Kevin Durant – The suddenly revamped Los Angeles Lakers may look like the best team now, but championships aren’t won on paper. Or at least so advises Oklahoma City All-Star forward Kevin Durant, who isn’t quite prepared to concede Western Conference supremacy to the Lakers just yet even though they made a big offseason splash with the signings of center Dwight Howard and point guard Steve Nash to go along with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
“People outside, fans, media, of course they are going to say [the Lakers are the favorites] because, on paper, they have the best lineup in the league,” hesaid during Monday’s media availability to promote his new movie, “Thunderstruck.”
“But you still got to play the games. We respect everybody. We are going to go through the league respecting everybody as well.
“We already view ourselves as an elite team, but we have to prove it again. Last year is over with.”
The Durant-led Thunder enjoyed a breakout season this past winter, needing just five games to send the Lakers home during a second-round playoff matchup en route to reaching the NBA Finals.
Durant, a first-team All-NBA pick who paced the league in scoring for the third consecutive year with a robust 28.5 average, did allow, however, that Los Angeles is now vastly improved.
“It was a great move [for the Lakers],” he said. “[Howard] is the most dominant center in the league. It’s going to make it tough on other teams. But I like that challenge. We all like that challenge in OKC. It should be fun.
“That’s what the Lakers do. They make big moves. That’s part of their DNA.”
But climbing roadblocks in the way has equally been part of the Thunder’s. They were swept by the Lakers in 2010, only to easily brush them aside this year. Oklahoma City, which also boasts star guards Russell Westbrook and James Harden, couldn’t get past Dallas in 2011, only to rudely dispatch the reigning champions in a four-game sweep this spring.
Clearing this new-look Lakers team might be OKC’s biggest challenge yet.
But Durant sounded ready.
