Washington Post: Kevin Durant loses game but accepts challenge from LeBron James
By Michael Lee
About an hour before the most star-studded summer league game tipped off at Morgan State’s Hill Field House, I spotted Goodman League commissioner and master of ceremony for the night, Miles Rawls, and asked him about when his team was going to have a rematch against the Drew League in Los Angeles. Rawls again mentioned that they are looking at getting together on Sept. 25, but added that the Drew League is still trying to get Kobe Bryant involved in some way.
“K.D. wants Kobe, doesn’t he,” I asked Rawls, since District native Kevin Durant had already told Brandon Jennings the night before on Twitter that he wanted to see Bryant playing for the Drew League the next time the teams square off.
Rawls nodded and said, “You know K.D. ain’t ducking nobody.”
Rawls words would prove to be on point later in the evening, as the late-arriving Durant eagerly accepted the challenge of being the lone all-star for the Goodman League against the all-star trio of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul that led the Melo League.
“Playing against those guys was a lot of fun for me. I’m excited I got that opportunity playing against some great players, playing with some great players as well,” Durant said after his team lost, 149-141, in a game that was lopsided until the final five minutes.
Durant was aided by NBA players Jeff Green, Trevor Austin Daye, Roger Mason Jr., and Jarrett Jack, but the matchup against the Melo All-Stars was incredibly unfair — especially with DeMarcus Cousins and Jennings failing to appear, for some reason, placing more pressure on Durant. The Melo all-stars also had the high-flying Eric Bledsoe and Josh Selby, and the sharp-shooting Gary Neal to carry the load when the Big Three wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard.
Durant scored 59 points, but for most of the night, it felt like watching the Eastern Conference Finals, when James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined to make Derrick Rose resemble a helpless one-way show. Rawls mentioned during the third quarter that Durant was “doing everything but cleaning the floor” but he couldn’t outscore James, Paul and Anthony all alone.
Tags: Article Links, Goodman League, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Melo League, Summer League, Summer Pro-Ams, Washington Post
