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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 8, 2018

Kevin Durant

Cleveland, Ohio: Game Four

Warriors - 108, Cavaliers - 85

Q. Kevin, Steph was unbelievable in the series as well as you were, nine threes for a Finals record, closes out with 37, and yet he still never won a Finals MVP?
KEVIN DURANT: Does it matter? Does it? Does it? We won two championships. We just won back-to-back. I don't think anybody's even worried about that type of stuff. I'm glad that we came out and played a great game tonight. We were able to finish the series off. That's the only thing that matters to us.

Q. Can you describe the locker room and the culture that doesn't care about who wins the accolades and why that works so well with this group? Who sets that tone?
KEVIN DURANT: All of us. We all want something that's bigger than ourselves. I think we love to see each other succeed. We love to come together and figure stuff out on the basketball court.

And I think tonight everybody just played their roles well. Steph came out, was aggressive for us early. Got us -- set the nice tone for us, and everybody else kind of filled in. Our defense was great. 34% from the field, I think, the whole series. The whole playoffs our defense has been great.

We finished it off with a championship, so we've got a bunch of guys in the locker room that don't care about anything but just being better basketball players every day and winning. It makes the environment great.

Q. Did you know that that culture was present, and is that one of the reasons why you were drawn to come to Golden State?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, you could see it when you play against them and through the TV. But when you get up close and personal on an everyday basis, you really, really feel that way.

Grateful and excited that I get this opportunity, and it feels so good to be a part of a group like this. To win two championships is -- that's what you want as an NBA player.

Q. What is it like just being a target and being tagged for almost like the entire world? This team just built up to fit you guys.
KEVIN DURANT: That's how you know we're a great team is when everybody's coming after us. Whether it's opponents, whether it's different coaches panning for us, whether it's the fans, the media that hate us, it feels good when you're the team that everybody's gunning for. It makes us better. It makes us come to work and try to play at that championship level every single day, and that's the hardest part.

But, you know, I'm glad we were able to lock in, especially in the playoffs, and do what we were supposed to do to win this thing.

Q. Is there anything left as a basketball player in your career that you need to prove to anybody at this point?
KEVIN DURANT: I've just got to keep getting better. I don't think I prove -- I proved to myself I picked the right career as a kid. I think I've got a lot more to go. So I'm just trying to prove to myself that I could just stay in it for the long haul, and hopefully I continue to have some success. Just keep growing as a player. That's my only concern.

Q. You told us a couple days ago that winning your first championship was like listening to Kanye's first album. So you have to tell us what winning your second championship, which album would you equate that to?
KEVIN DURANT: Late Registration (laughing). Yeah, that's probably equivalent. But it feels good. You know, when you experience something for the first time and you do it again, those emotions aren't going to be there as they were the first time.

But just knowing that the work that you put in paid off and the care that you have for something, you know, it means something. I feel like I did something that pulled back into this Earth, I pull good energy back into the Earth when I go and work hard every day on my game, and I care about the game, and I watch basketball and care for my teammates, and we care for each other. I think we're doing something good in the world.

Q. Two years ago you make this decision, and can you just tell us through the process of going through these two years, winning these two championships with all of the critiques from not just fans, but also other NBA players about the decision you made. How do you feel right now kind of in the moment from now or from before to right now?
KEVIN DURANT: I feel really good. Former players and players now that got a lot to say about what I did, they know how I play. They know exactly what I bring. They know. They know. They understand when they get on the court with me or they check up with me. They know what it is.

So I kind of try to just stand on that, but I know what I bring to the game. I know how I approach the game, how hard I work, how much I care. I think that's the stuff I try to focus on more than anything is just being a professional basketball player and doing stuff for me and the team. So I pride myself on that and everything else is just noise.

Q. Two years in a row MVP. How are you feeling about that?
KEVIN DURANT: Oh, it feels great to go out there and win a championship with these guys, the way we did it. Like Draymond said earlier, it's the season, it was just an up-and-down season, so many guys got hurt. We were going through so much. When Pat McCaw went down, that put a lot on us emotionally as a team, and we got through that. I feel like we had a lot of those episodes throughout the year.

To finish it off with a championship, especially in a sweep, it feels so good. I'm just so happy for Nick Young, Quinn Cook, their first championships. It feels great that we can go out there and give an experience to guys that haven't been here before, just like they did to me last year.

So it feels great that we can do that. Just the brotherhood that we have in that locker room, and just the family atmosphere that we take on the road, not just the players, but support staff and everybody in the organization. You know, they don't get the credit. They don't get the praise, but so many people helped us get to this point, and we appreciate them. And it feels good to kind of win it for them.

Q. You've been very clear. We've asked you this, you had a very nice career before you ever got here. Olympian MVP, and then one MVP of The Finals, okay, now two MVPs of The Finals. Is that a validation?
KEVIN DURANT: No.

Q. Is it a culmination? What would you call this?
KEVIN DURANT: Just the product of hard work, and care and love for the game. I treat this game with -- I just feel indebted to the game. I feel like it saved my life, it changed my life. It took me out of an environment that I didn't think I'd ever be out of. Living in Maryland my whole life. I thought I was going to live in Maryland my whole life.

But to travel the world and meet different people, and go to different arenas and different cities and countries around the world, I'm just forever grateful for this opportunity. So however it came, the championship and all that stuff, it means a lot. But just to be able to change my life in picking up a basketball and change my family's life, you know, this is the cherry on top, and I'm definitely excited about it.

But just to be able to leave Maryland and experience and see different parts of the world, that was -- that's why I love this game of basketball. It was able to teach me so much about life. To win a championship on top of that means a lot.

Q. What does it mean to you guys to close out this run with a sweep, and how important was that? And what statement does it make about your team and maybe even going forward?
KEVIN DURANT: One thing about our team is that a lot of guys really don't care about statements. We just want to win the basketball game. If we happened to lose tonight, we were just going to focus on going back home and trying to finish it off. We weren't thinking about a sweep coming in. We knew we had a good chance to play well this series. But we were just trying to play great basketball, especially after coming out of that Houston series where it was a tough, grind-out series.

We just wanted to win, and however it came we were excited about it. But to win in a sweep feels pretty good.

Q. Heading into an off-season, there is always talk about changes that are going to come in this league. What do you most want to see from your roster and your team this summer?
KEVIN DURANT: I want to see Jordan Bell come back a better player. I want to see Quinn Cook come back a better player. That's all I'm concerned about. And I know the veterans are going to come back and do exactly what they need to do. But to have two young guys that contributed and helped us out the whole season, I'm excited to see how they come back next year.

Looking forward to just to different tricks that we use throughout the season next year. I can't wait.

Thank you guys for whatever you did all season. I appreciate the love and support, and we're back-to-back champs.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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