Despite not having a standout performance with the Phoenix Suns this season, Kevin Durant remains one of the most talented players in the NBA. Averaging 29.2 points per game in the 2023-24 season, the winger has reignited an incessant debate among basketball fans by questioning why he is not included in discussions about who was or still is the greatest player of all time in basketball. league (the “GOAT”, in its English acronym), alongside names like Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Durant expressed his frustration in an interview with Duane Rankin, from the Arizona Republic, last Sunday (21), asking: “Why shouldn’t I be on this list? That’s the question you have to ask. Why not? that I haven’t done yet (in my career)?”
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The veteran’s statement provoked discomfort among some spectators of the sport, and he himself seems aware of this, answering his own question afterwards: “Because I went to the Warriors.” Durant’s decision to join the Golden State Warriors in 2016, after the Californian team broke the NBA record for wins, was surprising and widely seen as a “shortcut” to winning a championship title.
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Durant, after frustrated seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, won two championship titles in 2017 and 2018 with the Warriors, alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, being elected Finals MVP twice. Their third attempt was cut short by their loss to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Finals.
Even after leaving Golden State, Durant continued to cause controversy in his career. Upon signing with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019, he “recruited” Kyrie Irving and James Harden to the team, a decision seen as yet another attempt to form a “super team.” However, the meeting was unsuccessful, leading Durant to ask to be traded by the Nets. His preference for the Phoenix Suns was met, and once again, Durant joined a team that already had two stars in Devin Booker and Chris Paul, and that had recently reached the NBA Finals.