Kevin Durant on Benefits of Have Extended Rehab as He’s out of the NBA Bubble

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant said that one of the benefits of his rehab is that it allows him to play more one-on-one basketball than usual.

Appearing on the Play for Keeps podcast, KD said that he has been able to work on his “creativity” as of late. Durant has been playing with Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin and Allonzo Trier.

“I’m playing a lot of one-on-one lately, so what comes with that is your handle is a little better. You’re more quicker with your moves. You’re less indecisive with what you want to bring out. So I’m just crafting that, that playground style of ball even more, just working out by myself or with two or three guys,” the Nets star said about his rehab.

That’s the cool part about it because it’s hard to get that type of play in a regular season because you’re going through the team aspect, you’re training with the team and you want to preserve your body for the season. So if I’m playing 1-on-1 or 2-on-2s, it’s just going to help my creativity. That’s the timing thing that every injured player goes through. Just finding that rhythm again. Hopefully I gain it over time and once I get into real games it translates real fast.

I was at a level where I was focused in on every possession, so I want to get back to that point.”

The Nets will be NBA Championship contenders next season with Durant and Irving finally healthy. KD said that one of the main reasons why he joined the Nets is because he really wanted to play with Irving.

Durant is one the greatest scorers in league history, a two-time NBA champion and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. KD has averaged 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 36.9 minutes over 849 games across 12 seasons with the Thunder and Warriors.