The BRUTAL TRUTH about Kevin Durant… 

20 years from now, what are you telling your kids about Kevin Durant?

Championships aside, I think the most amazing thing about KD is that he came back from an Achilles tear and was actually good. This is one hell of an accomplishment.

KD fits in wonderfully with the Suns. No heart. No pushback. All Instagram stories and casual summers.

Durant is hard to gauge. At one end you could argue he took the easy way out. On the other, you could argue that he is so good that he is the best plug-and-play player of all time and could fit seamlessly onto any team

I don't know that adding Beal actually makes that Suns team a super team, or even potential title favorites. But regarding his legacy - there's no way he was going to join a historic 73-9 squad and not have this hound him for the rest of his career. And while the drumbeat was that he need to leave Golden State to prove he could do it alone, he'd have been better served sticking it out there and proving he could be a piece for continued dominance.

As a Suns fan I hope KD can help them get a championship. But even if he doesn't, he already has rings, and at the end of the day he can always sit back and smile about that, regardless what critics or haters are going to say.

KD needs to be the main scorer on an elite defensive and rebounding team. You gotta force him to use his offense and you can’t rely on his defense. Team gotta do what he can’t do. If you put 1 50% shooter on a team that shoots 50% the team is still gonna shoot 50% your offense can only get so good.

At this point, the only way he can really redeem his legacy is if Booker or Beal get injured in the playoffs, but Durant still leads them to a title.

I been saying this for a long time dude has never been on a bad team

The truth is his career would look far different if he stayed off social media.

KD doesn't have an alpha bone in his body. He just wants to hoop... his words, not mine. He wants to go out and score and do his thing, but he wants the winning part to take care of itself around him. He doesn't believe in a connection between "I'm awesome at hooping" and "I'm responsible for my team's fortunes," which is why when the team can't microwave him a title, he gets desperate for greener pastures real quick.

If he wins this year it's huge for his legacy because I don't think they are the favourites at this time. It would also depend on who is the best player on the team. It may be Booker. But his talent was never in question. His leadership has always been his biggest weakness.

KD may have went to BKN with only Kyrie, but let's not act like a guy of his stature doesn't influence a personnel move like getting Harden.

Cupcake Durant is the ONLY player to regress in all time rankings

As a Durant critic, if he were to win a championship this year I would considerably upgrade his legacy. If you took him off the Championships he won with the Warriors, they would still have been the favorites to win it all. With Phoenix, they aren't the favorite to win it all even with Durant, most people would favor Denver.

There is one additional scenario that could actually improve his legacy but it's quite a long shot. Hypothetically, if the other superstars on Phoenix were injured and Durant carried a bunch of role players to a championship then that would change the perception of him. But that would require Phoenix to be pretty unlucky as far as injuries and then Kevin would have to do something incredible like Dirk or Hakeem and put the team on his back.

I had expected him to join the U.S. Men's curling team after they won gold in 2018.

Its weird kd gets this treatment whereas lebron isnt blamed as much for creating superteams. And people forget how he carried that nets team single-handedly with a handicapped harden and no irving to almost winning against the bucks who were the champions that year. 🤔

It also doesn’t help that someone has been in Durant’s way for most of his career. He’s always been stuck behind a great player on another team. When he was younger it was Kobe, LeBron and the Spurs. Now others have come to the sport and have changed the game and made outside shooting less important. Giannis and Jokic have revitalized the Big Man position in the league. In reality I think Durant’s best window to contend was when he was with Golden State, he just picked the wrong avenue to do it.

This dude is a lesson on what not to do.

KD is one of the most naturally gifted basketball players that the world has ever seen, but he lacks that gene needed to be THE GUY to lead a team to the promised land. He's still a 2-time NBA champion and future Hall of Famer, but you'll never be able to say he was a leader of any team he was on maybe except the Thunder.

"I just wanted to play ball somewhere else. But a lot of people see it as I'm chasing something. And I think it probably stems when I said, 'I don't want to be number two no more." This is what destroyed his legacy. If he checked his own ego and stayed with Golden State he easily could have had four rings by now. Joining a super team wasn't the issue; it was the belief that anywhere he went would automatically be a championship winning team.

Realistically the only way he can somewhat improve his legacy is if he wins mvp or at least is in the race for it and performs at that elite level in the playoffs proving that he is still one of the best in the world even if he loses to the nuggets for example

All time great talent but you cant depend on him to lead your team all the way to a championship. You'd need another leader on the team. His legacy is cemented and his attitude has shown that he doesnt care about anything but basketball so doesnt matter if he wins or loses. I think he shouldve just stayed in GS

It probably is safe to say that he basically stole the two FMVP from Steph, where they probably still could have won with a talented vet wingman and a deeper and/or more satisfied bench instead of him

Tbh I have to get this off my chest but KD has played on more Stacked teams and played with more help then anyone in the top 50. Im glad your bringing this to light

Only thing that could change his legacy is a Lebron 2015 type deal where Beal and Booker go down with injuries before the WCF and the Nuggets absolutely demolish the competition in the regular season and first two rounds of the playoffs but KD on his own wills the Suns to be competitive against a team that wins the chip.

KD can't be faulted for the Brooklyn Nets thing. The team barely played together since they weren't all healthy for a full season. I'd hate that to even bring up that one guy who constantly ring chases, but he never won without a super team. He took his talents elsewhere multiple times.

Kevin Durant's career is a case study in team construction. He's a great, great player that, outside of Golden State, has been paired with guys that are chemistry problems like Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving. The first was not his fault, and the second was.

The only way his legacy could be significantly improved or changed is if Bradley Beal or Booker get injured and he still manages to carry the team to a ring

I think we all know that KD's best years as an NBA player are behind him now and joining the A grade chokers Suns will most likely not get him another ring. Personally I would have loved a different timeline where KD wins at least one title with that amazing OKC team they had back then which then broke apart and most of those players never really won anything.

Everything about this video can be said about lebron or even worse. KD and lebron are in the same conversation when it come to rings tbh

Personally, I think Durant's "shortcomings" are also his greatest strength. No, I don't believe he is capable of being the 1A team carrying force that LeBron or MJ was. However, I don't necessarily see that as a weakness: a team with LeBron or MJ on it immediately becomes all about them. They ARE the system. Whereas Durant can fit anywhere, and is perhaps the greatest "plug and play" star the league has ever seen.

It's not just that KD never won a ring without an already established incredible super team (the 2015+ Golden State Warriors), he never even came close on any other team, super or not.

One important note on your comment about super teams with above 35 years old players not winning, the 1971-1972 Lakers had a 35 year old Wilt Chamberlain, 33 year old Jerry West, and a 37 year old Elgin Baylor, an "old" super team, and they won 69 games and eventually the championship (which Elgin retired half way through the season). So it is possible. Phoenix simply needs either more out of Ayton, or some nice role players in a trade for him. That I think is their biggest challenge.

The suns are not a super team until they get a descent supporting cast.We have seen it before three players thrown together doesn't just take care of things.If they don't get good role players they are honestly set up for failure but then again anything can happen at this point.

Just goes to show that honestly Championships arent the end all be all to how a player should rank, they are team achievements, and require an order of magnitude of luck: injuries to opposing teams, trades, your team being healthy, referees, suspensions, etc..; sucks so many players are out of any "top ___ players talks" because of lack of championships when this is the case, look how hard it is to win with even a "super" team.

We have to be fair. OKC was not a super team. Harden was a sixth man averaging 16ppg. Then he made a super team in Brooklyn but they only got to play 17 games together. So far he’s only legitimate had a championship chance in one of his super team. We will see what he can do. I won’t hold him to high standards if they can’t build a legitimate roster.

Ppl hate on Durant too much. How many "superteams", including his own Brooklyn Nets, never pan out? Then when the Warriors do, KD becomes the scapegoat for every player that has ever joined a stacked team. His biggest error is letting all the chatter get to him. As a player and teammate he's almost beyond reproach

kevin is what he is.. one of the greatest scorers ever.. he simply doesn't make his teammates better... he is in the best situation as he has 2 younger players who can take the main roll even though he will still probably score the most... he is Dominique wilkins... george gervin.. alex english.. these phenomenal scorers who are not great in any other part of the game.. they may be good or not a hinderance but not great by any means.. so he can never be in the category or bird jordan lebron... players who could dominate a game even if their scoring is off... however i feel now they bring on another scoring guy. now they have 3 elite level scorers... who is going to do the dirty work

It’s wild how this man get this much disrespect but been injured most of the time

The only thing he can do to save his legacy, is to join the pistons and win a ring without any superstar

Really good points. Well balanced. Great video. Thanks so much for the content

I really think had he not bailed out on OKC, him and Russ would still have won a chip. They were up 3-1 on that 73 Warriors team, and just choked out.

They keep saying he joined superteams, he only joined 1 super team. Phoenix he was traded there and he didn't even want to get traded from Brooklyn at the deadline. The Nets, he signed with them a whole 1 and a half year before Harden came, that team was created with a big 3 in which all 3 players were on different teams or not playing year before (KD) just like the Miami superteam that was created.

The last 3 MVP's 2014, 2015, 2016 joined together on a 73 win team, that was 3 points away from going back to back. Skip and Broussand say 'so what' SMDH. KD is a figment of the Jordan NBA media imagination to shade Lebron. They won before and won after he left lol. Us hoopers know what time it is 🙈🙉🙊

It's not set in stone, but I think we all know what kind of player KD is, what are his strengths and weaknesses. He can score and be unstoppable, but he sometimes lacks confidence and isn't hyper-competitive.

If that's the case then LeBron deserves the same criticism. Because he couldn't win without superteams either. He had to join Dwyane Wade's Miami heat team to win two championships. Then he had to create a super team in Cleveland with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to win his other championship. Then he had another super team in LA plus they had covid. That was a great benefit because he didn't have to play as many games so he was well rested. So if Kevin Durant's legacy is going to take a hit for this so should LeBron's

Curry , Thompson, Durant, Green and Cousins was the best starting 5 in the history of the NBA, by far.

KD is a top 25 player ever imo, he can raise the ceiling of any team because he fits seamlessly with other great offensive talent. He is not a great floor-raiser because his scoring impact can be diminished by great defenses (unlike other great scorers like Jordan, Shaq, Kareem...) and he can't really punish double teams as a passer, so he functions better as a second option like in the Warriors.

Weighing rings is the whack view point KD talked about in a recent twitter space. no one takes away MJ's rings when he recruited Dennis Rodman to Chicago with him and Scottie. Why would KD's potential ring this season mean less because his team traded for a star who was being traded away from a team blowing it up? Makes no sense. Winning 16 playoff games is winning 16 playoff games. period.

Whether you like it or not he is a top ten player that is not a center. And that is special

Talk all the shit you want, but it's hard as hell to win in Phoenix! He does that ,his legacy is good 👍

Kevin Durant is the greatest role player of all time.

I don't see this Suns squad as a potential super team. Great offensive squad on paper but there's only ball and they don't have a bench and don't play much defense. Nuggets win the West again if their core is healthy and hungry to repeat as NBA champs.🏆

KD is one of the best players of all time, since his rookie season he’s been unstoppable scoring the ball. He won 2 rings finals MVP, one of the best scorers of all time. I’m not even a KD fan I’m a Pistons and basketball fan, let’s appreciate greatness.

The only KD era i enjoyed was OKC Harden, Westbrook & KD playing together was special That trip to the finals should not be taken lightly

based on talent and peak performance Kevin Durant is #3 all-time behind MJ & Olajuwon, no matter the situation they keep scoring with a great all-around game... if you like all those Assists & Defensive Rebounds LeBron James piled up good for you, i thought he turned prime Chris Bosh into a role player while everyone claims James is some basketball genius... fax!!!

Durant’s a great player, there’s no argument. But the thing I always look for in the truly immortal players is their attitude. Russell, Wilt, Magic, Bird, Jordan, Kobe, Curry, as examples, all play/played with almost a childlike glee. Kevin doesn’t. It’s more business for Kevin and it doesn’t look like he has much fun with the game any longer.

I see that championship option having 2 different options in itself. 1st is they win and KD gets FMVP. I personally think that would improve his standing quite a bit. To me, Beal makes the Suns less of a superteam than having CP3 (even if he's old) so if they win and he gets FMVP, most of the reason they won would be KD. Option 2, they win and Booker is FMVP. This damages KD as it would completely solidify the "bus rider" narrative.

The OKC is not a superteam it was a team made in the draft that turned into a budding great team.

Look, I like to bash super-teams and player collusion as much as the next guy, but I think we have to start seriously considering the notion that these super-teams are not what they're cracked up to be, and maybe we can let KD or Lebron off the hook a bit. All the talent in the world can fall short if your players aren't committed to the hard work it takes to dominate in the playoffs, and even then, injuries and bad luck can still send you home early. So, f'real? KD did nothing wrong. He's a man looking for the best opportunity that is offered to him. If you got offered one job that would earn you twice as much money as another, would you pick the lower-paying gig, just because it offered more "challenge"? I didn't think so. Playoff runs and championships are currency for a start basketball player. KD didn't have any control over who drafted him, so "super-team" number one can't be laid at his door. Yes, he took the job with the Warriors. Guess what: It was the best opportunity. Is it KD's fault that Golden State could afford to sign him to a max contract? Or is it Curry's fault for being injury prone enough to not be worth signing to that same max deal when it was his time to negotiate? Or was it the NBPA's fault for raising the cap so much? Likewise, when he got traded to the Nets, he was getting paid a max contract, on a rebuilt achilles tendon. New Jersey didn't know whether he'd actually pan out. It turned out he did. But say he blows it out again after 25 games. Now the Nets aren't a super-team, they're suckers. And it's not KD's fault that Kyrie is batshit, or that Harden's bullshit got checked by rule changes, or that Simmons is a lazy piece of shit. So the Nets get tired of hemhorraging money on the luxury tax, and press the self-destruct. KD still has a max contract. He's still a supreme talent. No team is gonna take cap hit just to have him score 50 a game and miss the playoffs. Basically, he *has* to go to a "super-team", because any team trying to rebuild through the draft won't want to pay him $46 million a year just to show up to the All-Star game. That's just the dynamics of who is going to be willing to pay the man. KD, meanwhile, is 'show up and ball out'. That's it, his whole career. He doesn't have the luxury to scrutinize his contract through the lens of how Twitter and the Inside guys will construct a narrative about him. I'm sure he would *love* to have more chips, but contrary to the way the Sports-Bloviator complex likes to frame the game, it's a *team* sport. And this is why I *loathe* these narratives, because they hinge on the logic that the number of championships is the dominant factor in determining a player's skils. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you want an example of how focusing on championships utterly distorts the estimation of a player's ability, look no further than Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Garnett was a transcendent player who played his best years on a *terrible* franchise, the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was an immense force on offense and defense. Yet he had no appreciable post-season success. Meanwhile, Tim Duncan, a player who was by no means awful, had far, far more team success, because he had the good fortune to be drafted into a contending team with a great GM and coach. I'm not saying Tim doesn't deserve all his accolades, but if you reversed their situations, and Garnett was drafted by San Antonio, we would be calling KG the greatest power forward who ever played the game. Do great players elevate great teams? Absolutely. But your teammates also have to have the talent and dedication to elevate their game to the highest level in order to make that championship run.

KD vs Jokic Booker vs Jamal Beal vs Gordon

OKC were not a super team the fuck. 2 All-Stars and a 6th man is not a super team…it’s a too heavy team for sure.

The recent championship shows that you don't need a super team to win.

I can't watch your channel anymore, although I generally like it. Why would you talk about a season-ending injury?

That first OKC team wasn’t close to a super team.

Brutally, Jordan,Kobe and AI said KD defined the game

Suns are in trouble. Gutted their whole bench and future for KD and Beal

It's funny to think about, but KD's legacy and 2 rings are considered less valuable despite being the best player on those juggernaut championship teams, but Curry seems to gets full credit for all of his 4 rings despite being 1B to KD's 1A for the same 2 rings. End of the day: not all rings are created equal. You can ask Halbrand that.

He wins with booker injured. Almost impossible, but absolutely legacy altering

I would have gone after the big KAT if I we're the Suns. Towns is the third best center in basketball he's the best 3 ball 5 in the game and will play fast. Booker KD Towns

I’m not even a fan of lebron, but he’s played for 3 teams and gotten a ring with each 🤷‍♂️ where you at kev

The only thing he can do at this point is win 3 rings with this team. That's the only way it's going to change the narrative.. if he win 2 rings its going to only put him in convos 3 will put him over

I think KD can still save his legacy if he shows that he is in fact the best player on the squad by leading it and not get bailed out by anyone . IF he dominates and leads his team then yes but the fact he needs a super team to even win is just really weak coming from a superstar

He had a good chance in brooklyn. shoulda choose a different star than kyrie to go there with. Imagine if it was KD & PG instead? 🤔

I just realized that all of the Lakers super teams that didn't win a ring had significant injuries to their all stars: 2004 team (Shaq/Kobe/Payton/Malone): Malone gets injured against the Phoenix Suns and never fully recovers. 2013 team (Dwight/Kobe/Pau/Nash): Dwight had the shoulder injury before the season began, Steve got injured and so did Kobe. 2022 team (Lebron/AD/Westbrook): Various injuries throughout for both Lebron and AD.

What if the Sun's win it all with Durant injured?

KD is the goat

If you want to say KD's rings don't mean anything, fine but then discard Lebron's Heat rings and his Lakers ring, discard those two rings of Steph too, Bird's rings, Magic's rings, 3 of Kobe's rings, Tim Duncan's rings, KG's ring, Bill Russell's rings and so on. If you think like that basically no championship counted in NBA history.

2012 would won if there wasnt lbj superteam. 2021 would have won if 2nd and 3rd stars wasnt injured. then we saw they left that team last year

KD plays his ass out in every game. But you can’t blame him for leaving the nets, because that team was riddled with unlucky circumstances and shitty team chemistry

KD's rings with the warriors is a curse. if he didn't join GS and is still ringless now, no one will complain if he joins or form a super team. but he got those free rings and achieved nothing without GS, so, yes, he proves to the world that he is only good enough to win with the GS and curry. pretty sure he regret taking the easy road. he is no difference from melo, if melo went to GS he would have 2 chips as well, who wouldn't?

Durant is the new LBJ #superteam

Okc doesn’t count as true superteam because that was homegrown talent.

I would definitely say that he has played with some great talent but he has also had some bad luck when it comes to teams he played with

You say 'only 2 rings' like its a disappointment. He's sitting in good company with Wilt, Isiah, Hakeem, Clyde F., Kawhi, and of course... Kenny 'the Knees' Smith

Personally I don’t count OKC as a super team because that core three came together through the draft. That being said, great of a talent as he is, he’s been given enough leeway to get the accolades he’s gotten but like LeBron before him, he’s jumped to one too many teams to consider him the true leader of those teams. The idea of stars being journey men (three plus teams) before the end of their peak was never a thing until the last decade or so so his ranking all time will take a massive hit. Is he top 50 all time? Sure but whoever else you put around him more than likely won’t have these loud blemishes on their resume.

Lol kd my favorite player and I don’t care if he gets another ring or not he a beast either way

He could have been one of the greatest even if ringless, but he chose the wrong path

KD's legacy is forever tarnished when he joined the 73-9 GSW after blowing a 3-1 lead to them in the WCF, which was a weaker move than what LeBron did, but to the critics that would invalidate this ring if ever they win it all next season is foolish. This squad is nowhere near the GSW dynasty and this KD is also nowhere near his prime GSW days so winning next season would work in favor of him. KD's still an amazing player regardless and in the top 15-20 all time even if he doesn't win a ring anymore.

KD’s career is going to be looked at the same way Shaq’s career is. Not in terms of work ethic, but how little they accomplished with the talent they had. Remember when KD was projected to take the reins from Lebron one day? He had the tools to become the greatest players ever. With the teams he has had, it’s underwhelming that he only has 2 rings to show for it.

The warriors winning after he left shouldnt invalidate what KD did with golden state. Who knows how their mentality would have been if they ran it back. Clearly getting KD was the mental shot in the arm that they needed. You can argue they win in 2017 without him but they absolutely don’t get passed Houston in 2018 with no KD.

The irony is Kevin Durant joined Golden State to cement his legacy, but all it did was forever tarnish it.

Looking back it’s pretty insane how the warriors were able to fit 4 star players together, where all four maintained all star/superstar level play

What's crazy is that KD would've very likely have won at least 1 ring with OKC even after 2016 had he stayed. It's a shame how 1 decision in 2016 ruined all respect for him.

I completely agree with this take, and KD did this to himself. And he did take the easy way out, not just by going to GS but with the Nets as well. When things didn’t go perfectly there after signing a 4 year contract, he wanted out before playing one single game of of that contract. It’s the definition of taking the easy road. If he stuck things out, even in OKC, IMO I think he would have eventually won a title and probably multiple titles but he didn’t though. He took the easy road joining super teams as you said and it’s true. That is going to hurt his legacy regardless of what happens in Phoenix as it’s a lose lose situation for him, at least in terms of his legacy.

Kevin Durant is a great scorer and a good defender. Nothing more. He’s not a leader and he doesn’t make his teammates better. This is why he can’t win without an OP team that won with and without him.

Kevins legacy to me is one of the greatest offensive threats ever without the Alpha gene. He doesn’t need Curry to win, he needs an alpha to lead him.

I think Durant probably would've been better off if he just stayed in Golden State. I think if he stayed and they kept winning, the "easy way out" narrative would've eventually faded.