcome everybody in.

They did the same with me last year. And it feels the same way this year. So looking forward to going out there and getting on the court with everybody tomorrow.

Q. How does Nick fit in from a game and also a personality standpoint?
KEVIN DURANT: I think his personality fits perfectly. Just being who he is, just a lot of energy, just a lot of excitement around, just playing for us. But on top of that Nick just always has that energy and excitement with him. It just feels that way every time I see him.

So to be able to work with him every day is going to be a joy. And I know his game is going to translate, a guy that can shoot the ball, can score, create for everybody. I'm looking forward to going out there and getting better with him.

Q. Also a question regarding Nick. I know that you went with Coach Kerr to talk to him this summer. What was your message to him? And what do you remember specifically from when you were on the other side of that that you maybe tried to bring to that conversation?
KEVIN DURANT: I just told him that it's a great environment. He'll have fun playing basketball here every day. And he came the next week.

Q. Are you pretty amazed that this roster came back together the way it did? You had spoken at the end of the year just how you were committed to doing that, taking whatever you needed to do financially but still it took -- you've got everybody back almost?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I mean, guys wanted to be back. And we have good communication from the front office. Bob and the rest of the staff communicates with all the players. So it's great to see everybody back and see if we can do this thing again.

It's going to be an exciting year for us, and glad that Steph is back and Dray and Dodd, and glad that we got everybody back together and ready to start playing together again.

Q. How strong is the chemistry of this team and ready are you guys to deal with all that's already happened and is about to happen as people constantly talk about you guys? And secondarily Draymond said he laughed at you. Was it at all the way he handled that, did that help you get through it or help you deal with it better?
KEVIN DURANT: What was your first question again, I'm sorry, the chemistry?

Q. Yeah.
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I think our chemistry been good. Our chemistry is all about how you play on the court. And I think everybody has a good feel of what we need to do on the basketball court. And we all have good personalities here in the locker room.

So just a matter of just getting on the court, just getting better, finding that rhythm again. And Draymond laughs at everything.

Q. You mentioned at the end of the season that you got a text from an ex-girlfriend. I'm sure the offseason has just been like a wild moment for you, a lot of people, tenth cousins removed and all that kind of crazy stuff. Did you get any other texts from someone from your past or someone that you were excited about, say an actor, entertainer?
KEVIN DURANT: No, nobody. No. And if I did, I'll keep that to myself. We'll talk about that later.

Q. It's been a while since you made a decision to give up a lot of money, many millions, in your contract situation. What was the origination for that? When did you really decide, hey, I don't need to get the max or even the non-Bird max, and could you see doing it again?
KEVIN DURANT: I'm blessed enough to make a lot of money and blessed enough to take care of my family. It's a great feeling when you don't have to make decisions based on that. And that's what I did, just made the decision on how I felt. And I wanted to be back here no matter what and we worked it out.

Q. (Off-microphone).
KEVIN DURANT: We'll see. We'll see. I don't know. I'm just taking it a day at a time. When that time comes, we'll figure it out. But for right now focus on tomorrow.

Q. You've had a little time to reflect on the championship now. Does the fire for another one feel any different? Does it burn any less brightly than what you were feeling before?
KEVIN DURANT: It's a different feeling. I mean, you just know what's important. Just going on the court, you still have to play no matter what. You can have the desire and feel like you deserve to win another one, or you feel like you're going to get there. All of this aura around the game may feel like we're going to go there for sure, but we've still gotta go out there and produce and play and get better on the court.

If we focus on that, just focus on that, we'll see what happens. Try not to think too far down the line. It's a long season. Anything can happen. Just focus on how we can get better minute by minute in practice and the rest will take care of itself.

Q. Kevin, as much as you had success individually and the team did last year, the fact that you're back with the same group, are there specific things that you envisioned becoming easier this season than last year?
KEVIN DURANT: I don't think anything in this game is easier. I think for us it's just a matter of us, from the beginning, you know, knowing what we have to do, knowing what our goal is, and coming to work every day.

It's simple. I think everybody here is -- everybody here is a professional and knows how to work and knows how to bring something to the table and knows what they have to do in order for us to be a good team. If we all come in and bring a small part of us, and make it into a group, we'll be fine.

Q. Last year, when you came here, you obviously had come into a whole new place, a whole new way of doing things. Curious to know now, that year behind you, are you accustomed to what they do around here and how they do it? I know you said --
KEVIN DURANT: How we do it?

Q. You and David, you were all like this is unusual setting the goals around here, how you do it, are you totally down with that? You seemed to be last year. And what does that mean going into this year?
KEVIN DURANT: Just means that when the music is going to come on before practice starts. I know usually when Coach is going to turn it off. I know different segments in practice he might throw out there. So nothing is a surprise.

So just knowing that stuff, knowing exactly how we're going to start practice. So just knowing that is definitely easier for me coming in, just knowing that flow and that rhythm of how practice goes and that definitely makes life as an NBA player easier when you know that flow.

So, I'm excited about that. I'm looking forward to just getting back out there with the guys again. It seemed like it's been a long summer but also seemed like we just got done a couple days ago.

So it's good to just flow right into the season again.

Q. (Indiscernible) saying you guys are deeper, even better this season. Do you agree with that?
KEVIN DURANT: I didn't hear the first part.

Q. Steve was saying earlier he thinks you guys will be better this year than you were last year partly because you're deeper.
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I mean also that experience. We've got just about everybody back from the championship team and adding Nick and Omri and two guys that are veterans that know how to play. We should be deeper we've got a lot of size, too, coming off the bench but it's a matter of us going out there and staying locked in and that's always been the mindset for us staying locked in and for each moment whether it's five minutes of defense tomorrow with Ron Adams, whether it's ten minutes with "Q" going over our offensive set, just staying locked in exactly to the moments we need to be locked in.

Start from day one, see where it takes us.

Q. Are you any more excited or interested because of the teams around you particularly at the top changed so much this year particularly Houston, OKC and Cleveland?
KEVIN DURANT: No, I'm just focused on us, focused on how we can get better every single day. Those teams are amazing teams that will have great seasons I'm sure but it's tough enough to worry about yourself and worry about someone else. So I would just rather focus on us.

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