When Kevin Durant was out with a foot injury, the Oklahoma City Thunder star needed to find ways to motivate himself. Being sidelined is difficult, and his road to recovery was long. Naturally, he decided to remind himself of how great he wanted to be again by writing on his wall and bathroom mirror.
From the Associated Press' Cliff Brunt:
"I just told myself every day that, 'I'm the best player in the world,'" Durant told the Associated Press. "'I'm the best player in the world.' I wrote that on my wall. I wrote that on my mirror in the bathroom, just because it's easy to say that when you're on top of the world, but it's kind of hard to say it when everybody's dogging you."
I wonder how many other players do this. Is "I'm the best dunker in the world" on Zach LaVine's wall? Does Kawhi Leonard write "I will not express any emotion" on a new post-it note every day? This seems like an excellent motivational strategy.
In all seriousness, there's something to making your goals concrete, whether that means writing them down or saying them aloud. Indiana Pacers forward Paul George, another amazing injury-comeback story, said back in October that he believes he's the best player in the world. It's just interesting that when Durant called himself the best last August and September, he was repeating what he saw written in his home.
So, is Durant in fact the best player in the NBA? I'd say that, this season, the answer is no: Stephen Curry is. Durant is right up there, though, and that's a remarkable feat considering he had three foot surgeries last season.
