Kevin Durant: The Road to Redemption

For former MVP Kevin Durant, he is still the Best Baller in the Planet.

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Balling and Blogging Featured Article

By Onie Dator, Blogger September 13, 2015

   Around 9 months ago, I  told my students that in life, they didn't really need a million people to believe in them. In fact, they only needed to convince one person to actually do so. And that was none other than the person they see whenever they look at the mirror.

   Confidence is technically defined as freedom from doubt and believing in one's self and abilities. Some say that confidence separates the great individuals from the mere average ones. It is something that propels individuals to go beyond their so-called limitations and to end up doing more than what others expect. To simply put it, confidence is extremely essential in terms of allowing someone to succeed in his/ her personal endeavors. Yet, too much of it can also cause the downfall of someone especially if it leads to arrogance that is not backed up by actions. In Filipino, some people justify it as "Ok lang maging mayabang basta ba mayroon talagang maipagyayabang." (English translation: It is ok to be arrogant as long as you have something to back it up with) As for me, a little bit of swagger is indeed essential. Yet, too much of it is simply unacceptable especially if there are more words being said than actions being done.

    Now in line with all of this talk about confidence and believing in one's self, former MVP Kevin Durant recently said that he is still the best basketball player in the planet. Talk about confidence and self-belief at their very best. It has already been 8 or 9 months since the very last time we saw Kevin Durant play in an NBA game. And yet, here he is telling everyone that he is still the best baller in the world. Do I have a problem with that? Of course, not. In fact, I love it a lot.

   Just imagine how KD will come out like a hungry beast wanting to eat everyone else come October 27 or probably even earlier during the preseason. Kevin Durant once again has a chip on his shoulder. And this is actually very good for him, great for OKC, and greater for the league, in general. Of course, this is not so good for all the players who will try to stop him or contain him. This guy has always been overlooked in one way or another: Number 2 to Greg Oden in the 2007 draft, runner up in the finals to the Miami Heat, number 2 in the MVP race a few years back, number 2 to LeBron James, etc. Yet, everyone agrees that when healthy, he is probably, the only person, aside from a guy who almost single-handedly brought the title to Cleveland last season and another guy who recently signed a $145 M deal, who has the right to claim that he is indeed the best baller in the world. So, was the statement he made a little too arrogant? Probably. But as long as he can back it up with his play, then I am pretty sure, everyone will not even dare to say a single thing or to simply say it, everyone will just shut up.

   Kevin Durant is on his way to Redemption. The goal is to redeem himself completely by proving to all of us that his foot is 100% ok and that he is even better than ever. He aims to get back to his MVP form or probably, even be better than it. And of course, he surely wants to be put in that very exclusive group with Bron and A.D. as the only legitimate candidates for Best Baller in the Planet.

   Will KD succeed? Will he really be better than ever? Will he get his league MVP back? We will all find out soon enough. And if he does succeed, we probably will see KD and Bron battle it out for the second time in the June 2016 NBA Finals. Now, can I just say that if that happens that will surely be a pretty darn good Redemption Story. A story in which all of us are winners except for all those Western Conference Teams who will be losing to KD and Russ along the way.