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Forgive me if the 2019 NBA Finals are still too raw, and you don’t want to revisit what transpired when the Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors.
But with a new NBA season upon us, it’s as good a time as any to reflect. And here’s a pretty good way to do so.
In the latest installment of How Hungry are You?, a web series by Bleacher Report in which NBA player Serge Ibaka cooks for fellow NBA players while having a discussion with them, Ibaka and former Warriors superstar Kevin Durant got together to eat snake (get it? Snake? Because of Durant?).
It’s tremendous content, and very much worth watching.
In it, the former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates reflect on many things, including memories of playing together, and Durant’s relationship with Russell Westbrook. But they spend a lot of time talking about the 2019 NBA Finals.
The highlights include Durant saying that the Warriors would have won if he hadn’t injured his Achilles in Game 5 (this segment starts at about the 5:20 mark, and you need to watch it). Durant’s reasoning is that they wouldn’t have dropped Game 6 at home, especially since they nearly won it anyway, and that the Raptors would have been too nervous returning home for Game 7 after losing a 3-1 lead.
They also discuss the play in which Durant was injured, while trying to cross up Ibaka. Durant had mostly settled for jumpers in that game, but told Ibaka that he knew he could cook his former teammate, so tried to take him off the dribble. That leads to a discussion about the fans who cheered Durant’s injury. Ibaka apologized for the fans, but Durant said there’s no ill will, and noted that his negative comments towards the fan base in a recent Wall Street Journal article were said in jest.
All in all, it’s highly worth watching, so check it out. Durant - who said he is entering the season with the expectation that he won’t play this year - certainly seems to be happy and in a good space with his rehab, which is great to see.