Kevin Durant’s Trainer Says Rockets’ Playoff Flop Isn’t On KD: ‘How Is It His Fault?’

During prolonged film sessions, Kevin Durant’s trainer has scrutinized the ways he could handle double teams better and reduce his turnovers. When assessing the big picture, however, Dash Lovell argued passionately that Durant does not deserve the criticism for his role in the Houston Rockets’ season-long inconsistency and eventual first-round playoff exit.

“How can KD be this efficient and it’s his fault that they’re losing?” Lovell told R.org.

Last season, Durant averaged 26 points while shooting 52% from the field and 41.3% from 3, along with 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Those numbers nearly mirror his career averages in those categories, a remarkable feat considering that Durant maintained such production in his 19th year in the NBA. The 37-year-old Durant also stayed mostly durable in 78 regular-season games, only to miss five of the Rockets’ six playoff games against the Los Angeles Lakers because of overlapping injuries to his right knee and left ankle. Meanwhile, the Rockets’ young roster struggled without veteran point guard Fred VanVleet, who suffered a season-ending right ACL injury.

That prompted Durant to spend this offseason striking a healthy balance between recharging his body and sharpening his craft. Lovell said most of that entailed focusing on handling double teams in hopes that his passing remains as efficient as his shot selection.

“He’s still one of my favorite guys to work with, and it’s not because he’s Kevin,” Lovell said. “It’s because you never see a Hall of Famer look at you and say, ‘Am I doing this correctly?’ He wants to be taught at this age.”

That mindset partly explains why Lovell passionately praised Durant’s work ethic and questioned the scrutiny he received for not elevating the Rockets into a more serious playoff contender. Lovell also spoke about Durant remaining on pace to eclipse Kobe Bryant for fourth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list this upcoming season.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one interview has been edited and condensed.

What has the work with KD entailed this summer?

Lovell: “It’s been amazing. We’re really working on keeping him low and throwing a lot of double teams at him. We’re doing a lot of live stuff. We’re really trying to bother him and work on passing him out of doubles. We’ve been really getting after it. He’s been working really hard on his body with ProActive Sports out in California in Westlake. The ProActive people have done a great job with keeping him strong and keeping him healthy. Kevin has been very, very consistent. He’s been in the gym. It’s shocking, man, to see someone at this point of his career still get to the gym and work so hard. He’s still one of my favorite guys to work with, and it’s not because he’s Kevin. It’s because you never see a Hall of Famer look at you and say, ‘Am I doing this correctly?’ He wants to be taught at this age. He understands that this is what got him here. So he asks questions. He listens. He pays attention. The dude is a mother—-. I enjoy working with him. We’ve been doing a lot of great stuff this summer — throwing a lot of double teams at him, guarding him live and filling up the gaps on the floor to make him have to play in small, tight spaces.”

Why has it been a big emphasis to throw doubles at him compared to anything else to focus on?

Lovell: “Because if you watch most teams, when they throw doubles at him and he’s tired or fatigued, we want him to get better at not turning the ball over out of the double team. So it’s about making sure that he develops as a passer through the double team. So that was one of the points of emphasis from watching his film. It’s about making sure that he continues to develop. It’s not that he can’t pass. But in the offseason, it’s about throwing those bodies at him and letting him see some doubles and just repping that out and making him have to pass through those double teams. That was a big emphasis. That was just from watching film. We wanted to make sure that he did that and make sure that we repped that out a lot so that he was prepared for those types of things.”

What’s your take on last season? He was productive as he always was. But with Fred out for the year, Kevin didn’t play with a traditional point guard. What was the adjustment like for him?

Lovell: “That was definitely a huge adjustment. They had a young Reed Sheppard. They weren’t expecting Fred to go down. They had Kevin with all the miles on him. They also had a really young team. I feel like with a young team like that, they were definitely missing Fred. What Fred does really well is he understands the flow of the game. He understands the pace of the game, the momentum and who needs it at this time and other times. He has a really great feel for that. You don’t get that in a lot of young guards these days. It’s a lost art in basketball. It’s about managing a game. Fred does that really well and better than anybody that I’ve seen in a long time. He manages the game well. I think that was a huge part that was missing. Now that puts the emphasis on Kevin to be able to score and manage the game. People don’t realize how hard that is to do. But that’s what makes the greats the greats. But people should still realize that it’s a team sport.

“With the Lakers in the early 2000s, there was Kobe, Shaq and Derek Fisher. Derek Fisher was a great manager of the floor. I’m not saying that he made the Lakers good. But he was a part of why they were good. With this new generation, we try to put everything on somebody to just do it all. People were like, ‘Hey KD, carry the whole team.’ Why does he have to do that? It’s a team sport. There were years where other players didn’t carry certain teams. You can’t sit here and tell me that no superstar in this league has ever had losing seasons. The Rockets got to the playoffs. But we’ve seen stars have losing seasons when the team isn’t correctly built. Let’s be real. People are acting like Kevin is the only one who has ever asked for help. Everybody asks for help. But people act like they don’t see that. It’s nuts, man. But KD is getting better day by day. It’s crazy that he continues to get better given how good he is already. He’s amazing, man. He’s been great to work with, and he’s always trying to improve.”

In recent years, there have been overlapping trends of Kevin managing different injuries, remaining productive when available and the rest of the roster dealing with various injuries. How have you seen him handle all of that?

Lovell: “He’s been fine with it. It’s a team sport. Look at KD’s numbers. He’s efficient. How can KD be this efficient and it’s his fault that they’re losing? He’s one of the only superstars that doesn’t take more than 15 or 16 shots. He’s super efficient. He’s not turning the ball over a lot. But for some reason, the teams that he’s been on haven’t gotten a championship. It’s because those teams were not complete. People act like incomplete teams win championships. You have to be complete. Boston won a chip because they had Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard. They had a team, and everyone was stepping up at the right moment. I think people look at KD and LeBron [James] differently because they’re so great. So they’re supposed to just carry a team. How? They’re still human. People look at it as if it doesn’t matter what they’ve got. They’re still supposed to win. That’s nonsense. I don’t believe that.”

Speaking of health, what has KD done this offseason to improve his availability odds given his late-season injury and his age?

Lovell: “It was the way he spaced out his work. He’s understanding his body better. He’s used to starting really early in the summer. But this summer, he was taking his time. He didn’t rush back into the summer with working out. He worked on his body more. He stayed off the court more. He gave himself windows to take breaks. He has managed his development a lot differently than he would have in the past. That way, he can play longer when he gets to those times. So it was little stuff like that.”

How did you see him handle that since he normally loves to be in the gym?

Lovell: “Offseasons are tough. If you play too much basketball, that’s a lot of wear and tear. To be constantly making moves hard 24/7, he’s understanding how important rest is. So he’s been doing a really good job with taking his rest. I’m really proud of him on that.”

Assuming KD doesn’t have any major injuries, it’s pretty likely he’ll surpass Kobe Bryant for fourth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. (Durant has 32,597 career points. Bryant scored 33,643 career points.) Where do you rank that upcoming milestone compared to everything else that KD has done?

Lovell: “We love Kobe. Kobe is one of the greatest, and we miss him so much. I just know that Kobe would be proud of him. Kevin has got so much respect for Kobe, and so much love for him. So it’s like being there with your brother. I think it’ll be an exciting moment for him. It’s a moment of respect. Kevin played the game the right way. He takes fewer shots.

So I don’t think passing Kobe or passing anyone is a goal for him. It’s just him being efficient. I’ve never heard him say, ‘I’m going to pass this’ or ‘I’m going to pass that.’ Those are never things you’re going to hear him say. We never talk about those things because it was never about passing other players. He just works. And he is just efficient. If he was really trying to pass players, he would take more shots. So that’s not even the goal.”

Even though Kobe and Kevin are different kinds of scorers, what traits do you think Kevin has put into his game through Kobe’s influence?

Lovell: “The ability to score, use his footwork and use his post moves. Kevin has an array of post moves. When you watch Kobe, it’s the same thing. They know how to play in tight spaces. People are going to have to double all the way to stop them. That’s the influence that you see right there. They also both play out of the midrange a lot.”