Although it’s just the preseason, Kevin Durant’s trash talk is in midseason form. After hitting a fadeaway jump shot over Lakers guard Austin Reaves in the first half of the Suns’ 123–100 preseason win in Los Angeles, the Phoenix star hit Reaves with the “too small” celebration. It didn’t stop there, though. Durant also told Lakers assistant Jordan Ott not to have Reaves guard him next week when the two Western Conference foes square off in regular-season action. Reaves had a classic reaction after the game when discussing the matchup with the media. “Anytime you have some someone as talented as KD on the court … it’s cool for me to kind of watch in the moment. He hit the midrange fadeaway over me at the end of the half and then did the ‘too small.’ And then he was talking to [Jordan Ott] during one of the timeouts and told J.O., ‘Don’t have him guard me next week.’ I was like, ‘Bro, what am I supposed to do?’” Reaves said to an eruption of laughter from reporters.
The Lakers and Suns are expected to both compete for the Western Conference title this season, as well as the defending-champion Nuggets. The Lakers and Suns will match up four times during the upcoming regular season, pitting LeBron James and Anthony Davis against a formidable Suns trio of Durant, Devin Booker and the newly acquired Bradley Beal. Perhaps the Lakers will choose somebody else to defend Durant when the two teams meet next Thursday in Los Angeles. Otherwise, Reaves will do the best he can guarding “the problem” in Durant.
