Kevin Durant, the spindly, silky-smooth forward from the University of Texas, is making life miserable for the Portland Trail Blazers, who hold the first overall pick in tonight’s NBA draft. Hoops history tells the Blazers to take the big man, Ohio State seven-footer Greg Oden, since dominant post-players like Bill Russell, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan collect the championship rings. But Durant, a 6-ft. 10-in. scoring machine who became the first freshman to ever win college player-of-the-year honors, has looked more impressive in pre-draft workouts. Durant sat down with TIME’s Sean Gregory to discuss the draft, a taskmaster parent, and the doubters that drive him.
TIME: There are already tremendous expectations that you and Greg Oden will be all-time great players. Are you feeling the pressure?
Kevin Durant: There’s a lot of hype. People are saying we’re going to be saviors wherever we go. I try not to think about it, and tell myself that ‘I’m going to the NBA.’ I’m not going to be the only person on my team that’s good. There are going to be 10, 11 other guys that are great players like myself. So that takes a lot of the pressure off myself as well.
TIME: Do you think it’s fair that people have already put this burden on you and Greg?
Kevin Durant: When they say “savior,” that’s a big-time word to use. But I guess it’s an honor. I know I’ll continue to work hard to be one of the great players in the NBA. That’s the most I can offer right now.
TIME: Growing up you had a coach, Taras (“Stink”) Brown, who wouldn’t let you play pickup games with your friends. Instead, he insisted that you do dribbling drills, and sprint up a steep hill near your DC-area home. How did you feel about that?
Kevin Durant: It was tough. I didn’t like it at all, I wanted to play with my friends. He told me that I would pick up bad habits by playing 5-on-5, so everyday I just did the drill work. It was like boot camp everyday. It made me cry all the time—I just told myself not to be a quitter.
TIME: What was the worst part?
Kevin Durant: The hill was the worst by far. No matter how cold it was outside, no matter how hot it was, you had to run. It wasn’t just 5 or 10 runs—it was 75, sometimes 100. If my mother came out there, she would double it. If it was 100, it would be 200.
TIME: You are very close to your hard-driving mom Is she going to come out west with you, if as expected you go to Seattle, or who knows, maybe Portland?
Kevin Durant: She will. I’m still 18, I’m not grown yet. It’s my time to spoil her, because she’s been trying to do that to me ever since I was young. The only job she is going to have is to just make sure she puts a good meal on the table. Its what she’s been doing her whole life for me and my brother—I think she’s going to enjoy that.
TIME: Everyone expects Greg to go first in the draft. But do you feel you should be the top pick?
Kevin Durant: (Brief silence) It would be an honor for me to be a top pick in the draft. But if I go second, I’m not going to complain at all. I’m just happy to be in this position to be considered a top-two pick. But to go number one would be icing on the cake.
TIME: Pretend I’m a GM. Convince me why I should take you number one.
Kevin Durant: Every day I bring it. I would be a good person throughout the organization, so anyone can count on me to do anything. That’s what an organization needs
TIME: Would you at least be a little disappointed if you went second?
Kevin Durant: Be serious. The NBA Draft is not a given. It’s a privilege. So to be picked number two is phenomenal—I can’t complain at all. A lot guys want to be in the shoes I am in right now.
TIME: It’s no secret that television ratings for NBA games have declined. This year’s San Antonio Spurs-Cleveland Cavaliers championship series was the least-watched Finals in history. Why do you think the NBA has struggled with this?
Kevin Durant: I wish I can answer that question, but I honestly don’t know. It really surprises me. There were two great teams in the Finals. LeBron (James) was in the Finals for the first time, and nobody watched? That’s kind of shocking to hear. San Antonio was so dominant, people probably got bored with that.
TIME: There was a big controversy during Spurs-Phoenix Suns series, when the NBA suspended Suns star Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for a game after they left the bench during a fight. What did you think of that?
Kevin Durant: That really hurt the series. Without them they can’t win. But rules are rules—if I made a rule up that said they can’t come off the bench, they can’t come off the bench. They are just teaching them discipline.
TIME: Your failure to bench press 185-lbs. during a workout has some people questioning your strength. What’s your reaction?
Kevin Durant: People are still on that, man. I just tell people that it really doesn’t matter. I mean, if I drop [in the draft] because I didn’t lift 185 pounds, then it’s a big thing. But people say I’m not going to drop at all. So I just let that slide off. But it got to me a little bit at first.
TIME: Do you have trouble putting on weight?
Kevin Durant: When I was younger it was hard, but now, after I eat and after I lift weights, I gain three or four pounds, easily. Now, I eat a good meal, I lift weights, and I rest up. I try to eat more fruits and vegetables, a little bit of heavy food—I like steak and lobster. I like a lot of seafood. Just something that can fill me up that’s not hurtful. Going into summer school last year, I was about 195 pounds. I got on the scale the other day, and no shoes, no socks, and I was 222.
TIME: In college, was it harder to eat healthy while putting on weight?
Kevin Durant: Yeah, I would eat fast foods, McDonalds, Wendy’s, but it helped me gain weight. After I ate a couple of meals, I would treat myself to some gummy bears.
TIME: Right now, what part of your game do you think will easily transition into the NBA?
Kevin Durant: It’s hard to say right now, but if I would pick anything, I would say I can shoot the ball, and score in many different ways. I can score posting up, going to the basket, or shooting the three. If I have a wide-open shot, I’m probably going to hit it.
TIME: What part of about your game do you think needs the most improvement for the NBA?
Kevin Durant: Obviously my strength, my defense. I’m not trying to pinpoint one aspect of my game more than another, I’m nowhere near where I want to be. But who is really ready, besides LeBron James, coming out of high school or college?
TIME: NBA players are notoriously tempted by the trappings of money and fame—the parties, the fast lifestyle, the women. Are you prepared for all of that?
Kevin Durant: I’m the type that likes the family atmosphere on my team. So if my teammate asks, ‘do you want to hang out?’ I’m the type to say, ‘Yeah, let’s do that.’ But I’m also the type to be a bit more focused. I don’t do the drinking or any of that stuff. I enjoy myself, but not that much.
TIME: Of the players now in the NBA, who is your role model?
Kevin Durant: LeBron James by far. The way he handled himself coming out of high school—he had a lot of hype, he never let it get to his head. He just played hard, and he lived up to his expectations. You never see him get in any trouble and things like that. He led his team to the Finals. He’s like the perfect athlete I think.
TIME: So besides working out, how have you been keeping busy before the big draft day?
Kevin Durant: Well, I finally got my driver’s license in Texas.
TIME: What took you so long?
Kevin Durant: I didn’t want to go through all that driving school—I’ve been busy. I’ve been driving around in my mom’s car. She’s got a Hyundai. It’s about three or four years old. I got me a little something— I bought myself a Range Rover. I’m really looking forward to that—it just hasn’t gotten home yet.
TIME: How much did you pay for it?
Kevin Durant: I don’t know, to be honest with you.
TIME: You took an acting class in college—do you have any interest in that?
Kevin Durant: Not at all. I’m not going Hollywood. The point of the class was to be goofy. My teammate was in it with me, and that’s all we did. We made everyone laugh. We got a lot of participation points from that, and we got an A.
TIME: Did you take any other classes that interested you?
Kevin Durant: I took an anthropology class—how people live in different countries that I never heard of before I got in the class. The rituals of how they found food were just amazing to me. It is easy for us to just go to the store and buy food. They had to catch it, cook it, make sure it’s not poisoned—all that different type of stuff. It was crazy.
TIME: Did you really struggle with the decision to turn pro after just a year at Texas?
Kevin Durant: I thought about it a lot, because I love my family in Texas. It was fun playing with them last year. And it was a great experience going through college as a person—meeting new people, seeing new ethnic backgrounds, things like that. But this has been my dream for a long, long time. Now that I have this opportunity, I have to take it.
TIME: At what moment were you convinced that you had to turn pro?
Kevin Durant: I would say right after I won the Wooden award (for being the nation’s top college player), it hit me. I did as much as I could do in college individually. As a team, we could have went to the national championship. But making a decision like that, you have to be selfish a little bit.
TIME: Bob Knight called the NBA’s rule prohibiting high school players from going straight to the NBA “the worst thing that’s happened to college basketball since I’ve been coaching,” as it floods schools with players that intend to stay for just a year. Do you agree with him?
Kevin Durant: I didn’t know that I was going to go for a year. Let’s get that out of the way first. If a kid comes out and says, “I’m going to be here for a year,” I think it does hurt. It will hurt him in the classroom. It will hurt the team as well, because he will just be focusing on going to the NBA.
TIME: You’re honestly telling me you didn’t go to Texas with the intention of just playing for a year and then leaving.
Kevin Durant: Honestly, I did not expect to do a one-year-and-out.
TIME: So you were surprised by your freshman success this season?
Kevin Durant: Yeah, I was. I never scored 30 points in high school— maybe one time in four years. [At Texas], when I scored 30 I was so happy, like ‘man, I scored 30 for the first time, and it was in college.’ After that, they kept coming. I was like, ‘man, I didn’t know it was going to be like that.’ But it was real fun. I’ve seen all different kinds of defenses, and a lot of teams talked, like ‘oh, he’s not going to do that against us.'” And inside, I just smiled and just played my game.
TIME: So where the heck did that performance come from?
Kevin Durant: I mean, back at home there were a lot of people saying, ‘he’s not big enough to do anything at Texas, he’s not going to do this, he’s not going to do that.’ I was thinking of [Washington Wizards All-Star] Gilbert Arenas, because he said ‘it’s about proving people wrong.’ A lot of people doubted me. And they still doubt me now to be honest. A lot of people are saying that, ‘he’s not going to do anything in the NBA.’ But I just laugh at it.
TIME: So that doubt still drives you?
Kevin Durant: Yes. I’m cold blooded. Most people don’t want me to do good. Some people who I thought were my friends—they seem to be like that as well. So I just try to be a different guy on the court. And whatever my team wants me to do, I try to be cold-blooded at it.
TIME: Who specifically is doubting you??
Kevin Durant: Some of my friends tell me, ‘this dude over there, he’s hating on you.’ Saying ‘you’re not going to do anything, you’re not ready, you shouldn’t have left.’ I mean I know I’m not going to do in the NBA what I did in college. That’s for sure. But I just tell them, ‘just watch me man. Don’t worry about me. I’m going to handle what I’m supposed to handle. One of these days I’m going to show you.’
TIME: What NBA player are you most looking forward to guarding?
Kevin Durant: It will be fun to try to stop LeBron James, though it’s not going to happen at all. It will be a task at hand—I’m going to need a couple of guys, and maybe even the ref—to help me out.
TIME: OK, it’s Thursday night, and Portland has just passed you over as the number one pick, selecting Greg instead. What’s your message to the Blazers and their fans?
Kevin Durant: It’s no harsh feelings between me and Portland. Not at all. I can’t give them a Gilbert Arenas and say I’m going to have 50 or 60 on them (laughs). I can’t do that at all.
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Write to Sean Gregory at sean.gregory@time.com