Kevin Durant Isn't Perfect

I probably am the biggest Kevin Durant fan this side of his mom, but I must admit this was refreshing.

And while searching for answers — for the most putrid perimeter shooting night of his career and his team’s second consecutive collapse — Kevin Durant stopped in mid-sentence, conceded confusion and suddenly stormed out of his postgame press conference.

The reason that is refreshing is that everything has been going so perfect for Durant and the reviews have been so glowing. There was this gushing piece in Sports Illustrated. And this in The Oregonian. And countless stories about how Durant is the new face of the NBA.

There was the scoring title, and a runner-up finish in the MVP voting, and an MVP honor as he led the United States to the title at the World Championships. And there have been numerous endearing stories, like these:

— During the preseason, the Thunder played the Heat in Kansas City, and LeBron James rented a local theater for a party. Durant politely declined an invitation: “I don’t go out to parties the day before a game. I really don’t go out too much during the season.” This was for a preseason game, mind you.

— He recently tweeted: “Goodmorning! Thank God we were able to see another day!! Thank you guys for all the love but I have to continue to get better..practice mode”

— The following day he tweeted: “Headed to the biggest room in the world…Room for Improvement”

— He was widely praised for how he quietly — and humbly — signed a contract extension with the Thunder.

I mean, it’s almost too much. For the past six months or so, Durant has been portrayed as being almost too perfect, to the point where you worry that there must be some skeletons in that closet of his. To the point where you figure he must be a serial killer, because his middle name is Wayne.

The moment the media latches onto a celebrity and begins portraying them as perfection personified, you just know that something bad is going to happen. You just know that the more somebody is built up, the harder they are going to fall (Tiger Woods, anybody?). So, if walking out of a press conference is the worst thing Kevin Durant has done in the past six months, well, that’s kind of refreshing.