Even at the age of 35, the ruthlessness of Kevin Durant on the basketball court remains as potent as always. His former Phoenix Suns teammate, Ishmail Wainright confirmed that some time ago after witnessing it first-hand in practice. In a recent episode of the PHNX Sports podcast, he revealed his frustration as the ex-Suns star wanted to fight the 2-time champion.

Nov 25, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Russell Westbrook (0) controls the ball against Dallas Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr. (55) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

When Durant first arrived in Arizona from New York City, he was training to increase his match sharpness to feature in games. Then head coach, Monty Williams, thus shouldered Ishmail the responsibility of guarding KD in practice. Looking back on it, the podcast guest stated, “I’ve had to go against KD like every single day, one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three and that was my matchup”.

The task used to anger the 6’5 power forward as he highlighted, “I was so mad I wanted to fight KD after practice”. Delving into the details, he revealed, “Coach Mont was on a bike and I’m playing three-on-three. I’m hitting him, slapping him and he gets to his spot. My hand is in his face. He doesn’t even see me. I’m like, ‘Oh’”.

So, the process annoyed the 29-year-old but the head coach encouraged him, saying, “Keep playing, keep playing”. Wainright was also far from giving us he left his all on the floor.“They setting screens, I’m going through screens. Get off me. He gets to the spot and rise up and I think he hit the game-winner over me and I was pissed,” he mentioned. Despite his best efforts, the Missouri-born failed to put a break into Kevin’s momentum.

Soon after that, Monty called Ishamil as he stated, “It’s okay. You know why? Because he’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game’”. During that moment, the 2014 MVP also paid his respect to the attitude of the Suns’ former rotation player. “K is walking over. He said, ‘Bro, Ish, nobody is ever going to play me like that,’” Wainright revealed.

The Basketball Legacy of Kevin Durant

Since his arrival in the NBA back in 2007, Durant has made a name for himself with his style and effectiveness. Shooting 49.9% from the field in his career, he is currently eleventh on the all-time top scorer list. This further proved why Monty had every right to say those comforting words to Ishmail.

In this particular instance, the unfazed attitude from the 13x All-Star showcased his immense level of self-belief. He had displayed it previously on numerous occasions. A year back, in fact, Kevin called himself “God” to openly back himself in an unfavorable situation.

Even at this stage of his career, his hunger for betterment has not shrunk a bit. His performances till now this season are also testaments of that. Averaging higher than career average in points per game and field goal percentage this season, another MVP season for him is hard to rule out at this stage.