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Basketball sensation Kevin Durant says India is 20 years behind in advancement

| | Aug 12, 2017, at 03:05 am
New Delhi, Aug 11 (IBNS) American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Kevin Durant, who recently visited India, said the country was like 20 years behind in terms of knowledge.

In an interview to The Athletic, the basketball sensation who is one of the highest-earning basketball players  shared his culture shock in India, something that would perhaps not amuse Indians and its administrators.

He said in the interview: "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. 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 s— was really, really dope to me," he said.

He even expressed his shock about a place like Taj Mahal was surrounded by filth otherwise.

"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.

Image: Kevin Durant Facebook

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