Milwaukee Bucks: Kevin Durant, Bill Simmons Talk Giannis Antetokounmpo
By Adam McGee
As Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s star continues to rise, Kevin Durant spoke glowingly about the young Buck on a podcast with Bill Simmons.
It’s not taking any real leap to say that Milwaukee Bucks fans could do with some cheering up after all of the talk of Jabari Parker‘s injury in the past 24 hours.
Luckily enough, Bill Simmons and Kevin Durant may have just the remedy too.
The Warriors forward, former MVP and eight-time All-Star joined Simmons for a lengthy interview on The Bill Simmons Podcast. The interview, which posted late on Thursday night, sees Durant talk candidly on subjects such as his relationship with Russell Westbrook, his motivation for joining the Warriors, LeBron’s decision and, perhaps most relevant to Bucks fans, the best up-and-comers in the league today.
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As Simmons directed the conversation to this subject, it quickly became clear that there was only really one player who Durant wanted to talk about.
With comparisons between the two a common feature in recent years, there has always been some level of a connection between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant.
Giannis has been asked about the comparison many times before, Durant has previously praised the Greek’s potential, but in his comments to Simmons this time around it’s very clear that KD believes Giannis has moved far beyond the point of potential.
Here’s a brief transcript of some of the Giannis discussion:
"Durant: Look at Giannis Antetokounmpo, man. This guy is scary. Him and Jabari Parker together is scary.Simmons: He’s even more of a unicorn than you were.Durant: I think for me, he’s more athletic than I am, he’s longer than me, he’s faster, he’s going to be stronger than I am.Simmons: Was he on your radar immediately?Durant: I seen how hard he played his rookie year and I said, ‘This guy plays extremely hard’. And a lot of people told me that he looked up to me, and I didn’t know that, but a lot of people said it. And we played in Milwaukee one time and I was working out before the game and I just seen him staring. Just watching me the whole time. And I was like, man, it feels good that I could influence a young guy like that.Simmons: Yeah, for that whole generation now, you’re the guy. The same way you looked at Kobe.Durant: Yeah, it’s pretty dope. And that’s what I wanted. I wanted to influence those guys, to have them look at me as like, ‘Man, that’s the standard’, so to see him playing well, I’m loving it right now. He’s one of those guys I really enjoy watching him play, and I watch him play a lot, and then I play against him and I’m like, this guy is dangerous, man."
Pressed a little further by Simmons on how he sees his role or responsibilities to rising stars as one of the league’s already proven superstars, Durant reverted back to talking about Giannis.
"“When I’m done in the game, I’ll be like ‘Giannis, you’re doing it well. At 30-years-old, you’re going to be one of the greatest players to have ever played. I’m happy for you.’ A lot of those players now don’t really say that to us.”"
You can find the entire interview below. Trust me, it’s worth listening to in full.
Next: Milwaukee Bucks: 5 Biggest Questions Following Jabari Parker Injury News
Even facing up to a year without Jabari Parker, it’s reassuring to hear just how highly thought of Giannis now is among the league’s best players.