Kevin Durant Must Shake Nice Guy Image to Win NBA Title

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is a bit of a refreshing NBA superstar. In the age of brash, cocky, loud-mouthed superstars, Durant is humble, polite and nice.

But does he need to shake that image to win an NBA title?

Durant is exactly the type of ambassador that NBA commissioner David Stern had in mind when he thought about selling pro basketball on the worldwide stage. That's tremendous off the court, as he's the type of role model professional athletes should be like.

But on the court, Durant needs to shake that image.

While Durant is one of the top handful of superstars in the NBA today, he's still a guy learning how to win a championship. Statistically there's nothing wrong with his performance. Three consecutive scoring titles attest to that, but stats don't always get you the ring at the end of the season. Just ask LeBron James.

There's not much at all to criticize about Durant's game. He scores, rebounds and comes through in the clutch, but to win a championship he's going to have to show some selfishness before it's all said and done.

Opposing teams have used that against him at times throughout the past two seasons, to the point where Durant showed frustration and deferred maybe a little too much. Sometimes Durant shows an unwillingness to assert himself throughout much of the game. 

Even Thunder head coach Scott Brooks offered that assessment, after the Thunder came back to steal Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers, as ESPN's J.A. Adande reported:

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"He was looking to pass too much tonight," Brooks said. "Do you tell your player, 'Stop passing'? It's hard. He was passing up good shots. You only pass up a good look to get a better look."

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There's nothing wrong with playing unselfish basketball. Durant answered the call at the end of the game with another game-winner, but it would be good to see him be more aggressive and assert himself before the fourth quarter.

Very few opposing defenders have success one-on-one stopping Durant. He needs to command the ball more often. It should be Russell Westbrook's job to defer to Durant, as any good point guard should, and not the other way around.

To get to where he wants to get in his career, Durant must show some of that. Call it mean, call it selfish, call it whatever you want—eventually Durant is going to have to become that guy.

Durant will win a championship, probably sooner rather than later, but not until he shakes that nice guy image on the court.