‘It’ll come naturally’: Kevin Durant remains positive as he nears NBA return

Nets Star Kevin Durant has confirmed this week that he is fit, healthy and ready to make his return to NBA basketball.

“Every drill that I’ve done, I’ve been going as hard as I could,” Durant said in a conference with reporters this week.

“I mean, I’ve been in the league for 14 years. Even if I didn’t have an Achilles’, I probably wouldn’t be 100 percent, you know? So the wear and tear over time, I guess, but I feel solid,” he added.

The NBA announced on Wednesday that the Nets will host the Golden State Warriors on the opening night of the 2020-21 season, that is December 22.

After all the delay caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA training camps are now getting underway. Hence, Durant’s return to the court is good news both for the Nets team and their fan base.

Durant will try to return to the standards he had set prior to his injury but he knows that the road to the top once again isn’t going to be easy and hence, he needs to take ot one game at a time.

“I definitely used to have crazy anxiety wondering how I was going to play the next day or the next series and it used to drive me crazy, you know what I’m saying?” Durant said. “With my mental health, I guess, it’s easier for me to have this approach just to wait and see what happens and then falling back on the work that I’ve put in.

“If I fall back on that work, I won’t have to worry too much about what will happen. I already know it’ll come naturally.”

The last time Durant played an NBA game was 18 months ago. He tore an Achilles’ tendon during Game 5 of the 2018-19 N.B.A. finals. It was a time when he was considered as one of the best basketball players in the world. Durant won the Most Valuable Player Award in 2013-14 and was selected for 10 All-Star games as well. Not only that, he won two Championships with the warriors and bagged the MVP award in the finals each time as well.