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‘It’s a country that’s 20 years behind in terms of knowledge and experience’
‘You see cows in the street, monkeys running around everywhere, hundreds of people on the side of the road, a million cars and no traffic violations’
NBA star and MVP of the 2017, Kevin Durant was in India recently to promote basketball. He took part in activities in the NBA Academy and also visited the famous Taj Mahal.
Durant recently shared the experience of his India visit and said it was a unique experience and nothing like he imagined.
The Golden State Warriors superstar while speaking to The Athletic said that India is still 20 years behind in terms of experience and knowledge.
Durant said that he was shocked to see that streets were full of cows and monkeys. “It’s a country that’s 20 years behind in terms of knowledge and experience. You see cows in the street, monkeys running around everywhere, hundreds of people on the side of the road, a million cars and no traffic violations. Just a bunch of underprivileged people there and they want to learn how to play basketball. That was really, really dope to me,” he said in the interview.
During his visit, Durant had also visited Taj Mahal in Agra and said it was during his visit to Taj when he came across many houses with no doors and windows. This shaped the basketball stars opinion about India.
“Yeah. As I was driving up to the Taj Mahal, like I said, I thought that this would be holy ground, super protected, very very clean. And as I’m driving up, it’s like, s—, this used to remind me of some neighborhoods I would ride through as a kid. Mud in the middle of the street, houses were not finished but there were people living in them. No doors. No windows. The cows in the street, stray dogs and then, boom, Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. It’s like holy s—, this was built 500 years ago and everyone comes here. It’s just an eye-opener,” he said.
Durant added that overall it was a unique experience as he had landed in India with no expectations.
“Um, it was a unique experience. I went with no expectation, no view on what it’s supposed to be like. I usually go to places where I at least have a view in my head. India, I’m thinking I’m going to be around palaces and royalty and gold — basically thought I was going to Dubai. Then when I landed there, I saw the culture and how they live and it was rough,” Durant told The Athletic.