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119 | Marcus Thompson (Kevin Durant’s Relentless Pursuit)

Posted on June 4, 2019March 24, 2024 By Sammy Younan No Comments on 119 | Marcus Thompson (Kevin Durant’s Relentless Pursuit)

My Summer Lair Chapter #119: Who Is Kevin Durant?

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That question is partly answered by Marcus Thompson’s latest bio: KD: Kevin Durant’s Relentless Pursuit to Be the Greatest.

Marcus Thompson (Kevin Durant's Relentless Pursuit) My Summer Lair 119

As for Marcus Thompson he’s a lead columnist at The Athletic, covering the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco 49ers and Giants, and the Oakland Raiders and A’s. KD is his second Warriors bio Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry came out in 2017.

As for KD well that’s complicated isn’t it? That’s why I said “partly answered.” Marcus’s KD bio opens with a nimble comparison between KD and Tupac Shakur: the intelligence, the volatility…the sensitivity… and of course the contradictions.

Kevin Durant’s contradictions not only hint at a complex personality he represents our age. We’ll howl at the demise of political rhetoric on Facebook but praise Facebook’s ability to connect us with friends and family. We’re constantly surrounded by contradictions without any clear way to properly resolve them so often we choose to tolerate them.

Like when Kevin Durant left the Thunder to sign with the Warriors. Anger and frustration sure yet it once again confirms a simple truth. Nobody is simple; the complexity of their personality renders facile narratives impotent. If somebody doesn’t make sense, it’s your narrative that’s wrong; you issued the wrong verdict. (We’ve seen this all the time with Kanye West. He’s fine and doing incredible work…you hot take is just lukewarm at best.)

And so here we are with the Toronto Raptors for the first time in the NBA Finals.

Marcus and I are talking not about basketball per say but the culture that permeates the NBA. That’s the magic of KD and how he is so different from other NBA players…one thing leads to another.

Marcus Thompson II @ W • T • F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Friday May 31, 2019 at 6:30 pm

Stress free pop culture tastefully harvested for your divine delight. Once a week a carefully curated edition of My Pal Sammy goes directly to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter so we can have some fun…in the relentless puruit to be the greatest!

My Summer Lair, Podcast Tags:Books, Kevin Durant, Marcus Thompson, NBA, New Book Alert, Steph Curry, The Golden State Warriors, Writers

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Previous Post: 118 | Jonah Babins (The Toronto Magic Company)
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