# Some Interesting Durant/Oden Quotes From SLAM



## MAS RipCity (Feb 22, 2003)

I just got my new SLAM in the mail today and Oden and Durant are gracing the cover. Here are some quotes from each that scare, intrigue, and make me question my personal preference of each player.

*SLAM: Why should you be the first pick in the draft?*
*GO:Because I'm going to be a hard worker. I'm going to come in and I'm going to contribute. I'm going to play my game and I'm not going to try to take over and mess up the atmosphere. I'm going to be a good person, I'll do my part, work hard, and do what's best for my team to win.*
*Durant: I think I have a winning mentality. Even though I'm young, I can bring leadership to an organization. I'M JUST COLD-BLOODED. I REALLY DON'T CARE. WHOEVER'S IN FRONT OF ME, I'M GOING TO DO MY BEST TO DESTROY THEM. Younger people might back down sometimes, but I think I'm a tough player and I don't back down from anything-I accept challenges. I know it's going to be hard, but everything you have to face is hard. I'll be young, and I'm sure people will write me off and say I'm too small or not ready, but I've been going through that my whole life.*

Equaly good answers by both. I love that GO is humble and willing to sacrifice his own stats for the good of the team, but KD is just nasty. Saying he is cold-blooded puts those MJ thoughts into my head, or to a lesser extent Kobe Bryant(minus the tude). He just has a passion to get better. After reading the SLAM article, I will definately support KP's pick of Durant if he choses so after the interview process.

*SLAM: Who are you looking forward to playing against in the NBA?*
*Oden: Definately not Shaq. Dwight Howard either. He's like my idol. I watch his highlight tapes all the time and I've seen him dunk on some people. I do not want to have a poster in SLAM magazine, the center page, Slamadamonth. I do not want to have Greg Oden's head in the rim. I am not looking forward to that next year.*
*Durant: Everybody. It's going to be fun, man. I'm going to be a little starstruck knowing that i wachted all them growing up. I planned for this when I was younger, thaat one day I'd make it to the NBA and get drafted. My dream moment is here, and hopefully I don't get knocked all the way down to the second round or soemthing like that. I just want to be in the NBA and contribute. It's going to be fun.*

Durant goes with the sterotypical answer. Even our own Roy said it took him a few seconds to shake it off after playing in his first game against Ray Allen. Oden's quotes scare the hell out of me.I don't know if he was joking or not, but this isn't the first time saying he would be scared. he also said he was sscared to go against Aldridge in AAU ball as underclassmen in High School. He doesn't want to go against the best? He should know by now that he's going to be the one doing the posterizing, not the other way around. I know he is still a kid, but the way he talks sometimes scares me that we may be taking the wrong dude.

*SLAM: When did you realize you were going to be a great college player?*
*Oden: In my mind, I always have doubts, just wondering how I'm going to be able to play in any game that I play. So me, comming into college, I was worried about how I was going to play. I was scared; I had my qrist injury and I thought that was going to set me back even more. Things turned out well, but believe me, every game I'm nervous, I'm sweating, my heart's pounding. I get butterflies before every game.*
*Durant: I never knew I was going to score like I did. My teammates was the biggest thing. They got me the ball in the right positions to score and ran a lot of plays for me, so it really wasn't all me. When we played pick-up games before the season, I was thinking, Man, maybe I can be al right in college on of these days. As I continued to work harder i got better every day. It just translated to the court.*

Durant actually credits his teammates a lot during the interview and even claims he is a better passer than given credit for. I just don't know what to make of Oden. Did the other greats get butterflies before games? I know he played well on the court, which is really where it all matters. I guess all of the pressure of being the bext big high school phenom has taken it's toll on Oden and now it will folow him to the pros, so he should have some slack. I mean I get nervous before games too, but it goes away for me during games (although it doesn't make me a great player though like Oden  )

All in all, I loved most of Durant's answers and Oden's for the most part. Durant is more a team-oriented guy than I thought and Oden would fit in perfectly in a city and team like Portland. The one thing that sticks out in my min i Durant's cold-bloode quote and how Oden doesn't want to play against some players? Don't the best want to play and beat the best?


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## Omega (Apr 11, 2005)

for what its worth on the topic of nervousness bill russell threw up before each and every single game. 13 seasons 11 championships and 5 mvps later..


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## GrandpaBlaze (Jul 11, 2004)

I look at it as two sides of the same coin.

Oden fears not showing well so will go all out not to be posterized; he feels he needs to prove that he is up to the job.

Durant likewise want to prove himself against the best and is looking forward to testing himself against the best.

One is a bit star-struck and worried he'll fail and the other seems to show a little too much exuberance in his desire to play against the best.

I think both will do well but I also believe both will occasionally be posterized.

Gramps...


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## MAS RipCity (Feb 22, 2003)

Sadly, that does make me feel better...I am on edge right now. If we pick the wrong guy here, I honestly don;t think we'll ever get a chance to make it right again.


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## Webster's Dictionary (Feb 26, 2004)

I take him "not wanting to go up against the best players" meaning he knows there's a learning curve. He knows he's going to have rookie mistakes. Nobody wants to be on someone else's poster. I think that the second he gets out there, he knows what he needs to do. If Pritch really believes that Durrant is the better player for this team, and will give us more championships then I support his decision. I just don't know how he could think that.:biggrin:


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## Spoolie Gee (Feb 3, 2005)

Oden is just humble and being funny. He's said before that he doesnt want to get dunked on and will make people pay for trying it. He doesnt show any fear on the court at all.


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## Ukrainefan (Aug 1, 2003)

Yeh, some of those things about Oden bother me a little bit too. I saw somewhere he even said it was scary thinking about needing to take a thousand jump shots to improve his. And it's interesting he says he's going to be a hard worker, not that he is a hard worker. I know it's nitpicking, but it's still bothersome.


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## Spoolie Gee (Feb 3, 2005)

Maybe we should contact that body language chick that Bill Orly always has on his show and see if she can pick apart Oden some more for us.


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## PorterIn2004 (Jan 1, 2003)

Oden, while not necessarily more honest, is more willing to look at the doubts and uncertainties than most other players -- likely because at core he's more confident than most other players.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

You know the only player I ever saw "dominate" Oden since he was 14 was Al Jefferson. This is a kid who meets challenges and plays hard. To me, he seems like the kind of guy who really doesn't want to give his opponents reasons to try to put a target on him.

In some ways he's the anti-Shaq. He's not going to degrade his opponent in hopes of embarrassing them. He's just going to play hard, help his team win and take a shower after the game. No silly quotes, no stupid nicknames. Just playing the game.


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

It shouldn't surprise anyone to see Oden talking like that. He has always done that. He is humble and seems to give everybody else credit but himself. In a way, he can almost be self depricating at times...which I find humorous, since I tend to do the same. I remember reading an article about Greg a couple of years ago while he was still in highschool. In the article there were several quotes from Greg about how he didn't think he was very good and that several of his teammates, inccluding Mike Connelly, were the reason for his team winning so much. Now do I beleive that to be true? No. Is it his genuine feeling? Possibly. 

He is just a humble guy.

prunetang


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

HKF said:


> He's just going to play hard, help his team win and take a shower after the game.


Question is, does Durant shower after the game? How hard does he shower? Does he practice showering, and if so, how many times per day? Has he showered with big-time players, and if so, how did he do? 

barfo


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

barfo said:


> Question is, does Durant shower after the game? How hard does he shower? Does he practice showering, and if so, how many times per day? Has he showered with big-time players, and if so, how did he do?


Can you dunk in a shower or is it only possible in a bath?


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## Zybot (Jul 22, 2004)

barfo said:


> Question is, does Durant shower after the game? How hard does he shower? Does he practice showering, and if so, how many times per day? Has he showered with big-time players, and if so, how did he do?
> 
> barfo


I heard that he couldn't even shower 185 times, and that Oden's shower time was quicker than Durant's shower time.

Remember a couple years ago when Gerald Green only wanted to shower by himself and we took Webster who did really well when he showered with Nate Robinson?


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