Speaking on the podcast of former Memphis Grizzlies players Tony Allen and Zach Randolph, Kevin Durant expressed a bold opinion on the relationship between American and European basketball.
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KD’s Position
The NBA star, one of the top scorers in the league’s history, dismissed discussions about the increasing convergence between the two styles of play, arguing that “Americans created basketball and Europeans were influenced by it.”
Despite his stance, Durant acknowledged the contributions of great European players to the sport, citing notable examples such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Manu Ginobili, Toni Kukoč, Luka Dončić, Victor Wembanyama, and Nikola Jokić.
Durant’s detailed comments:
“We created basketball. They were influenced by us. Luka Dončić was influenced by Americans. So was Jokić. So was Toni Kukoč. So was Ginobili. Parker. All these guys were influenced by Americans.
We set the blueprint. It’s definitely nice for people who want to live the history. I was there to see the changing of the guard between Americans and Europeans.
People want to try to change the narrative and get excited about something, while the reality is that we have been dominating them the whole time. And now that they finally got within 20 points, they say they are catching up.
No, it doesn’t make sense. The best players come from the places we come from. We set the standard for being something great in basketball.
There will be players like Wembanyama, Jokić, Antetokounmpo. I don’t want to put Shai there because Canada is next door. If you want to look at three players and say they got close to the Americans, you can’t just use three players to make that statement, saying they are starting to catch up now.
Or because there was a close game with Serbia. I don’t believe they are close. The fact that they are given credit just because they were in a close game with us shows that they can’t even compete with us.”