Kevin Durant is a stupid bird. Anyone who has watched him rule the court will probably recoil at the absurdity of this claim. But Durant, an 11-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA first-team selection, four-time scoring champion, two-time FMVP, and one-time regular season MVP, is a dumb bird. To the "Chosen one," four years his senior, he seemed forever to follow awkwardly, and at the same time to drift away. Many people say that every time lebron wins a championship, Durant will find a way to assemble a super warship. Durant is not so much lebron's Nemesis as his shadow in a way.

But Durant is a dumb bird. Like lebron, he entered the adult battlefield as a teenager. But unlike lebron, he did not have the fate of the king of the world, he paid countless hard sweat on the NBA journey, the ultimate achievement, but to see his own life drift. He was born with the kind of confusion about self, about reality, about the world, lebron should never experience.

-- 2010 --

Durant was named an All-Star for the first time and became the league's scoring leader for the first time. A little more than two months after his first-round exit, he signed a five-year Max extension with the Thunder without a player option, allowing the Thunder to lock him up for another six years. This is the greatest sincerity a star can show to a team and a city. "Oh my God, I love you all, I really do," he tweeted to all Thunder fans. Less than 24 hours later, lebron's "The Decision" aired on ESPN. Durant watched it, too. Even as he basked in the love of Oklahoma City, Durant was horrified by what was happening in Cleveland. "It's really more than just a game for us. This is our life. Basketball is our breath and we live and die." 'he said.

But the hatred lebron has ignited across the country, the butterfly effect it has created throughout the NBA, is too far away for the 22-year-old Durant. Only the first time to lead the team in the playoffs, against the peak Kobe Bryant led the defending champions. The Thunder were barely young enough to grow hair, but they lasted six games, trashing the Lakers in Oklahoma City and collapsing in the final moments of the G6 game - Durant couldn't hold back his tears when the final buzzer sounded. But no one thinks they lost. With this roster, with this talent, sooner or later this league will be theirs. Back then, Durant had acne on his face and wore a backpack to a press conference, looking cute. He didn't talk much, and he was always downcast in front of people, even a little scared. This is not a gesture on his part. "I've been a people-pleaser my whole life," he said. "Put everyone else before yourself."

In his rookie season with the Sonics, he spent a season awkwardly playing shooting guard and was ridiculed for his poor shooting percentage. In Thunder, the most reliable partner Westbrook character is strong, say no two, look for the goal to go up, the kind of certainty he also only envy. Everyone is a talented new star, but Durant has too many questions for himself. At 19, he used his agency connections to get a chance to meet Jay-Z backstage, but he was too scared to show up. Some say he's a mama's boy, but he didn't have a carefully protected childhood. His father came and went, and it wasn't until he was 16 that he had a steady presence. His neighborhood was rife with violence and guns, and his young son was locked in the house by his mother, who worked to support the family.

He kept moving from school to school, and one by one his relatives left him -- his aunt, who had cancer, vomited blood in front of him when he was 11, and he quietly climbed into her hospital bed and snuggled with her gradually cold body. His first AAU coach, Charles Craig, was shot and killed at age 35, which is why he wore number 35. Loneliness is probably what Durant feels the most. In the first few years of entering the NBA, he did not Pierce the huge net woven by loneliness. He said it was about 2012, after he had been the scoring champion for three consecutive years and reached the finals, that he felt he had become vivid and comfortable, "I think I'm smart enough to talk to the people here."

But he's still clumsy. Invited by lebron to train with him in Akron, the two wore swimming trunks for intimate photos, and the lebron who always paid attention to the image cleverly covered his legs with a towel, and he became the laughingstock of netizens. (But he practiced with lebron more than once in his hometown.) It was also the summer that the Thunder gave away his good friend James Harden. Harden was in tears on the night of the trade, Durant was silent, silent through one summer after another.

-- 2014 --

At the age of 25, Durant's silent string broke. And with it came the world of resignation. Jones fractured his right foot, giving him a chance to stop for the first time since entering the NBA. Only when he opened his eyes did he see his bondage. He seems to have accomplished a lot, but in fact, he has not taken a step. He lived with his kids in Oklahoma City and provided them with a nice living, letting them drive his fancy car to nightclubs, hang out with Justin Bieber, and get caught with medical marijuana in his car. "I was in that trance for so long that it affected my life," he said. "I woke up one day and made some changes."

He kicked out all his boarders (except his half-brother and another friend who later accompanied him to settle in Auckland). He drew boundaries with his mother, Wanda, no longer letting her control too much, and their relationship, though once stiff, eventually rekindled. He also became much closer to his father, who became involved in some of his key decisions (including two subsequent transfers). "I've made life simpler, it's easier for me to control now, it's not so crazy anymore." I'd better be alone." 'he said. Yeah, just him, like he was a passenger in his own life. No one knows exactly how crazy he means, but it was also the year that his sweetheart high-school fiancee Monica White called off their engagement.

They seem like a match made in heaven. As a result, there was a lot of speculation, and even gossip that Durant had joined a cult. Monica did point out that her Christian faith made her unwilling to stick to the engagement and make the sacrifices she would have to make. Durant, by contrast, seems to have no idea. He said, "I don't know how to love her. I had a lot of fun on the date, and then I thought proposing was the right thing to do. So I did." But marriage is too illusory for the confused man. "I can't believe we're getting married. I feel like I love this girl, but I don't love her the right way."

What is the right way is unknown to outsiders. Durant later said, "I go to bed at night thinking, am I going to end up alone? Is it possible for me to have children in my lifetime? I felt like I was hopeless, but I had to keep believing." Until now, Durant didn't have an answer. He is very addicted to the Internet, in addition to taking a small (after exposure, simply change to a large) quarrel with people, is everywhere to give beautiful pictures like. In this rather extreme and obviously clumsy way, Durant gradually relaxed. He even took his first overseas vacation this offseason - until then he had been training nonstop.

He became real and emotional, taking the MVP speech not by heart, but from the heart (there are still media criticisms that he appears too dependent on his mother in front of the camera, not enough masculinity). But he said he was always good at crying. He cried while Coach Craig was torturing him with demon drills, and he cried when he read about kids being shot on the Internet. "I was an emotional kid growing up. They say boys can't do that, but I think I've let go now. The smallest thing can make me cry, but I feel so comfortable. I'm compassionate, I'm loving, I'm caring, and that's good." He even said, "The people of this world should cry to each other." That shows we still care."

But breaking free is only the first step, and there is still a long way to go before he finds his true value

-- 2016 --

In Thunder, Durant has no friends. He had a good relationship with Westbrook (they had a double date), but it was difficult to get along. The "upper class" old white men of Oklahoma City, who had made their fortunes in oil and real estate, did not like him. It wasn't until 2016 that he finally found what he wanted. He was already tempted when the Thunder blew a 3-1 lead and were knocked out. When he met the Warriors at their vacation home in the Hamptons, he made up his mind. The Warriors' recruitment was certainly not perfect, but he was envious, and not just of the strength of the team. "They (Curry, Thompson, Green and Iguodala) seem so into each other, so relaxed. I figured I wouldn't mind playing with such a cool guy. I don't ask them how they work together, I ask them where they go for dinner and what they hang out with."

Besides, his career off the court needs an opening. Durant has been a business partner with Rich Kleiman since 2013. They don't have a foothold in the city's business community, but the Bay Area tech startups are a perfect fit for them. The billionaire entrepreneurs sitting courtside with the Warriors "look like normal people," Durant said, "but they're changing the world fast and they have unlimited power." But his experience with the Warriors has been mixed at best and downright disastrous at worst.

Unfortunately, the intimacy he craves is not part of it. He has said that he and Westbrook are at best "colleagues," and in the eyes of Warriors players, he is no more than that, in the eyes of Warriors management and fans, he is a "mercenary." At the parade celebration after the title victory, the host asked General manager Miles if he would fulfill all of Durant's contract extension requirements, as previously stated. "That's just for the press," Myers said. "He can't do whatever he wants." Coach Cole then said: "Give him a middle class." The host added, "But you told Stephen last year he could have anything he wanted." "Those are two different things," Myers said. (Curry) was there long before the glory began, and he deserved it." Host: "I think the warriors are falling apart." Every time they say something, there's a hoot. Durant also appeared to be smiling in his sunglasses, but his eyes were invisible.

Miles may have been joking, but he stabbed Durant at his most sensitive point. Perhaps the Warriors secretly hope that he can be mature enough to accept the reality of all kinds of disappointments, can win the game. Durant wants a championship, but he wants more than that. "I came here to be part of the team, to be part of the family, to be accepted. But I'll never get it." 'he said. "As time went on, I began to realize that I was just not like them." "But that's not a bad thing. It's just my reality, the reality I faced when I came into the league. On top of that, the media has always treated KD and the Warriors as two separate individuals, so I've never been fully accepted here."

He was physically and mentally exhausted, but so was Cullikley chasing his dream. But that's another story. It's hard to say they did anything wrong. Durant joining the 73-win Warriors is like lebron joining the Lakers-only with Kobe still in his prime. The end may have been foreordained from the start. The warrior allowed him to enter the bigger world and see himself more truly. There's nothing we can't get past. As long as he's not afraid, he won't be alone forever.

-- 2019 --

If Durant has taken the initiative to explore the soul at several important inflection points in his life before, the Achilles tendon tear in 2019 has forced him to face his own soul. He said, "There are days when I really hate the NBA. I hate the world, I hate the players who change their mentality about the game for money and fame. Sometimes I don't want to get in touch with the executives, get involved in team politics. I hate all this." Asked the secret of his success, he said, rather cynically: "Paranoia." He understood the rules of the game: "How well you do on the field determines how well you do off the field." He has a new goal: "I want to use the checks I earn from various companies to create real generational wealth."

In the 2019-20 season, Durant did not play a game, relying on endorsements and salary income of more than 60 million, and his investment income in this year was more than 35 million. He recently executive produced "Two Distant Strangers," which was nominated for an Academy Award for best live-action short film. Despite all the hype in the media about lebron's summer blockbuster, Durant's joy and pride are real. After his Warriors career was over, he didn't care what the media said. No, it's not that he doesn't care. He still uses the tuba on people to prove that he still cares. It's just hard to hurt him no matter what the press says.

From Jordan to Kobe to lebron, there is no superstar who is not petty, but the effort and cost of Durant learning to fight back may be much more than the "chosen ones". He used to tear down his childish guard and reveal his heart. After suffering, he knows what is really strong. Now every time he fires a gun, he wants to torture his soul, and he knows king better than king. The sentence "Give me back my freedom" after being forced to withdraw for violating epidemic prevention regulations is detonating the NBA public opinion circle. At this time, everyone unexpectedly found that Durant was quite "cute". But it is a little different from the "cute" that he carries a bag, after all, he used to be so "uncute".

He'd troll senior whistleblower, call him a "pervert" like a stalker, but then invite him on his show to gossip. New teammate Owen was excited to think about what tactics the Nets would play in the future when chatting with him on the line, and he refused to play three straight with a poker face, the effect was full. Some people say that he is a giant in the Nets, but it is another reincarnation, and the Thunder Warriors giant team is no different. He seemed to be going forward, but he was actually going round in circles. It may seem so, but with each iteration, Durant gets a new body and mind, not the one he was the last time.

A lot of superstars get together because they want to aim high, but Durant does it because he wants to be a better version of himself. By his standards, he did. The three weirdos of the Nets have a bumpy road, stumbling in search of self and happiness, and the redemption that can fill the hole in their hearts. Durant was never the chosen one. He is a stupid bird that keeps flapping its wings. Maybe in the end, somewhere in his heart, he still has the 19-year-old boy who first got the chance to meet Jay-Z, but felt he didn't deserve it.