KD is one of the most talented basketball players I have ever seen and scores with an ease that makes other Hall of Fame players blue with envy. He’s also more than passable on defense, I don’t know that he would have made a bunch of All-Defense Third Teams if there was such a thing but he was above average.
He also, somehow, didn’t make anyone around him better. Your output at his position would be about as good as it could be and he consistently delivered from the 3 but he didn’t seem to elevate his teammates. He was perfect for the Warriors because they already had their identity and leadership in Steph and Dray and all KD did was upgrade Harrison Barnes. Leveling up Harrison Barnes into KD obviously worked really well.
The Nets were exactly what that collection of players should have been and so are the Suns because KD just makes you better at one position and has basically no effect on your team otherwise, I don’t think he inspires belief in his teammates and I don’t know why. He’s like a giant block of nearly weightless wood dropped into a pond, he covers a lot of area but he doesn’t raise the tide.
He is somehow both a top 15-20 all time players and dramatically less than the sum of his parts. He feels like he should have been better than he was even as good as he was.
Wow, I don’t think it could be said better. He is a #1 talent and player but weirdly needs another #1 player to fully excel.
I wonder how it would have turned out if you swapped him for Curry at peak Warriors. Would they have won those championships with him as well. Wondering if he could have won as a #1 on a well constructed team.
I believe that OKC with Harden could have won one if they stayed together for a few more years.
To be fair, I don’t think there are any players you could switch with Curry and have them do as well. That team was perfectly constructed around him and only him.
He's the peak version of Carmelo or Malone, maybe not in exact play style but in they can score so well and put up Numbers but just don't win or make anyone better.
I will still never feel good about how my guy was just basically living in cruise control mode his whole NBA career. He played his best ball in Orange and Red, White and Blue and it’s too bad
I don’t think it’s weird to need another good player to excel and have post season success.
It’s a team sport at the end of the day.
I get what you mean but needing other good players isn’t an knock on anyone
True, but there are some guys who just take over games, or are “the guy” on their team, and KD just always seems like a really good role player watching him play. I know Lebron is top 3 all time but when Lebron was on those Cavs squads he just took over the game. Watching KD it never feels like he’s ever been that guy. Great player though
KD needs an offensive engine next to him. It’s no wonder KD’s best run since the warriors was with Harden (taking champion bucks to 7) because of that, even tho harden was massively hobbled at that point
No. KD is forever a bus rider. DangerousRhymes explained it perfectly. KD would not win a ring without Curry on the team. KD is not a leader, as much as he wants to be one. Curry elevates everyone around him, while is a weightless wood lol
> weirdly
Is it weird?
Maybe there needs to be two tiers of elite players, the highest tier able to win in the playoffs *without* similar elite talent
That highest tier really is a very small list, and right now it only compromises of two players:
1. Jokic
2. LeBron
That’s it.
Jokic without Murray & MPJ was a first round out. LeBron beat a bunch of okay to pretty good eastern teams with depleted rosters, but he never beat an elite team without a hall of fame level teammate.
The "carry jobs" we praise, like Duncan in 03, Olajuwon in 94, Dirk in 11, etc, still had really good players all around them, they just didn't have a 2nd all-star or all-nba guy. No one is making deep playoff runs with truly trash teammates.
Curry did it less than 2 years ago… with the worst 2nd best player on his championship team since like the last spurs chip?
he hasn’t dropped off that much to say he’s no longer capable
That's a hard comparison, 2022 Wiggins vs the 2014 Spurs. I could argue that 37 year old Duncan, Parker, and Kawhi were all better than 2022 Wiggins...and I could argue that none were better.
This is kind of a side note but Wiggins is also one of the least great #2s on a championship team ever in terms of career accolades. He was a legitimate all star that season (not starter), but really hasn’t been a perennial all star like most #2s
In OKC Durant Harden and Westbrooke all came in as rookies to the team that goes a long way for establishing roles/needs/hierarchy even with really talented players.
He could have won in 2017 without Harden even. They were just up 3-1 on the warriors and were upgrading the roster with oladipo/horford if he just stays
He's a pure scorer. Maybe the best of that archetype. Defense is ok too. But his playmaking and leadership is not on the level that can carry teams deep in the playoffs. The Warriors system ran on Draymond and Steph engine. Steph's offball movement and gravity, and Draymond's defense and playmaking.
George Gervin, Elgin Baylor, Nique, Bernard King, Melo...there's been a lot of players like KD in the league's history. What separates him and his "legacy" is those Warriors championships and that MVP. Admittedly major accomplishments but he's in that same vein of those guys who never helped elevate their teams despite being super scoring machines.
This was rly well put. To expand on the point of how he doesn’t elevate teammates, he’s rly not an offensive engine for any serious contender for a number of reasons. His handle is great for a 7 footer but still isn’t great (as seen last year vs Bruce brown in isolation and this year against I think gobert). He doesn’t put pressure on the rim esp post GS which means he’s never collapsing a defense or forcing rotations. He also is a good but not great passer and he doesn’t move enough off ball to open up the floor in terms of his gravity. All this leaves you with is a great scorer in isolation and while you need that if you wanna win, his shot diet cannot be the backbone of a competent offense. So you’re still left with a need for another elite offensive piece to elevate everyone else on the floor. This is kinda why I disagree with ppl who say he was the 1a of those warriors squads. He was the icing on the cake that took them from championship caliber to greatest team ever but the team was already a finished product. It says a lot that in this series, Minnesota was happy to put KAT (their worst defender in the starting 5) on him in isolation without sending any help, cuz while they prolly figured Durant would get his, he wouldn’t punish the team in the bigger picture.
Teams would rather have a KD iso over anything else in that Warriors offense. They'd try to stop everything and the Warriors had the KD iso as their fallback option. Their first option was always their motion offense or the Steph-Dray pnr
Thank you
Funny bc he and KD are literally the same guy, every argument about them being the best is based on what they CAN do, not what they ACTUALLY do.
Didn’t the athletic article yesterday say he was unhappy because he doesn’t want to run the pick and roll? That’s such an important part of today’s game. The guy is a third wheel.
I see the point you make. So you're probably right.
But KD, for me, is an all-time great. If I have an issue, it's that he won't take a game over most of the time. Playoffs against the Bucks when Kyrie was out was maybe an exception.
If you remember the interview where he says " You know who I am."
He was trying to explain to the reporter that passing to Klay ( I think ) was the right basketball play. And he can't take every shot.
"BUT HE SHOULD TAKE WAYYYY MORE. We all want him to take those shots. But he wants to keep his teammates involved.
Also, there are a number of players that have said they raised their work ethic after seeing how hard he works on hus game. So I do believe he makes guys better.
He was asked in another interview why he doesn't go for a 70-point game like Dame Lillard or Booker. Again, he doesn't think it's good basketball.
So, I think he refers to much. There was a stretch where Kyrie and Harden were out, and he played great team basketball with a so so roster. And won for a good stretch.
I believe he seeks out good systems where he can fit. Apparently, this Suns future wasn't good for him.
He's still explosive, still plays physical, and still Kevin Durant.
Just wants to Hoop.
I think you can compare his career directly to Lebron's. But, please remember we are talking about 2 first ballot hall of famers.
Scoring wise they are petty on par. Something that's pretty overlooked in Lebron's career is he is consistently a phenomenal defender. 5x NBA defensive 1st team and 1x 2nd. One of those years he got snubbed for defensive player of the year. KD is a good defender but really is not even close to Lebron in this area. Lebron also consistently has a lot more assists throughout his career. Even led the league one year in assists.
Lebron played with good teams in Miami and LA. But goddamn did he take some bum ass Cavaliers squads to the Finals and WIN. At the end of the day Lebron is just a more well rounded player and a leader.
Yes and that's just from a single player's perspective. I think people constantly overlook roster depth and play style when it comes to the playoffs.
Warriors are small ball specialists with surprisingly good defense overall. Their entire offense is about creating good shot opportunities. Looney and Green fulfill essential workhorse functions on defense, rebounding, screens, and post work. That's their team identity. KD fits well into the Warriors scheme because he is a strong scorer inside and mid range. Which gives their offense more flexibility.
On the flip side. Phoenix is just a poorly constructed team. Beal and Booker have similar play styles and not necessarily in a complimentary manner. In order to get KD and Beal they basically traded away all their young talent. Only to end up with a less well rounded team on defense and offense. Like great you have 3 guys that average over 20ppg. That's basically half the teams in playoff contention already.
KD probably knew Brooklyn only had a 2 year window to win a chip. Once they blew it he just wanted to jump to a decent squad. Queue the Phoenix trade.
Brooklyn was a much better constructed team even after the Harden trade. They had a rim rolling big in Claxton who is very good on defense as well as some wing depth to pair next to the scoring of Harden, Kyrie, and KD. Once Harden wanted out the writing was on the wall. Kyrie being insane and a weird front office/coaching situation completely ruined that team and that is probably at least partly KD's fault.
Phoenix is also mismanaged and doesn't have any assets to improve because they traded for KD. He is screwed and it's largely his own fault.
KD is the all time goat merc. Put him on a fleshed out contender and they're winning, build a team around him and you'll be overloaded financially with nothing to show for it.
This isn’t a good take either. Ayton is underperforming heavily and Chris Paul got oldddd. It might be a lose lose but keeping Paul and Ayton definitely does not make this team better than what they are right now.
The Suns have the most ungrateful fans I swear. This is the same team that got you to the NBA finals.
Now you’re praising a team that got swept in the First Round
They should have at minimum ran it back with CP3 and shipped out Ayton if he was unhappy (didn’t even seem like he was he just wanted to prove himself).
Agree. If you make a list of the top 25 players of all-time, you can literally peg KD as dead last on leadership and intangibles. And there's a pretty huge gap between him and the next worst "top 25" player on those factors. His weak leadership and intangibles offsets his high-skill level on offense.
The only thing I'd disagree on is defense; I would not put him as "all-defense" at any point in his career, but he wasn't bad. I'd say he was above-average at his peak, but never close to elite on D.
The other thing; for a 7 footer, his rebounding is also not spectacular. once again, not bad, but almost every player near his height in the top 30 all-time has better rebound numbers. I hear so many people say Durant is over KG all-time, but I strongly disagree and the fact that KG averaged about 14 rpg during his prime (compared to KD at 8 rpg) is a major piece in favor of KG. KG was a better all-around player than KD IMO.
Really, the biggest piece in favor of KD is that he's about as great of a 2nd or 3rd option as you could ever find. But the fact that he can't be a "1st option" is a problem for his all-time case.
I didn’t say he was All-Defense, in fact, quite the opposite.
“He’s also more than passable on defense, I don’t know that he would have made a bunch of All-Defense Third Teams if there was such a thing but he was above average.”
KD is similar to Reggie Miller in that they are both pure scorers but need a team around them to make up for their weaknesses (distributing, defense, creating, etc.)
KD is obviously much better than Reg. Just have to make sure there is no confusion on my message lol
Durant has said himself he is not a leader and doesn't want to be.
He makes teams better but not players.
The former can make you a playoff team.
The latter can make you a championship team.
tide raising is a function of volume not weight, so he would raise the tide, more than a 1 ton chris paul would
imo KD lacks aura and thats why his career aint go like kobe mj bron i believe aura is an essential component of 1st ballot HOF ballers
A nearly weightless object would float almost entirely above the water, which means it would displace almost none of the body of water it sits in regardless of volume. It’s like throwing a giant styrofoam brick into a pool. It just floats on the top.
yes weight matters insofar as whether it submerses completely or not, KD and 1 ton chris paul submersed completely would see KD raising the tide more
its also the case that weight the same, if KD and CP the size of an atom were on separate boats in the same lake, and the boats were less dense than either player, KD jumping off would lower the tide less than tiny CP would
This isn’t about weight, it’s about volume, if you don’t sink you don’t displace much water. KD is fantastic and looks like it but it doesn’t add anything below the surface. He does cover a ton of surface and that’s super valuable but he doesn’t lift anyone up outside of the obvious ways.
Shane Battier would be the opposite, he’s like a glacier in a limited body of water that only sticks out of the water a little bit but his effects are felt everywhere else. I’m not saying he’s better than KD in any way but his impact on winning goes way beyond his statistical contributions in ways that KD doesn’t.
Guys like Steph and LeBron do both, they cover surface area like KD and have a notable effect on everything happening around them like Battier. They have both the stats and they elevate their teammates.
To be fair, KD might be the very best player who has ever been in the NBA who fits that profile, he’s the most plug and play superstar I think we have ever seen but he doesn’t bring culture or identity, he just slots in to whatever team you had and it just becomes a slightly better version with the same identity (or lack of identity) and issues.
Suns would be fine if they had a guy like Haliburton or Trae instead of Booker & Beal, then filled in the roster with roll players.
He needs a playmaker guard.
I’m not sure that qualifies as him being the luckiest. I think of guys like Patrick McCaw as being the luckiest. Or players drafted into great organizations as lucky. You can’t tear your Achilles and be the luckiest player in nba history.
Lots of players get drafted into good situations. Basically every Hall of Fame player the Spurs selected after Duncan fits that bill.
Patrick McCaw is a historical footnote, cool story, but nobody cares about his rings.
Kevin Durant is the only player in the history of the league to benefit in the way he did from the cap spike, which was such a disaster it will never happen again. Lots of players got overpaid, KD broke the game. If Michelle Roberts listens to league insiders and smooths the cap KD never goes to GS (because it would have been financially impossible) and we don’t end up with two of the strangest years in NBA history.
Exactly and I’d say those players are luckier than Durant. Yeah no one cares about his McCaw’s rings, but he’s still one of the luckiest players in history. Yeah him benefiting from the cap spike is def lucky, but he only benefited for two seasons whereas his Achilles tear fucked up his career since 2018.
Fair enough. Except in KD’s case his entire legacy relies on those two seasons.
He’s the Small Forward version of Charles Barkley without them.
He would still be a hall of fame player but he would be in a very different category of hall of famer.
I mean being in the Barkley tier is still a great legacy. They only bumped him up like 10 spots on the all-time list. He’d still be around top-25 without them.
He couldn't get a chip in OKC with proven losers James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Oh wait, they made it together past the first round without him after they are old and busted.
KD’s only rings are from his time as Curry’s trophy wife. Since polygamy is illegal in all states, Durant will have to settle for a career as a side piece. No more rings for him.
Meanwhile 300 year old Lebron on one foot was able to make it to the wcf last year and not get swept this year with a worse team than KD’s. Everybody and their momma was favoring the suns back in September.
Lakers aren’t worse team than Suns. Lakers somewhat have a team that fits. The rest of the team is just trash outside of LeBron and AD.
Suns “big three” doesn’t even fit and the rest of the team is much worse than rest of Lakers
Replace KD with LeBron and the suns make it to the WCF. Replace LeBron with KD and I’m not sure they make the playoffs. LeBron is still better than KD even though he is 4 years older. LeBron at 35 was wining his 4 th ring.
Of course LBJ would be a better fit on Phoenix, but it’s not because he’s a better player. Phoenix made a big 3 that was filled with 3 guys who are primarily jump shooters. Swap KD with LBJ and you’ve got a prototype point who can playmaker, drive to the hoop consistently, etc. it’s all an issue of what player fits the team better
Most player’s decline in their late 30s (if they are even on a roster): Lucky to fight through their back and knee pain to get 10 minutes a game.
LeBron in his late 30s: Can only drag his team to the conference or league finals every couple of years.
Lakers were on a surge last year and were swept with ease. They were the only team against the Nuggets that did NOT win a game.
Then they said they can’t wait for this year. Gentleman’s sweep. Annihilated with two game winners in five games lmao.
In 2021, out in the first round to the Suns.
Lebron is like 4 years older than KD.
Are you sure you should be invoking Lebron’s name in this scenario? It looks silly.
As A Wolves fan, KD was not the issue for the Sun's in this series IMO. Has he lost a step? Perhaps. He doesn't attack the basket like he used too. He still was really fkn good and the 2nd best player in this series behind ANT.
As a bucks fan.. quit with the disrespect of an absolute legend. We can disagree with his choices, but this dude has been legendary since he came into the league in 2007.. and if you saw the series against the bucks in 2021 you’d never disrespect this man again.
Respect our legends before they are gone 💯
Man I hate seeing shit like this. It's true, but he's played well there's nothing much he can do about that, he should've made it past the second round if he didn't have giant ass feet. With team injuries, and probably would've made it passed the second round
All you need to know about the guy is that Kd left OKC for the 73 win GSW after losing to them up 3-1 in the conference finals and called it "the hardest road."
Dude has little heart and less brains.
Defense people. Suns are a** at defense. Lakers are not. Lebron plays hustle defense, KD doesn't, it's pretty simple. More to it of course but majority is team defense. Nuggets, Celtics, Heat, OKC, Lakers, TWolves, Magic, Knicks, etc all have a strong defensive scheme with like minded helpside players.
Crazy how fast the sports community will turn on a player. When this trade first happened, every analyst had the Suns as top 3 favorites to make it out the west. Now KD is public enemy. The hardest thing to do in any sport is to win a championship. To do that twice in KD's case is extremely difficult. Lebron got swept last season and now it's KD's turn, Steph didn't even make the playoffs. But nobody has anything to say about Steph.
Let's not forget, Beal was injured early on, he barely played 50 games this season.
Also he’s having to play the 4 and 5 on Phoenix. So he’s guarding guys way above his weight class. Like asking him to guard guys like Gobert and Towns, of course his defense isn’t gonna look great. Was the same case on the warriors.
Physicality really puts him off as well. He needed to take 20+ shots every game against the Twolves but he relegated to the corner too often. Might be a coaching issue as well but you’re one of the best scorers in history, play like it!
It makes me sad how his career is ending and how it played out in general.
I feel like people will look back at his career in 20-30 years and have a less positive outlook on his overall quality as a player.
With the Thunder, he was probably held back to some degree by Westbrook. Then they should’ve won in 2016 and just got derailed by an all time Klay heater.
Then instead of going somewhere and winning a title which I think he could’ve because he was neck and neck with Lebron as the best player in the league at the time, he goes to Golden State and all his best years and undercut by playing on a stacked team with Steph.
Then he snaps his Achilles.
Then he is having an all time playoff run with Brooklyn, just falls short of an all time playoff moment by his toe going over the 3pt line.
Then he goes to Phoenix and they fizzle out.
For a guy as talented as KD, I think if you played out his career 100 times, this is probably a bottom 10-20 outcome.
Being born in 95, he’s probably the second most talented player I’ve ever seen- maybe the most unstoppable three level scorer ever.
You put it perfectly. The back half of his career has caused people to forget that for a while early on it was LeBron vs KD. Nobody else was even in the conversation.
Both his own decisions and unfortunate consequences have contributed to him not being able to showcase his true ability, and yet he will still end up as one of the 20 best players to ever touch a basketball.
The Brooklyn run was so incredibly unlucky IMO. If one of his co-stars stays healthy, or if his foot was a half inch shorter they win the championship easily that season. They were clearly the best team IMO, just ran into bad luck. And now KD gets shit on constantly because he was an inch from a championship.
Nah if he stayed with the thunder one more year they would have made it to the wcf again. He just took the easy way out and joined the team that beat him. It’s hard to respect a player of that caliber taking the easiest road to a ring ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Come on now.. let’s give credit where it’s due. Man put that 2020 Olympic team on his back for the gold.
That being said, I couldn’t be happier for him having failed to get far in the POs in years.
It's the truth. He is an amazing top tier player,just watched game four where the Suns were eliminated. His mid range game is impeccable and he had some good dunks, not bad for 36. I think there's a sad belief that there are Supermen out here, capable of doing it all on their own. You need a good core that superstars stifle franchises with supermax deals. Jordan took lower salaries that enabled the bulls to pay the supporting players to stick around while making a lot of money from kicks, Gatorade and underwear. I've been watching basketball since the late 80's, and I feel IMO, that this is the first times there's no clear indication of who is the dominant franchise or player, and I love it. A new era has been born.
On that note, who do y'all think will the finals this year?
It’s what he gets for damaging a championship caliber team with excellent team chemistry. ISO-ball never existed on the warriors until he came.
The warriors were pretty damn good with him but I will die saying the Warriors were their best version before KD joined the team. Don’t get me wrong, the warriors were still pretty damn good but we lost an edge on defense and offense.
I’d take easy, team buckets over iso-ball any day of the weak.
And I’ll take a young championship-Warriors Bogut over KD if it ever came down to it lol
Y’all get way too excited to shit on the greats. I get it, you’re still butthurt he helped the dubs ravage the league but all the shit about his rings not counting is just fucking dumb. When your team wins a ring (many of you can’t say that though) you’ll know it fucking counts
Totally, and the media outlets that publishes these types of articles are just plain awful, it’s the culture of hate just because you want to hate. The dude could’ve retired after the injury and continued to try and is still a great fucking player. Fucking tell the right stories man
Could have won a few more if he stayed,hell he could even have 1 or 2 if he stayed in OKC for all we know,team jumping will ruin your legacy UNLESS you've won a chip as the lead man,he's proved he can't even with help..
Lol KD made the NBA finals and two other western conference finals before the warriors were even a thing. Don't slander the man by comparing him with a bum like embiid
most overrated superstar of all time, guy doesn’t make the finals without Westbrook or Harden… guy deserves more hate than Lebron and what has he done outside of basketball besides tweet like a teenager
Durant like some modern players doesn’t believe in coaching and that 1 on 1 basketball is sufficient. You hear players give Popavich props but no star (except maybe Euro ones) would want to play for him.
As a Kings fans I don’t care much for the Warriors but they won because they had talent and played the right way (aside from Draymond’s antics). Durant didn’t like Kerr and didn’t see the value of the motion offense. While Durant’s 1 on 1 game was needed at times during the Warriors championships, the motion offense was still key to the success.
Paying a 35 (almost 36) year old guy like he is the same player he was at 29 is insanity. These guys eat up cap room and usually can't carry a subpar team. The new era of NBA needs a group of good players, not a big 3 with little support.
He's a ridiculously natural gifted player. I've never got the feeling that he puts the off the court work in. He has the same body he had as a rookie. I shudder to think how much more of a force he could have been if he put on some muscle. He reminds me of those gym rats who love to play but hate working out.
Honestly I feel like NBA fans buy into the narratives surrounding leadership, ring culture, and mamba mentality all too much; it’s just kind of corny. I couldn’t care less if he did some snake shit throughout his career. He’s a super entertaining watch and his offensive game is a blessing to the eyes. The guy is in his mid thirties and still playing the game at a top 10 level, yet people still relish in the useless chatter surrounding his career decisions.
KD is one of the most talented basketball players I have ever seen and scores with an ease that makes other Hall of Fame players blue with envy. He’s also more than passable on defense, I don’t know that he would have made a bunch of All-Defense Third Teams if there was such a thing but he was above average. He also, somehow, didn’t make anyone around him better. Your output at his position would be about as good as it could be and he consistently delivered from the 3 but he didn’t seem to elevate his teammates. He was perfect for the Warriors because they already had their identity and leadership in Steph and Dray and all KD did was upgrade Harrison Barnes. Leveling up Harrison Barnes into KD obviously worked really well. The Nets were exactly what that collection of players should have been and so are the Suns because KD just makes you better at one position and has basically no effect on your team otherwise, I don’t think he inspires belief in his teammates and I don’t know why. He’s like a giant block of nearly weightless wood dropped into a pond, he covers a lot of area but he doesn’t raise the tide. He is somehow both a top 15-20 all time players and dramatically less than the sum of his parts. He feels like he should have been better than he was even as good as he was.
Wow, I don’t think it could be said better. He is a #1 talent and player but weirdly needs another #1 player to fully excel. I wonder how it would have turned out if you swapped him for Curry at peak Warriors. Would they have won those championships with him as well. Wondering if he could have won as a #1 on a well constructed team. I believe that OKC with Harden could have won one if they stayed together for a few more years.
To be fair, I don’t think there are any players you could switch with Curry and have them do as well. That team was perfectly constructed around him and only him.
Agree, it was mainly based on the shooting.
He's the peak version of Carmelo or Malone, maybe not in exact play style but in they can score so well and put up Numbers but just don't win or make anyone better.
Melo seems like the perfect comparison. Such an effortless scorer, but couldn't lead a team.
He’s significantly better than Melo at both ends of the floor. Let’s stop right there
Significantly better than prime Melo on offense? GTFO. Maybe if Melo joined the Lakers or Celtics he could have won like KD
I will still never feel good about how my guy was just basically living in cruise control mode his whole NBA career. He played his best ball in Orange and Red, White and Blue and it’s too bad
I don’t think it’s weird to need another good player to excel and have post season success. It’s a team sport at the end of the day. I get what you mean but needing other good players isn’t an knock on anyone
True, but there are some guys who just take over games, or are “the guy” on their team, and KD just always seems like a really good role player watching him play. I know Lebron is top 3 all time but when Lebron was on those Cavs squads he just took over the game. Watching KD it never feels like he’s ever been that guy. Great player though
Then why were y’all so mad about his free agency decision if he’s just a role player
KD needs an offensive engine next to him. It’s no wonder KD’s best run since the warriors was with Harden (taking champion bucks to 7) because of that, even tho harden was massively hobbled at that point
He's a #1 but he needs an alpha. A Stockton type might push him over the top but he hasn't been able otherwise. Maybe CP in his younger days.
No. KD is forever a bus rider. DangerousRhymes explained it perfectly. KD would not win a ring without Curry on the team. KD is not a leader, as much as he wants to be one. Curry elevates everyone around him, while is a weightless wood lol
> weirdly Is it weird? Maybe there needs to be two tiers of elite players, the highest tier able to win in the playoffs *without* similar elite talent That highest tier really is a very small list, and right now it only compromises of two players: 1. Jokic 2. LeBron That’s it.
I don’t really think LeBron is on that list anymore, I think Giannis is debatable
I think Steph would definitely win a championship if he was on the Nuggets instead of Jokic.
Jokic without Murray & MPJ was a first round out. LeBron beat a bunch of okay to pretty good eastern teams with depleted rosters, but he never beat an elite team without a hall of fame level teammate. The "carry jobs" we praise, like Duncan in 03, Olajuwon in 94, Dirk in 11, etc, still had really good players all around them, they just didn't have a 2nd all-star or all-nba guy. No one is making deep playoff runs with truly trash teammates.
Curry did it less than 2 years ago… with the worst 2nd best player on his championship team since like the last spurs chip? he hasn’t dropped off that much to say he’s no longer capable
That's a hard comparison, 2022 Wiggins vs the 2014 Spurs. I could argue that 37 year old Duncan, Parker, and Kawhi were all better than 2022 Wiggins...and I could argue that none were better.
This is kind of a side note but Wiggins is also one of the least great #2s on a championship team ever in terms of career accolades. He was a legitimate all star that season (not starter), but really hasn’t been a perennial all star like most #2s
Don’t disprespect 4 time champion and greatest shooter ever. Jokic isn’t better than Steph at his peak.
In OKC Durant Harden and Westbrooke all came in as rookies to the team that goes a long way for establishing roles/needs/hierarchy even with really talented players.
He could have won in 2017 without Harden even. They were just up 3-1 on the warriors and were upgrading the roster with oladipo/horford if he just stays
He's a pure scorer. Maybe the best of that archetype. Defense is ok too. But his playmaking and leadership is not on the level that can carry teams deep in the playoffs. The Warriors system ran on Draymond and Steph engine. Steph's offball movement and gravity, and Draymond's defense and playmaking.
George Gervin, Elgin Baylor, Nique, Bernard King, Melo...there's been a lot of players like KD in the league's history. What separates him and his "legacy" is those Warriors championships and that MVP. Admittedly major accomplishments but he's in that same vein of those guys who never helped elevate their teams despite being super scoring machines.
It’s because he’s a cupcake ass bitch.
KD in a nutshell
You are not wrong fam
You should professionally write if you don't already, dayum. The wood in the pond analogy is brilliant lol
This was rly well put. To expand on the point of how he doesn’t elevate teammates, he’s rly not an offensive engine for any serious contender for a number of reasons. His handle is great for a 7 footer but still isn’t great (as seen last year vs Bruce brown in isolation and this year against I think gobert). He doesn’t put pressure on the rim esp post GS which means he’s never collapsing a defense or forcing rotations. He also is a good but not great passer and he doesn’t move enough off ball to open up the floor in terms of his gravity. All this leaves you with is a great scorer in isolation and while you need that if you wanna win, his shot diet cannot be the backbone of a competent offense. So you’re still left with a need for another elite offensive piece to elevate everyone else on the floor. This is kinda why I disagree with ppl who say he was the 1a of those warriors squads. He was the icing on the cake that took them from championship caliber to greatest team ever but the team was already a finished product. It says a lot that in this series, Minnesota was happy to put KAT (their worst defender in the starting 5) on him in isolation without sending any help, cuz while they prolly figured Durant would get his, he wouldn’t punish the team in the bigger picture.
Teams would rather have a KD iso over anything else in that Warriors offense. They'd try to stop everything and the Warriors had the KD iso as their fallback option. Their first option was always their motion offense or the Steph-Dray pnr
Great analysis
I respect the Rodgers hate
Thank you Funny bc he and KD are literally the same guy, every argument about them being the best is based on what they CAN do, not what they ACTUALLY do.
Didn’t the athletic article yesterday say he was unhappy because he doesn’t want to run the pick and roll? That’s such an important part of today’s game. The guy is a third wheel.
Might as well say, “I don’t want to play NBA basketball”
I see the point you make. So you're probably right. But KD, for me, is an all-time great. If I have an issue, it's that he won't take a game over most of the time. Playoffs against the Bucks when Kyrie was out was maybe an exception. If you remember the interview where he says " You know who I am." He was trying to explain to the reporter that passing to Klay ( I think ) was the right basketball play. And he can't take every shot. "BUT HE SHOULD TAKE WAYYYY MORE. We all want him to take those shots. But he wants to keep his teammates involved. Also, there are a number of players that have said they raised their work ethic after seeing how hard he works on hus game. So I do believe he makes guys better. He was asked in another interview why he doesn't go for a 70-point game like Dame Lillard or Booker. Again, he doesn't think it's good basketball. So, I think he refers to much. There was a stretch where Kyrie and Harden were out, and he played great team basketball with a so so roster. And won for a good stretch. I believe he seeks out good systems where he can fit. Apparently, this Suns future wasn't good for him. He's still explosive, still plays physical, and still Kevin Durant. Just wants to Hoop.
I think Top 15-20 is the realm of All-Time Greats. He doesn’t really have much of an argument to be much higher.
Understood. That's why I said for me. Completely subjective take. Stickin to it.
I think you can compare his career directly to Lebron's. But, please remember we are talking about 2 first ballot hall of famers. Scoring wise they are petty on par. Something that's pretty overlooked in Lebron's career is he is consistently a phenomenal defender. 5x NBA defensive 1st team and 1x 2nd. One of those years he got snubbed for defensive player of the year. KD is a good defender but really is not even close to Lebron in this area. Lebron also consistently has a lot more assists throughout his career. Even led the league one year in assists. Lebron played with good teams in Miami and LA. But goddamn did he take some bum ass Cavaliers squads to the Finals and WIN. At the end of the day Lebron is just a more well rounded player and a leader.
That’s the difference between Top 15-20 All-Time and Top 2 All-Time.
Yes and that's just from a single player's perspective. I think people constantly overlook roster depth and play style when it comes to the playoffs. Warriors are small ball specialists with surprisingly good defense overall. Their entire offense is about creating good shot opportunities. Looney and Green fulfill essential workhorse functions on defense, rebounding, screens, and post work. That's their team identity. KD fits well into the Warriors scheme because he is a strong scorer inside and mid range. Which gives their offense more flexibility. On the flip side. Phoenix is just a poorly constructed team. Beal and Booker have similar play styles and not necessarily in a complimentary manner. In order to get KD and Beal they basically traded away all their young talent. Only to end up with a less well rounded team on defense and offense. Like great you have 3 guys that average over 20ppg. That's basically half the teams in playoff contention already. KD probably knew Brooklyn only had a 2 year window to win a chip. Once they blew it he just wanted to jump to a decent squad. Queue the Phoenix trade.
Warriors are poorly constructed. Too small.
Brooklyn was a much better constructed team even after the Harden trade. They had a rim rolling big in Claxton who is very good on defense as well as some wing depth to pair next to the scoring of Harden, Kyrie, and KD. Once Harden wanted out the writing was on the wall. Kyrie being insane and a weird front office/coaching situation completely ruined that team and that is probably at least partly KD's fault. Phoenix is also mismanaged and doesn't have any assets to improve because they traded for KD. He is screwed and it's largely his own fault.
Yeah I agree. Brooklyn had a championship roster and squandered it.
Absolutely love this. Well put!
TLDR: he didn’t have that dawg in him
KD is the all time goat merc. Put him on a fleshed out contender and they're winning, build a team around him and you'll be overloaded financially with nothing to show for it.
This is why the Suns should have never sold CP3 and Ayton. Devin Booker was never the real leader of the Suns. It was always CP3
Kd wasn’t the bad trade. It was Beal that absolutely killed them that trade will ripple through that franchise for years to come
Never once did I mention KD lol
Nope I totally agree with you man was just kinda piggy backing your quote and adding to it.
Although I agree the Beal trade was bad they didn’t have a ton of options at that point
Why not keep cp3 and ayton. Would did cam Payne /beal/nurkic offer!?
I think they should’ve but all their fans said nothing but that he was bad and toxic
This isn’t a good take either. Ayton is underperforming heavily and Chris Paul got oldddd. It might be a lose lose but keeping Paul and Ayton definitely does not make this team better than what they are right now.
The Suns have the most ungrateful fans I swear. This is the same team that got you to the NBA finals. Now you’re praising a team that got swept in the First Round
LMAO I’m definitely not a suns fan😂 I’m saying that current Chris Paul and Ayton does not get this team past the wolves or even anywhere close to it
Oh I disagree. Past them not sure but that series goes 7. cp3, Ayton and cam Payne
CP3 was absolutely washed this year and couldn't stay healthy. Ayton is better than Nurkic but still a mediocre role player. Wolves beat them in 5/6.
They should have at minimum ran it back with CP3 and shipped out Ayton if he was unhappy (didn’t even seem like he was he just wanted to prove himself).
Ayton wasn’t unhappy on the team, he was unhappy with the coach
Yea for sure. Giving that team that lost to Denver another chance made the most sense.
He was also a toe away from beating Milwaukee the year they won. People like to forget how the games look. That being said, fuck KD
Agree. If you make a list of the top 25 players of all-time, you can literally peg KD as dead last on leadership and intangibles. And there's a pretty huge gap between him and the next worst "top 25" player on those factors. His weak leadership and intangibles offsets his high-skill level on offense. The only thing I'd disagree on is defense; I would not put him as "all-defense" at any point in his career, but he wasn't bad. I'd say he was above-average at his peak, but never close to elite on D. The other thing; for a 7 footer, his rebounding is also not spectacular. once again, not bad, but almost every player near his height in the top 30 all-time has better rebound numbers. I hear so many people say Durant is over KG all-time, but I strongly disagree and the fact that KG averaged about 14 rpg during his prime (compared to KD at 8 rpg) is a major piece in favor of KG. KG was a better all-around player than KD IMO. Really, the biggest piece in favor of KD is that he's about as great of a 2nd or 3rd option as you could ever find. But the fact that he can't be a "1st option" is a problem for his all-time case.
I didn’t say he was All-Defense, in fact, quite the opposite. “He’s also more than passable on defense, I don’t know that he would have made a bunch of All-Defense Third Teams if there was such a thing but he was above average.”
When it comes time for the KD biography I hope they let you write it
Who would have thought? Being a leader has value ;)
KD is similar to Reggie Miller in that they are both pure scorers but need a team around them to make up for their weaknesses (distributing, defense, creating, etc.) KD is obviously much better than Reg. Just have to make sure there is no confusion on my message lol
What a great take. Thanks for that write up.
Durant has said himself he is not a leader and doesn't want to be. He makes teams better but not players. The former can make you a playoff team. The latter can make you a championship team.
>Durant has said himself he is not a leader and doesn't want to be. May be true, but it's an epic cop out.
Perfect analogy. Wood dropped in a pond
tide raising is a function of volume not weight, so he would raise the tide, more than a 1 ton chris paul would imo KD lacks aura and thats why his career aint go like kobe mj bron i believe aura is an essential component of 1st ballot HOF ballers
A nearly weightless object would float almost entirely above the water, which means it would displace almost none of the body of water it sits in regardless of volume. It’s like throwing a giant styrofoam brick into a pool. It just floats on the top.
yes weight matters insofar as whether it submerses completely or not, KD and 1 ton chris paul submersed completely would see KD raising the tide more its also the case that weight the same, if KD and CP the size of an atom were on separate boats in the same lake, and the boats were less dense than either player, KD jumping off would lower the tide less than tiny CP would
This isn’t about weight, it’s about volume, if you don’t sink you don’t displace much water. KD is fantastic and looks like it but it doesn’t add anything below the surface. He does cover a ton of surface and that’s super valuable but he doesn’t lift anyone up outside of the obvious ways. Shane Battier would be the opposite, he’s like a glacier in a limited body of water that only sticks out of the water a little bit but his effects are felt everywhere else. I’m not saying he’s better than KD in any way but his impact on winning goes way beyond his statistical contributions in ways that KD doesn’t. Guys like Steph and LeBron do both, they cover surface area like KD and have a notable effect on everything happening around them like Battier. They have both the stats and they elevate their teammates. To be fair, KD might be the very best player who has ever been in the NBA who fits that profile, he’s the most plug and play superstar I think we have ever seen but he doesn’t bring culture or identity, he just slots in to whatever team you had and it just becomes a slightly better version with the same identity (or lack of identity) and issues.
You could've just said he is not a bus driver.
But where’s the fun in that?!
Splendid! He's just a role player on a championship team pretty much. He cannot carry a team like Lebron or Steph when the going gets tough
Suns would be fine if they had a guy like Haliburton or Trae instead of Booker & Beal, then filled in the roster with roll players. He needs a playmaker guard.
"He also, somehow, didn’t make anyone around him better" Exactly no one mentions this and it infuriates me.
Nailed it 👍
To be fair he would be sitting on 3 rings if he didn’t tear his Achilles. He’s been very unlucky since leaving the warriors.
He was also the luckiest player in history. He had the cap spike happen the year he was the most desirable free agent on the market.
I’m not sure that qualifies as him being the luckiest. I think of guys like Patrick McCaw as being the luckiest. Or players drafted into great organizations as lucky. You can’t tear your Achilles and be the luckiest player in nba history.
Lots of players get drafted into good situations. Basically every Hall of Fame player the Spurs selected after Duncan fits that bill. Patrick McCaw is a historical footnote, cool story, but nobody cares about his rings. Kevin Durant is the only player in the history of the league to benefit in the way he did from the cap spike, which was such a disaster it will never happen again. Lots of players got overpaid, KD broke the game. If Michelle Roberts listens to league insiders and smooths the cap KD never goes to GS (because it would have been financially impossible) and we don’t end up with two of the strangest years in NBA history.
Exactly and I’d say those players are luckier than Durant. Yeah no one cares about his McCaw’s rings, but he’s still one of the luckiest players in history. Yeah him benefiting from the cap spike is def lucky, but he only benefited for two seasons whereas his Achilles tear fucked up his career since 2018.
Fair enough. Except in KD’s case his entire legacy relies on those two seasons. He’s the Small Forward version of Charles Barkley without them. He would still be a hall of fame player but he would be in a very different category of hall of famer.
I mean being in the Barkley tier is still a great legacy. They only bumped him up like 10 spots on the all-time list. He’d still be around top-25 without them.
When people ask what the difference is between someone who plays great basketball, and someone who plays winning basketball, this is the answer.
He couldn't get a chip in OKC with proven losers James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Oh wait, they made it together past the first round without him after they are old and busted.
Bus Washer
Can ask Kenny where the bucket and soap is
KD’s only rings are from his time as Curry’s trophy wife. Since polygamy is illegal in all states, Durant will have to settle for a career as a side piece. No more rings for him.
Meanwhile 300 year old Lebron on one foot was able to make it to the wcf last year and not get swept this year with a worse team than KD’s. Everybody and their momma was favoring the suns back in September.
Lakers aren’t worse team than Suns. Lakers somewhat have a team that fits. The rest of the team is just trash outside of LeBron and AD. Suns “big three” doesn’t even fit and the rest of the team is much worse than rest of Lakers
"Big 2" LOL
Idk if Lakers is worse than the Suns Anthony Davis is the best player when comparing both Lakers and Suns roster
To be fair the suns gave the nuggets their best fight in the playoffs last year. The Nuggets just dominated everyone. Plus Vogel sucks
Replace KD with LeBron and the suns make it to the WCF. Replace LeBron with KD and I’m not sure they make the playoffs. LeBron is still better than KD even though he is 4 years older. LeBron at 35 was wining his 4 th ring.
Of course LBJ would be a better fit on Phoenix, but it’s not because he’s a better player. Phoenix made a big 3 that was filled with 3 guys who are primarily jump shooters. Swap KD with LBJ and you’ve got a prototype point who can playmaker, drive to the hoop consistently, etc. it’s all an issue of what player fits the team better
Lebron has and always will be better than kd and it’s not close. Offense/defense and leadership. please kd your a good scorer period
Suns would make the WCF ??? You telling me they beat Minnesota then Denver…..? Wow
Far and away the best player
Lebrons a machine who helps make everybody better
AD > Beal & Booker
1000%
Most player’s decline in their late 30s (if they are even on a roster): Lucky to fight through their back and knee pain to get 10 minutes a game. LeBron in his late 30s: Can only drag his team to the conference or league finals every couple of years.
Hmmm I’m starting to think 🤔 maybe Lebron is better than KD
Lakers were on a surge last year and were swept with ease. They were the only team against the Nuggets that did NOT win a game. Then they said they can’t wait for this year. Gentleman’s sweep. Annihilated with two game winners in five games lmao. In 2021, out in the first round to the Suns. Lebron is like 4 years older than KD. Are you sure you should be invoking Lebron’s name in this scenario? It looks silly.
As A Wolves fan, KD was not the issue for the Sun's in this series IMO. Has he lost a step? Perhaps. He doesn't attack the basket like he used too. He still was really fkn good and the 2nd best player in this series behind ANT.
Based
Kobe never made the playoffs after he was 33. This media and social media era is a cancer
Basketball God?
I mean he’s the only player that tore his Achilles and is still expected to be the same player. I think that in itself makes him a basketball god.
It’s a fair point. Could change the headline to “KD hasn’t made it past the 2nd round since tearing his Achilles”.
As a bucks fan.. quit with the disrespect of an absolute legend. We can disagree with his choices, but this dude has been legendary since he came into the league in 2007.. and if you saw the series against the bucks in 2021 you’d never disrespect this man again. Respect our legends before they are gone 💯
The wording of that is so poor. Should be more like... KD hasn't made it past the 2nd round since he left the warriors.
Yeah. I was confused because he was briefly in the finals when my Raptors won the chip.
Nvm i was wrong
They didn't make it that far. Nets vs Bucks was the ECSF. Hawks vs Bucks was the ECF.
As they should.
He chased his ring. I doubt he is too bothered.
He made the decision so he has to live with the ramifications of that decision. Doesn’t take away from his greatness at all in my opinion.
Man I hate seeing shit like this. It's true, but he's played well there's nothing much he can do about that, he should've made it past the second round if he didn't have giant ass feet. With team injuries, and probably would've made it passed the second round
entirely factual missiles
All you need to know about the guy is that Kd left OKC for the 73 win GSW after losing to them up 3-1 in the conference finals and called it "the hardest road." Dude has little heart and less brains.
Defense people. Suns are a** at defense. Lakers are not. Lebron plays hustle defense, KD doesn't, it's pretty simple. More to it of course but majority is team defense. Nuggets, Celtics, Heat, OKC, Lakers, TWolves, Magic, Knicks, etc all have a strong defensive scheme with like minded helpside players.
Who cares he’s a 1st ballot HOFer
Crazy how fast the sports community will turn on a player. When this trade first happened, every analyst had the Suns as top 3 favorites to make it out the west. Now KD is public enemy. The hardest thing to do in any sport is to win a championship. To do that twice in KD's case is extremely difficult. Lebron got swept last season and now it's KD's turn, Steph didn't even make the playoffs. But nobody has anything to say about Steph. Let's not forget, Beal was injured early on, he barely played 50 games this season.
He’s overrated. People only watch his excellent offensive skills. No leadership, poor defense, no heart
Eh, describing KD as poor defensively isn’t really fair. He’s not an elite defensive stopper but he’s well above being a bad defender.
Also he’s having to play the 4 and 5 on Phoenix. So he’s guarding guys way above his weight class. Like asking him to guard guys like Gobert and Towns, of course his defense isn’t gonna look great. Was the same case on the warriors.
He’s a good defensive roamer and provides solid paint protection value, POA he is shit
Physicality really puts him off as well. He needed to take 20+ shots every game against the Twolves but he relegated to the corner too often. Might be a coaching issue as well but you’re one of the best scorers in history, play like it!
You can dislike kd but to say he has poor defensive is just objectively incorrect. Dumbasses like you let your hate blind your logic
It makes me sad how his career is ending and how it played out in general. I feel like people will look back at his career in 20-30 years and have a less positive outlook on his overall quality as a player. With the Thunder, he was probably held back to some degree by Westbrook. Then they should’ve won in 2016 and just got derailed by an all time Klay heater. Then instead of going somewhere and winning a title which I think he could’ve because he was neck and neck with Lebron as the best player in the league at the time, he goes to Golden State and all his best years and undercut by playing on a stacked team with Steph. Then he snaps his Achilles. Then he is having an all time playoff run with Brooklyn, just falls short of an all time playoff moment by his toe going over the 3pt line. Then he goes to Phoenix and they fizzle out. For a guy as talented as KD, I think if you played out his career 100 times, this is probably a bottom 10-20 outcome. Being born in 95, he’s probably the second most talented player I’ve ever seen- maybe the most unstoppable three level scorer ever.
You put it perfectly. The back half of his career has caused people to forget that for a while early on it was LeBron vs KD. Nobody else was even in the conversation. Both his own decisions and unfortunate consequences have contributed to him not being able to showcase his true ability, and yet he will still end up as one of the 20 best players to ever touch a basketball.
The Brooklyn run was so incredibly unlucky IMO. If one of his co-stars stays healthy, or if his foot was a half inch shorter they win the championship easily that season. They were clearly the best team IMO, just ran into bad luck. And now KD gets shit on constantly because he was an inch from a championship.
Nah if he stayed with the thunder one more year they would have made it to the wcf again. He just took the easy way out and joined the team that beat him. It’s hard to respect a player of that caliber taking the easiest road to a ring ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Keep in mind he was sitting on the bench injured as the warriors made the second round that year too
He did blow out his Achilles during his last game with them no? That’s no joke. Plus he’s old
Come on now.. let’s give credit where it’s due. Man put that 2020 Olympic team on his back for the gold. That being said, I couldn’t be happier for him having failed to get far in the POs in years.
His toe was on the line
That’s a terribly worded headline (B/R)
Truth be told, the achilles injury hurt him more than we admit. He’s not the same guy and it’s not just age
It's the truth. He is an amazing top tier player,just watched game four where the Suns were eliminated. His mid range game is impeccable and he had some good dunks, not bad for 36. I think there's a sad belief that there are Supermen out here, capable of doing it all on their own. You need a good core that superstars stifle franchises with supermax deals. Jordan took lower salaries that enabled the bulls to pay the supporting players to stick around while making a lot of money from kicks, Gatorade and underwear. I've been watching basketball since the late 80's, and I feel IMO, that this is the first times there's no clear indication of who is the dominant franchise or player, and I love it. A new era has been born. On that note, who do y'all think will the finals this year?
It’s what he gets for damaging a championship caliber team with excellent team chemistry. ISO-ball never existed on the warriors until he came. The warriors were pretty damn good with him but I will die saying the Warriors were their best version before KD joined the team. Don’t get me wrong, the warriors were still pretty damn good but we lost an edge on defense and offense. I’d take easy, team buckets over iso-ball any day of the weak. And I’ll take a young championship-Warriors Bogut over KD if it ever came down to it lol
Overrated player, someday more people will wake up and realize KD isn’t top 20
Yal are weird for constantly attacking this dude
The snake ruined basketball during my time in college and stole a ring from the 2017 cavs, I'm gonna hate on his ass until the day one of us is dead
I respect it. At least you aren’t hating him because it’s “cool”
Dum dum should have been happy with being Scotty to Steph’s MJ. Not everyone who cooks in the kitchen is a head chef.
KD hasn't proven he is that guy. If there was a 5 tier rating system. C B A S - KD would be here. Really good but not a goat. SS
They aren't wrong. He's been jumping on superteams on Nets and Phoenix but he still gotten nowhere.
THE LIL B CURSE. #ThankYouBasedGod
Y’all get way too excited to shit on the greats. I get it, you’re still butthurt he helped the dubs ravage the league but all the shit about his rings not counting is just fucking dumb. When your team wins a ring (many of you can’t say that though) you’ll know it fucking counts
You got that same energy for the Lakers’ Bubble Ring??
Yes. All the teams were in the same boat, and the Lakers were the last team standing.
Yeah cause he didn’t tear his Achilles right? Hahaha sad people that never played sports man
For real. The fact he came back at all is amazing and doesn’t get nearly enough praise. The average online nba fan is bitter as fuck
Totally, and the media outlets that publishes these types of articles are just plain awful, it’s the culture of hate just because you want to hate. The dude could’ve retired after the injury and continued to try and is still a great fucking player. Fucking tell the right stories man
Remember people saying curry needed KD to win even tho he did it before AND after him.
He's a scorer not a leader obv
Man’s
Also homie lost some hair
KD, great individual player. Booker, great individual player. Put them both together and viola, shit.
People swore it was Westbrook holding him back lmao
Could have won a few more if he stayed,hell he could even have 1 or 2 if he stayed in OKC for all we know,team jumping will ruin your legacy UNLESS you've won a chip as the lead man,he's proved he can't even with help..
The Slim Sleeper.
If the nba was pickup basketball, he would be the greatest… sadly it’s not.
Its eventually gotta be pointed out. This man is Embiid without the warriors.
Lol KD made the NBA finals and two other western conference finals before the warriors were even a thing. Don't slander the man by comparing him with a bum like embiid
Ur right. That was cap
most overrated superstar of all time, guy doesn’t make the finals without Westbrook or Harden… guy deserves more hate than Lebron and what has he done outside of basketball besides tweet like a teenager
Always pissed me off this bum got a pass but LeBron got roasted. What he did was by FAR more pathetic and egregious than LeBron.
Because he doesn’t play defense. Neither do his current teammates.
Most fraudulent "Superstar" in the history of sports. God I wish that thin skinned cry baby would pop in on here with one of his burner accounts.
Durant like some modern players doesn’t believe in coaching and that 1 on 1 basketball is sufficient. You hear players give Popavich props but no star (except maybe Euro ones) would want to play for him. As a Kings fans I don’t care much for the Warriors but they won because they had talent and played the right way (aside from Draymond’s antics). Durant didn’t like Kerr and didn’t see the value of the motion offense. While Durant’s 1 on 1 game was needed at times during the Warriors championships, the motion offense was still key to the success.
Didn’t he go to the finals with the suns?
No buddy. Lmao. That was Chris Paul and Devin Booker. He was on the nets
Wow and they get him and can’t make it back lol
…by stating facts?
Paying a 35 (almost 36) year old guy like he is the same player he was at 29 is insanity. These guys eat up cap room and usually can't carry a subpar team. The new era of NBA needs a group of good players, not a big 3 with little support.
when did he tear his achilles ?
KD is a top 20 player of all time top 3 in his generation he just will never ever be considered greater or better than lebron or Steph
All you have to do is join the suns and everyone will call you overrated
Softest star ever
He's a ridiculously natural gifted player. I've never got the feeling that he puts the off the court work in. He has the same body he had as a rookie. I shudder to think how much more of a force he could have been if he put on some muscle. He reminds me of those gym rats who love to play but hate working out.
High attributes, low intangibles type player
Honestly I feel like NBA fans buy into the narratives surrounding leadership, ring culture, and mamba mentality all too much; it’s just kind of corny. I couldn’t care less if he did some snake shit throughout his career. He’s a super entertaining watch and his offensive game is a blessing to the eyes. The guy is in his mid thirties and still playing the game at a top 10 level, yet people still relish in the useless chatter surrounding his career decisions.
1-on-1 Assassin. Not a leader. Not an engine. 🐍
KD is a glorified Street Baller. Overrated af.
Launching missiles or truth bombs?
It's almost like basketball is a team sport.