Kevin Durant has won an NBA most valuable player award, but he said his days of regular-season awards likely are over.
“You know they’re not gonna give me anything,” Durant said Wednesday during an interview with the San Francisco radio station 95.7 The Game. Durant said his decision to leave Oklahoma City and join the Golden State Warriors before the 2016-17 season has caused award voters to both overlook and dislike him.
“Even if it’s on the fence, I have to be clear-cut better than everybody for me to even get a look,” Durant said during the interview. “I mean, it’s just pure hate for me obviously, and no appreciation for my real skill for the game. But I get it. I understand where we’re (the Warriors) coming from. I understand what we have here in this building that scares everybody.”
Golden State has won three of the past four NBA championships, with Durant winning the last two Finals MVP trophies. Durant, who turns 30 on Saturday, also was voted NBA Rookie of the Year following the 2007-08 season. The NBA’s regular-season award winners are chosen by the votes of approximately 100 members of the media. The league’s players association began voting for its own awards in 2015.
“You know, accolades, that stuff is kind of long gone for me unless it’s like Finals or something like that where it’s probably pretty even,” Durant said. “But regular-season awards, I mean I’m never gonna get a look when it comes to that, especially playing here for the Warriors.”
NBA to sell games by quarter
NBA fans can buy any part of out-of-market games as part of the league’s pay-per-view League Pass package in 2018-19 season. The NBA and Turner Broadcasting are making the fourth quarter of games available at the start of the season, which begins Oct. 16. The game will be available for purchase once the third quarter ends for $1.99, which is the first step in a multi-pronged approach to what commissioner Adam Silver terms “micro-transactions.”
“Instead of waiting to watch highlights after a game, fans will be able to enjoy a portion of a game in real-time,” Silver said in a statement yesterday. “It’s a big moment, but it’s also a small first step. There are limitations in the technology right now, but we’re working as quickly as possible so that, at some point in the near future, fans can choose to buy any part of any game.”
NBA Digital is also developing an option to enable fans to purchase 10 minutes of real-time game access. Details regarding the future launch of that offering will be announced at a later date.
The league eventually intends to give fans the chance to buy the game in other quarters or for specified blocks of time.
“We imagine a situation where a fan has dinner at 8 o’clock and only has 30 minutes and can choose to buy a half-hour of a game,” Silver said.
The price of a full game through Turner, NBA.com or the NBA app is $6.99. Additional packages are available for fans who want to follow a single team or purchase a monthly pass.
The Premium option with continuous in-arena coverage during breaks for all out-of-market games ($249.99); traditional NBA League Pass, providing access to live out-of-market games and an expansive archive of classic game content ($199.99); NBA Team Pass ($119.99); Single Game ($6.99); and Virtual Reality ($49.99) packages. Monthly-based subscriptions start at Premium ($39.99 per month), NBA League Pass ($28.99 per month) and NBA Team Pass ($17.99 per month).