Photo : Ezra Shaw ( Getty ) Here’s a recent quote from the 2008 Rookie of the Year, 2014 MVP, and eight-time All-NBA selection, who has won the Finals MVP two years running, and who elected, on two separate instances, to sign with the Golden State Warriors: “You know they’re not going to give me anything.” When asked why he’s been treated this way in Defensive Player of the Year voting, Draymond Green’s teammate said, “I mean, it’s just pure hate for me, obviously. Um, and no appreciation for my real skill for the game.” Advertisement For no particular reason, here are some excerpts of an extremely famous 1961 Joan Didion essay: The dismal fact is that self-respect has nothing to do with the approval of others—who are, after all, deceived easily enough; has nothing to do with reputation—which, as Rhett Butler told Scarlett O’Hara, is something that people with courage can do without. Ah. To live without self-respect is to lie awake some night, beyond the reach of warm milk, phenobarbital, and the sleeping hand on the coverlet, counting up the sins of commission and omission, the trusts betrayed, the promises subtly broken, the gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth or cowardice or carelessness. However long we post-pone it, we eventually lie down alone in that notoriously un- comfortable bed, the one we make ourselves. Whether or not we sleep in it depends, of course, on whether or not we respect ourselves. Huh. Like Jordan Baker, people with self-respect have the courage of their mistakes. They know the price of things. If they choose to [sign with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors], they do not then go running, in an access of bad conscience, to receive absolution from the wronged parties; nor do they complain unduly of the unfairness, the undeserved embarrassment, of being named corespondent. Advertisement Mhm. To have that sense of one’s intrinsic worth which, for better or for worse, constitutes self-respect, is potentially to have everything: the ability to discriminate, to love and to remain indifferent. To lack it is to be locked within oneself, paradoxically incapable of either love or indifference. If we do not respect ourselves, we are on the one hand forced to despise those who have so few resources as to consort with us, so little perception as to remain blind to our fatal weaknesses. On the other, we are peculiarly in thrall to everyone we see, curiously determined to live out—since our self-image is untenable—their false notions of us. Advertisement That was On Self-Respect. Thanks, Joan!<doc-sep>Kevin Durant adjusted his insecurity crosshairs from social media to traditional, who “have no appreciation for my real skill.” (Getty) All of the greats find fuel to drive them. For Tiger Woods, it’s Jack Nicklaus. For Michael Jordan, it was a burning desire to beat everybody at everything. For Kevin Durant, it appears to be an overwhelming insecurity and persecution complex driven by an obsession with media, social and otherwise. Durant turns crosshairs from social media to sports media While Durant has provided plenty of fodder feuding with fans and players on social media, sometimes using burner accounts, sometimes not, his latest beef with sports media may have provided the best insight into his psyche as a professional athlete. When asked on Tuesday on a radio interview with the Bay Area’s 95.7 why he thought he didn’t get more consideration for Defensive Player of the Year last year, Durant let it fly. “I mean, it’s just pure hate for me obviously.” – KD on why he didn’t get more support for DPOY 🔥 #warriors pic.twitter.com/yABLAnF96t — 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) September 25, 2018 “You know they’re not gonna give me anything,” Durant said of the media. “Even if it’s on the fence, I have to be clear-cut better than everybody for me to even get a look.” This, from a guy who won his second straight NBA Finals MVP award last year when many thought Stephen Curry was the rightful recipient. Durant: ‘Pure hate for me, obviously’ But he didn’t stop there. “It’s just pure hate for me, obviously, no appreciation for my real skill for the game,” Durant said. “But I get it. I understand where we’re coming from.” Durant appears to still be angry about having just one NBA MVP award, which came in 2014. He’s also been voted to the All-NBA first team six times and second team twice in addition to his Rookie of the Year award in 2008. Story continues These were all voted on by media members and awards that he rightfully deserved. And voters don’t always get the MVP right. Just ask Shaquille O’Neal. But his victimhood isn’t going to draw the sympathy of many. Durant’s choice Since Durant joined the Warriors, he’s sacrificed his chances at individual accolades in exchange for a shot at championships. Sharing the ball with that many All-Stars is going to dampen stats and diminish awards chances. Durant addressed that as well. “Accolades, that stuff. That stuff is kind of long gone for me unless it’s like Finals or something like that where it’s probably pretty even,” Durant said. “But regular season awards, I mean I’m never gonna get a look when it comes to that, especially playing here for the Warriors.” He’s right. He probably won’t. But that’s a choice he made, not some vast conspiracy against him. But it’s all OK. Durant is one of the best players to play the game and has maintained a sky-high level of play throughout his career. If this is part of what drives him to maintain his level of excellence, then so be it. Whatever it takes. He just shouldn’t expect people to like him for it. More from Yahoo Sports: • Panthers sign S Eric Reid, longtime Kap ally • Ex-NBAer Chris Dudley defends former classmate Brett Kavanaugh • Ohio State gets blasted for posting ‘Silence’ graphic on Twitter • Rick Reilly confounds Justin Thomas with awkward Ryder Cup question<doc-sep>Many players throughout the NBA believe they would have won some award or received some honor if they played on a better team with more exposure. And then there’s Kevin Durant, who plays for the Warriors, the NBA’s best and maybe most popular team. Durant on Defensive Player of the Year, as transcribed by Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area: “You know they’re not gonna give me anything,” Durant said Monday on 95.7 The Game. “Even if it’s on the fence, I have to be clear-cut better than everybody for me to even get a look. “It’s just pure hate for me, obviously, and no appreciation for my real skill for the game. But I get it. I understand where we coming from. I understand what we have here in this building that scares everybody. “But for me, I was just proud of the growth that I had in that area. I just wanted to be able to be relied on to guard anybody — whether it was helping guys at the rim, switching out onto point guards — so I just tried to do everything. I feel like I grew so much on the defensive side of the ball last year. “I feel like my whole game is unlocked now, when I was able to see the things I can do on that side of the basketball. … I’m never gonna get a look when it comes to that, especially playing here for the Warriors.” That’s a whole lot of persecution complex. And it’s only fueled by his teammates. Draymond Green said last December Durant was running away with Defensive Player of the Year. Ultimately, Durant finished ninth in voting for the award, which Jazz center Rudy Gobert won. But Durant didn’t deserve Defensive Player of the Year. Durant expanded his defensive abilities, improving as a rim-protector – commendable, but not as valuable considering slippage elsewhere. He wasn’t as sharp overall as a defensive rebounder and perimeter defender, even though he put those previously existing skills to use at times. There’s no wider agenda here. In two seasons since joining Golden State, Durant has won two NBA Finals MVPs (which he acknowledged). He has made the All-NBA first team and All-NBA second team. And he has finished seventh and ninth in MVP voting. Durant gets a lot of credit, because he deserves a lot of credit. He just didn’t come close to deserving Defensive Player of the Year.<doc-sep>The firepower possessed by the Warriors, who have won the past two NBA titles — with Durant earning Finals MVP honors both times — and three of the past four, all before adding all-star center DeMarcus Cousins this year, certainly should put a scare into other NBA teams. It’s less clear, however, why Durant thinks that the 100 basketball journalists who vote on the league’s official awards would be so terrified that they might be inclined to hold it against him.<doc-sep>
Since joining the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2016, Kevin Durant has become arguably the most polarizing player in the NBA -- possibly a close second in the entire U.S. sports universe behind Colin Kaepernick. Many viewed Durant's decision to join the 73-win Warriors rather than sticking with the Oklahoma City Thunder as cowardly, evil, ridiculous, or pretty much any other adjective you can think of. In the years that have followed, Durant has won two titles and has continued to speak his mind via Twitter and other media, eagerly confronting those who take issue with him. KD was at it again on Wednesday, as he sat down with 95.7 The Game to discuss the upcoming season. When the topic shifted to postseason awards like Defensive Player of the Year, Durant explained why it will be difficult for him to get them. "You know they're not gonna give me anything," Durant said. "Even if it's on the fence, I have to be clear-cut better than everybody for me to even get a look. ... I mean, it's just pure hate for me obviously, and no appreciation for my real skill for the game. But I get it. I understand where we're coming from. I understand what we have here in this building that scares everybody. " ... You know, accolades, that stuff -- that stuff is kind of long gone for me unless it's like Finals or something like that where it's probably pretty even. But regular season awards, I mean I'm never gonna get a look when it comes to that, especially playing here for the Warriors." Durant won Rookie of the Year as a member of the then-SuperSonics and took home league MVP in 2013-14, but he has yet to win a regular-season award in two years with Golden State. He was the clear-cut winner of NBA Finals MVP in 2017, but some felt Stephen Curry was more deserving of the award when Durant took home his second straight this past June. As for Defensive Player of the Year, Durant has made tremendous strides in that area since coming to the Bay Area. He's averaged a career-high in blocked shots in each of the past two seasons, and his ability to guard multiple positions with his freakish length has been an invaluable asset to the Warriors' defensive scheme. We can't be sure if it's "pure hate," that he hasn't yet earned All-Defense honors, as Durant suggests, but it's probably hard for voters to even think about Durant as Defensive Player of the Year when his own teammate, Draymond Green, is widely considered one of the best, if not the best, defenders in the NBA. Oh well. Whatever motivation it takes for Durant to continue to play at this incredible level is fine by us.