Why Kevin Durant Is Sick Of Pro-Am Games

Kevin Durant (left) drives past former Thunder teammate Jeff Green during a pro-am pickup game.

When Kevin Durant made an impromptu trip to New York and took the court at Rucker Park, it suddenly became cool for NBA players to search for a game by any means necessary.

That was Aug. 1.

Two months later, the trend already has lost its luster — at least to Durant it has.

The two-time scoring champ on Tuesday briefly shared his thoughts via Twitter on the stream of streetball games that have swept the country and quickly become the biggest fad in this NBA lockout. It all started when Milwaukee point guard Brandon Jennings asked Durant if he was ready for a rematch between the D.C.-based Goodman League and the Los Angeles-based Drew League. Durant fired back a candid response.

yea I am, but on da real..all these game starting to get played out..but I’m ready for the rematch”

Jennings immediately agreed, responding “you ain’t never lie.”

It’s important to note here that Durant hasn’t let his feelings stop him from taking the court in these exhibitions. After all, basketball never stops. Durant’s scheduled to appear in Chris Paul’s charity game on Saturday on the campus of Winston Salem State University. Durant (as well as teammate Russell Westbrook) also is scheduled to play in a charity game in Miami hosted by the Heat’s All-Star trio on Oct. 8. Durant originally was scheduled to take part in the “Battle for I-95″ between Philadelphia and Baltimore, as well as the Goodman versus Knox Indy Pro Am in Indianapolis, but had to back out of both because of a previous commitment with filming his movie “Switch” in Baton Rouge, La.

But is it true? Have these pickup games — which started in earnest on July 23 with a showcase in the Philippines — become trite?

The competitiveness of these exhibitions has always been in question. No one, not even for a second, believed these barnstorming games could ever come close to replacing NBA action. But for the player who helped pioneer the movement to deem it “played out” after 60 days is a bit of an eye-opener.