Kevin Durant Touches on 'Mutual' Respect With Kawhi Leonard

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant knows game when he sees it, especially in another all-time great like Kawhi Leonard.

We're just mere hours away from the Phoenix Suns battling the Los Angeles Clippers in a pivotal Game 3, which will see one team take command of the first-round series with a 2-1 advantage. 

There's no lack of star power for either side, even in the absence of Paul George. 

Two notable players - Suns forward Kevin Durant and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard - are considered some of the best in NBA history. Yesterday, Durant met with reporters and spoke on the mutual respect the two have for each other.

"I'm not surprised by it," Durant said on Leonard's performance, who has dropped back-to-back 30+ point games against Phoenix this series. "He's a supreme athlete and works hard on his game. He cares about the game. When the ball is tipped up I don't expect anything different from him than to be the best version of himself.   

"It's like a respect - a mutual respect based off of work ethic you hear about from one another, the production we both have [inaudible] so it's a mutual respect. Everybody has a different journey, everybody has different experiences in this league that makes them who they are. We all have unique experiences." 

“I just think it’s respect — mutual respect for one another that’s based off of work ethic you hear for one another.”

I asked Kevin Durant whether he feels a certain kinship with Kawhi Leonard given their playoff battles and their journeys to work their way back from injury: pic.twitter.com/jxvV4wxxO0

— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) April 19, 2023

When Leonard scored 38 points in Sunday's Game 1 win over Phoenix, Durant could do nothing but give praise.

“He’s a tough cover,” Durant said postgame “He can score from all areas … He’s an all time player. So you have to continue to be physical and deny his catches and make it as tough as we can on him.”

Suns coach Monty Williams said he expects the two superstars to feature against each other more and more as the series goes on. 

“When he just plays and makes Kawhi shoot over the top with a contested hand in the midrange, we’ll live with that," Williams said. "Both of those guys started away from each other and as the game progressed the more they were on each other. I think we’re going to see more of that as the series progresses.”

Game 3 is tonight in Los Angeles with a start time of 7:30 PM PST.