Kevin Durant Doesn’t Want to be an All-Star Captain
By Andrew Ites
Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are leading the way in Western Conference All-Star voting. However, one of the former MVP’s doesn’t want to be a captain in the All-Star Game’s new format.
Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are the top two vote-getters in the Western Conference, and they are both in the top five in the entire NBA in All-Star voting. The league is shaking up the classic East vs West setup of the game this season by allowing the two most popular All-Stars pick their teams in a playground-style draft.
Durant and Curry each have a shot at getting enough votes to be one of those captains on All-Star Weekend, but KD told Anthony Slater of the Athletic that he wouldn’t want to be a captain in February.
"“I don’t want to do it,” said Durant, “I’d rather somebody else do it. It’s cool to be an All-Star, but all the extra stuff … I just want to go play in the game. (The new format)’s cool, a different way, a creative way that’s good for the fans. But me, I’ll let somebody else pick the teams.”"
Steph Curry, on the other hand, would welcome the chance to select his own team in a game showcasing the best basketball players in the world.
"“Why not?” said Curry, “I’ll be the first to usher in the new system. I used to go to the playground all the time and you wanted to be the guy picking teams. That meant you were something on the court back in the day. It’ll be a cool vibe to see how it all shakes out and how unique you can make the lineups.”"
Durant joked that there is an easy way to make sure he doesn’t have to face the pressure of picking his own team on All-Star weekend: make Steph Curry one of the captains.
"“I’m definitely going to Twitter tonight to get those Steph Curry #NBAVotes in,” Durant said. “Because he’d be a perfect guy to pick teams. Me on the other hand, don’t think I’ll do so well.”"
Durant’s struggles with public perception have been well publicized ever since he chose to join the Warriors in free agency. Even though the All-Star draft will not be televised, KD doesn’t want to deal with the possible interpersonal conflicts involved in being a captain.
Next: Why do the Warriors Rack Up so Many Technical Fouls?
Curry is about 100,000 votes behind Giannis Antetokounmpo for second-place in All-Star voting. If he can pass the Greek Freak, he would likely join LeBron James as the other captain for the game. It would be fun for NBA fans to see what type of team Steph would assemble, and it sounds like he would relish the opportunity.