National Basketball Association

Durant not impressed by Griffin's dunk

Published Feb. 1, 2012 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

It was the dunk that had the potential to break YouTube, but Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant says he was not all that impressed.

Which is saying something, considering he had the best view in the house when Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin took to the air several feet from the rim, stayed there a little while at rim level, then threw down on top of Thunder big man Kendrick Perkins on Monday night.

The dunk instantly drew comparisons to Griffin's similar effort over former Knicks player Timofey Mozgov last season, and within minutes "Blake Griffin," "Kendrick Perkins," "#dunkoftheyear" and "Mozgov" were all trending nationally on Twitter. Millions have watched the dunk on YouTube in the past two days.

But for MVP candidate Durant, it wasn't even a dunk.

"I have no appreciation for it at all," Durant told the Dallas Morning News after his team's shootaround in Dallas on Wednesday.

"It was a layup. He threw the ball in and got fouled and made his free throw. It's three points at the end of the day, no matter how it went in the basket.

"So I really wasn't impressed. He finished it. So what? We moved on. That's not why we lost the game. Any time you guys ask about my teammate getting dunked on or crossed up or a shot made on him, it's a bad question and I don't like it."

Perkins, who will be appearing on bedroom wall posters as Griffin's victim for years to come, will undoubtedly be thankful for the words of support from his team's star player.

"I wasn't surprised because Blake is a poster child," Durant said. "He dunks the ball a lot and makes spectacular plays. If it wasn't against us, maybe I'd say it was a good play. But it was against us, so it was a bad play. I have nothing against Blake. Don't get that wrong. But it was against us so I have to stick up for my teammate."