Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant has been linked to teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat, but should contenders be interested in trading for a soon-to-be 37-year-old player who hasn’t appeared in the NBA Finals since his days with star-studded Golden State Warriors rosters?
Kevin Durant Is A Selfish Superstar
Durant is one of the greatest players in NBA history, winning two championships, an MVP award, two NBA Finals awards, two All-Star Game MVP awards, four scoring titles, and Rookie of the Year. He has also been named to 11 All-NBA teams and is a 15-time All-Star.
According to Basketball Reference, Durant ranks eighth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 30,571 points, trailing LeBron James (42,184), Kareem Abdul Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Michael Jordan (32,292), Dirk Nowitzki (31,560), and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419).
Despite all of his accomplishments, one could also argue that Durant can potentially make a team worse. The issues with the Slim Reaper lie below the surface.
Now, we know Durant made Golden State even better, but his time spent with the Brooklyn Nets ended on a bad note, and the Phoenix Suns were unable to reach the Western Conference finals during his time there.
Even if Durant has never been named to the All-NBA Defensive team, he still manages to finish in the top 20 in points, true shooting percentage, field goals, free throws, and player efficiency rating.
This means it’s not about the stats. There’s no I in team, and we know that doesn’t get said enough in this social media era, where players care more about podcasts and arguing with people on the internet than they do about getting their team to the playoffs.
Tainted Championships
The Suns advanced to the NBA Finals in 2021 with Devin Booker and Chris Paul, and although they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games, the team has done nothing but regress since then. Adding Durant and Bradley Beal into the mix ruined a championship-caliber squad.
Durant is not solely to blame, but at what point is he the common denominator? He’s nearly seven feet tall and is a terrific ball handler, so seeing his teams continue to choke in the playoffs — or even fail to make the postseason — is negatively impacting his reputation to a certain extent.
Note that Durant has never won an NBA championship away from the Warriors. Some critics argue to this day that the former MVP has yet to win a legitimate chip, as he fell short with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Nets, and Suns. Fans believe players like LeBron James and Durant ruined the league for creating super teams.
Durant had many opportunities to win a title with the Thunder, and the closest he came to doing so was back in 2012 against James and the Miami Heat. No one expected Durant to spend his entire career in Oklahoma City, but fans were counting on him to help the team win at least one championship before leaving.
It would seem as if every team Durant has been traded to since 2019 has failed in some way. Again, it’s not all on Durant since a lot goes into a team winning a title. No superstar can do it alone.
Kevin Durant Is Bad Luck
Team chemistry is essential for championship contenders. It’s one factor that can make or break a team come playoff time. Durant has averaged 25-plus points per game in each of his last 10 seasons (he missed the entire 2019-20 season after suffering an Achilles tendon injury against the Toronto Raptors during the 2019 NBA Finals).
However, are the basketball gods preventing Durant from winning a title outside the Bay Area? Did he sell his soul in some kind of sick deal with the Devil to win back-to-back championships with the Warriors?
Every team that adds Durant gets hit with bad luck, stemming from injuries, playoff disappointments, ridiculous contracts, and distractions like trade drama or controversial social media posts.
For all the garbage that fans give LeBron James, especially for creating said superteams and flopping, at least he won Cleveland a title along with championships for the Heat and Lakers.
In the minds of some, Durant has to add an NBA championship to his résumé that doesn’t have Golden State next to it. The problem is that he doesn’t stick around long enough on teams nowadays for that to happen.
A top 15 all-time great who is quickly becoming known as a journeyman is just weird.
Heading into the 2025 offseason, general managers should be saying this old cliché to themselves, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
