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NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

May 31, 2017

Kevin Durant

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. What do you think it's going to take you to win Game 1 tomorrow?
KEVIN DURANT: Just a lot of energy and a lot of toughness and ferocity. Is that a word? Yeah.

Q. Draymond was just in here, and he was talking. He was asked a question about does he feel like more pressure is on you because you signed with Golden State, and he talked about how you put the most pressure on yourself and you don't worry about outside forces or what they think. Can you expand on that a little bit?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I'm just trying to be the best me I can be. That's the only pressure I worry about. If I don't play up to my standards, then that's what -- that's when I get upset. I have bad games, but it's just a matter of me just trying to be the best me I can be, go out there and work extremely hard on my game and try to showcase it.

Q. You talk about improving. What aspect of your game do you think you improved in this season? What area are you proudest of?
KEVIN DURANT: I think I just -- just all the skills that I had already, I just became more patient with it, I worked from everything, from pull-up jump shots to catch and shoots to ball handling, I feel like I just worked on every part of it and I was able to use more of my package this season. There's times I had to play the post, times I had to score in the off-cuts or off catches, shoots, or off handling the ball in the pick and roll, off isolation. So I just tried to do my best to work on all of those situations. And whenever my name is called out there as far as a play that's being ran for me, I try to make sure I got every part of the court covered as scorer and go out there and execute. So I just worked on all parts of my game and just tried to get those better.

Q. Do you see any scenario other than LeBron defending you, anybody else, anything else they might do? They have used him a little differently defensively in the Playoffs, but with you guys, do you imagine he will be on you?
KEVIN DURANT: I don't know. I'm sure he will. We'll see tomorrow.

Q. I have one question and a follow-up. First, I heard you talk about your game.
KEVIN DURANT: So you got two questions?

Q. Yes. Yes. First when you addressed your game just earlier, can you talk a little bit about how Steve Nash has helped you progress in that sense?
KEVIN DURANT: Well, Steve has been great. I wish he would come around more, but he want to sit on the beach in Los Angeles instead of helping me get better at my game. But that's another story.

But he's come in, worked on my balance, just worked on just the fundamentals of the game. And he's been great. Somebody I really lean on throughout the season to just help me just navigate through what I should be doing out there as a basketball player. So he's been great. What's your second question?

Q. If you could describe your hunger to get a ring and how much does the fact that so many of your peers now have a ring, is this your best chance and how do you go about getting that, I guess?
KEVIN DURANT: Well, just approach basketball like I always have, which is with love and care and hard work, and we'll see what happens. It's a team game. I can't go out there and do everything on my own, or I can't go out there and just let my teammates do all the work for me. I got to do my part and we all got to make it come together as a group.

So that's the most important thing, but individually, just work on my game, like I said, approach the game like I always do, and we'll see what happens.

Q. I guess there's a third question. Is there a danger in trying to do too much?
KEVIN DURANT: What you mean?

Q. Of being in the situation, being so close, is there a danger of trying to do too much to get that ring?
KEVIN DURANT: What's like too much?

Q. Well, you said you couldn't do it by yourself or try and do it all by yourself. Is there an itch to try to do that?
KEVIN DURANT: No, I'm just saying because it's a team sport and individuals don't win alone in a team sport. This is not like golf or tennis or -- yeah, you get what I'm saying. It's just a team sport. That's all I'm saying. And we all got to do it together. I know I got to do my part and be locked in to help the team win.

Q. What has Ron Adams meant to the way you guys have played defense down the stretch when you were out and just your time with him prior to being here?
KEVIN DURANT: I think just his basketball mind's just been around the game for so long, he's experienced so much as a coach and -- but our whole catching staff, they collaborate on everything and they work together on every single thing. So obviously Ron is our guy defensively, but JC chimes in, Coach Kerr, Mike Brown, everybody chimes in and we come up with a plan that can help for the whole team. So it's not like just one guy has his own segment in practice, it's like everybody chips in. I think that's what makes us pretty good.

Q. How would you describe his approach as a defensive mind, I guess?
KEVIN DURANT: Well, it's just simple. Stop the ball, guard your man one-on-one and help your teammate if they need help. We just try to preach that to us every single day, and it has sort of come like second nature to us.

Q. Compare with The Finals, your last Finals. It's been five years past. So do you think individually how much better you are now, can you say that this year is the best year that you have had in your career?
KEVIN DURANT: I don't even know. I haven't even thought about that. I don't think I ever will until maybe I'm done playing. So I can't do your job for you. It's a joke.

(Laughter.)

But, I mean, like I said, I just take it a day at a time, man. I try not to think about this year was better than the last. I know I've grown as a player just through experience from the last five years, but if I don't go out there and execute, none of that matters. I still got to do -- I still got to do my routine, come in and put in the same work and go out there and execute on the court, no matter what I've been through.

So I'm here now and everything happened in the past, it happened, and I learned from it and hopefully it makes me better this time around.

MODERATOR: Thanks, Kevin.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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