Kevin Durant wasn’t upset about LaMarcus Aldridge’s controversial closeout

Kevin Durant wasn’t upset with LaMarcus Aldridge for sliding his feet underneath him as he landed from a jump shot during Tuesday’s Game 2 matchup vs. the Spurs. Instead, he offered a reasonable explanation as to how a play as dangerous as that can happen so often: It’s just part of the game:

“Bigs are not used to being out on the perimeter and guarding guys on the perimeter,” Durant said during his postgame press conference. “So their whole thing is to just give you space so when you pull up, they just contest. That just a part of the game; it’s been happening forever since I’ve been in the league.

“I think bigs just try to contest shots and sometimes that stuff may happen, but it’s not on purpose at all.”

Aldridge contested a Durant three-pointer late in the second quarter of Golden State’s 136-100 victory over San Antonio. He accidentally appeared to step directly underneath Durant’s right foot as he came down from the shot:

Thankfully, Durant survived the incident unharmed. But Kawhi Leonard wasn’t so fortunate a game earlier. After landing on Zaza Pachulia’s foot in the third quarter of Game 1, Leonard reinjured his ankle and has been sidelined ever since. The Spurs have been outscored by 61 since he left that game.

Pachulia has carried a reputation of being a dirty player squarely on his shoulders, though. So even though Leonard felt his play wasn’t intentional or dirty, the Warriors’ center got blasted from all angles in the moments immediately following it.

Aldridge doesn’t carry such a reputation. That’s one of the reasons why Durant came to his opponent’s defense when asked about the play.

“You know LaMarcus. He’s a stand-up guy. He just plays the game the right way,” he said. “It wasn’t anything more than that; it’s just a big out on the perimeter. That’s not where he’s used to guarding. He’s just trying to do his best to contest the shot.”

This conundrum poses a difficult task for the NBA’s league office, which will likely attempt to tackle this issue head-on over the summer.

On one end, a shooter in midair is the equivalent of a helpless receiver in the NFL, and landing on an opponent’s foot could cause a devastating injury as we saw in Leonard’s case. On the other end, defenders have to play defense. Defenses are switching more pick-and-rolls than ever before, and like Durant said, bigs are contesting at the last second so they don’t get blown by.

What kind of rule change can really be implemented that doesn’t harm the basketball product on the floor? That’s an issue commissioner Adam Silver will have to deal with this summer.