Kevin Durant says LeBron James gave him the courage to leave Thunder

Recently named the Athlete of the Year by GQ Magazine, Kevin Durant discussed his decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2016 offseason, noting it was LeBron James who godfathered his courage to make the jump.

Durant called to mind Isaiah Thomas’ article in The Players’ Tribune which named him as one of the cases in which people should be wary of making hasty judgment calls for choosing a new destination. Thomas was blindsided by a trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers and said that just in the same way teams can make such decisions, so can the players.

“I can appreciate him just kind of having my back a little bit on that,” Durant told GQ’s Zach Baron of Thomas’ inclusion.

The Golden State Warriors forward had modeled James’ two-year deals with a player option on the second year, one which would allow him to re-think his future at the end of every season. Durant said James “gave me the courage to do that,” pointing out that it’s a cycle, “Now, I could have did a better job studying how he approached everything after that. But I did it my way. And the next guy is gonna look at me as an example. We’re all working together now.”

“He’s four years older than me, so he’s still the big homie,” Durant said of James. “But I’m on the same level as a basketball player. Off the court, I can learn a thing from you. But as a basketball player, I feel like it’s 1A, 1B. And that’s an accomplishment for me.”