International players monopolize MVP due to high-intensity training? Durant: They're heavily influenced by American culture

On May 26, Beijing time, according to Scott, a reporter from the Arizona Republic, Suns star Kevin Durant recently reacted strongly to the statement on social media that "international players have won many MVP honors thanks to more intensive overseas training".

This season, the Canadian-born Alexander won the MVP for the first time in his career, and the international player has won the award for the seventh consecutive year. Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo are the top three players in this year's MVP vote, and they are all international players. Prior to Alexander, Antetokounmpo, Jokic and Embiid had all won MVPs, with Harden in 2018 being the most recent American player to win the MVP.

Durant, the 2014 MVP winner, bluntly said on social media that the argument that "international players have an advantage because of high-intensity training" is "nothing new".

"Most successful international players are either heavily influenced by American basketball culture, have played high school basketball in the United States, and some even attend college here," he wrote. The whole discussion is meaningless, basketball is a universal language, it's just that everyone's 'dialect' is different. Basketball is taught differently from state to state in the U.S., and who's to say which is perfect? ”

Scott mentioned that Durant's response was aimed at Black Sports Online co-founder Littal's comments on the Netflix documentary "Golden Field." This documentary about the 2024 Summer Olympics contrasts the rigorous training style adopted by European coaches with the relatively relaxed training style of American coaches. Durant seems to be particularly unhappy with Little's assertion that "we (the United States) have become a weak country."

In the 2024-25 season, Durant played in 62 regular season games for the Suns, averaging 26.6 points, 6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, shooting 52.7% from the field, 43% from three-point range, and 83.9% from the free throw line.