Kevin Durant has nothing but praise for breakout Brooklyn Nets star Caris LeVert as Golden State welcomes Brooklyn to Oracle Arena.
The Brooklyn Nets may have something special in Caris LeVert. The budding star is garnering much-deserved attention after getting off to the best start of his career. The NBA is taking notice and more specifically, Kevin Durant sees how much talent and potential LeVert has.
It took some time for LeVert to breakout, but LeVert’s patience is paying off. Durant spoke with Mike Scotto of The Athletic about how LeVert is taking advantage of his opportunity.
“A lot of stuff has to fall in line in order for you to play well on the court. But I think Caris just waited his time and worked hard until that opportunity presented itself to him. Now that it’s time, he’s taking full advantage.”
This is the second meeting between the Nets and the Warriors. Durant’s squad escaped Brooklyn with a 120-114 victory earlier this season. LeVert was tasked with guarding Durant for portions of the night. It wasn’t an easy matchup for the 24-year-old, but he held his own.
“Obviously, he’s a very tough matchup,” LeVert said to Scotto after the game. “He has a lot of things offensively that he can do. He’s a very crafty player, so obviously myself and other guys on the team, young guys especially, he’s somebody who definitely we are chasing to be better than for sure.”
LeVert will have the chance to avenge his team’s loss from earlier this season. The Nets will have to deal with the adversity of a back-to-back in the midst of a Western Conference road trip, but they won’t have to contend with Stephen Curry who is dealing with a left adductor strain.
But LeVert is likely to see a whole lot of Durant on Saturday. He appears to be up for the challenge.
“It’s fun,” LeVert said of going up against Durant. “I’m very competitive. I like guarding the best players on other teams, so it’s fun for me for sure. I accept the challenge.”
LeVert converted a game-winning shot in the final seconds against the Denver Nuggets on Friday. He’ll try and follow up that performance by outplaying Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors. It’s a tall order, for sure. But for Caris LeVert, the sky is the limit.
