Do not pick Kevin Durant for your softball team
Bored sports content producers often resort to a few battle-tested ideas in times of need, one of which is the ever-popular construction of a “what if athletes from this sport played this other sport instead” team. The idea is pretty simple — if humans were only allowed to play one sport, then we could probably construct a pretty good team of the best athletes in the world.
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I mention this tradition because the average writer may well believe that Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant would fit pretty well on a baseball field, if only because he’s so athletic and skilled at his chosen sport that he would presumably find some way to succeed. However, this video from Seattle Seahawks star Richard Sherman’s annual charity softball game at Seattle’s Safeco Field suggests otherwise. Clippers guard Jamal Crawford’s high pop-up from the second inning of Sunday’s game would seem to be a pretty easy play for center fielder Durant, but it did not go very well:
Yikes, where should we start? While it’s worth noting that KD seems to have lost the ball in the sun, which can happen to anyone, that arguably only happened because he opted to wear his hat backwards. In addition, Durant does not shield his eyes with his glove and meekly extends his hand in the hope that the ball will fall into it. I respect that pitcher and presumed captain-manager Sherman wanted to let a big star play a prominent position, but this effort indicates that Durant should have been put in right field to pick at the grass.
Not all NBA players struggled at the event. Take a look at MVP Matt Barnes, now a member of the Memphis Grizzlies:
Congratulations, Matt. You the real MVP.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!