In the last fifty seconds of Game 3, Durant hit the shot that ended the series. Though there was absolutely no need to prove it again, Durant once again proved beyond doubt that he is a basketball deity descended to earth.
As a fan, it would be thrill enough to witness one basketball deity — but the Warriors have two. Watching them walk together to the final moment of this basketball summer is simply sublime.
Curry and Durant's basketball represents the pinnacle of the art: full of competitiveness and artistry. They enjoy the game on the court, and their spirit of tenacious competition brings joy and strength to many fans like me. Thank you (though they'll never see this) — Durant and Curry — thank you for the incredible journey you've given me.
Last summer I was both sad and happy. My Thunder and my Warriors met in the Western Conference Finals — it was like choosing between my own hands; whoever won made me happy, whoever lost made me sad. This year is so much better. Before, I had no choice. Now I want to be a Warrior.
Through years of following them, I've discovered that Durant is a person of rich character. He has a fierce yet pure competitive spirit. For the sake of victory, he has unbreakable confidence to take that shot — and in the long years before that shot, day after day of training. "My whole life I've been working toward this."
This isn't about honors or historical legacy. When I step onto the court, I want to win — to exhaust every ounce of will and strength to win, to play a great game. American media says Curry and Durant have a greatness that transcends the self, and it's true. Only by seeing something as higher than ego in certain moments can we dissolve ourselves into something larger, becoming open and expansive. This is why Curry and Durant consistently play basketball that is creative, competitive, and feels like "such a shot belongs only in heaven" — that's part of the reason.
When asked about his relationship with Russell Westbrook, Durant said: "I grew up with Russell. I've been trying to find out who I am outside of basketball, while he already had his answer. He already had a stable life. He has parents, a girlfriend he's known since college. I didn't have any of that. I wanted to figure out who I am. I didn't know who I was — but that's not a bad thing. He already knew who he was, so we were bound to go our separate ways. It's not a bad thing, not at all. We'd still go out together. We were young. My interests weren't the same as his. He got married, and I didn't. He'd go out with his wife. What was I supposed to do? I love him. I don't care what anyone else says, what Russell himself says, what the fans say. It's a tough time for our relationship right now. But I love Russell, I love his family, and they all know it. Morally, I've never done anything wrong. In real life I've never stabbed him in the back, never done anything behind his back, never criticized his character. I've never done any of that. I just left the team — switched houses, that's all. Every outsider thinks, 'You must not like him.' That's not how it is. No one would understand. I was just trying to figure out who I am. He already had his answer. He knew what he wanted to do. He met his girlfriend in college, married early. None of that applied to me. I didn't have a father. I was still trying to figure out who I am."
To use a phrase from people younger than me, this passage is "tear-inducing." It reminds me of how I felt reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage over and over again.
Even though he doesn't know who he is — feeling, like Tsukuru Tazaki, that he is a hollow shell, an empty vessel — some people face their genuine confusion and work tirelessly to build train stations for the world. Sturdy, reliable, real stations — the kind where trains passing through want to stop even when there's no particular reason to.
What Durant has built for the world is his basketball station, full of competitiveness and artistry.
Finally, may he someday get to drink Scarlett's bathwater.