Back-to-back finals MVP, Kevin Durant is arguably playing the best basketball of his career and making a case to be considered as one of the legends of the game.
But where does he sit on the all-time ladder we so often discuss?
KD misses out on the top ten by one spot, sitting below Shaquille O’Neal, at 11.
However, when it is all said and done for ‘The Snake’, he will be in the same tier of player as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, sitting in the top seven.
But as a pure scorer, you could make the case he is the best to ever do it purely based off his natural practicalities in his possession.
If you told an NBA fan before his time that there will be a seven-footer who can dribble, shoot, pass and get to the rack better than anyone they wouldn’t believe you.
During his time at the Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant made a finals appearance, won the MVP, and claimed multiple scoring titles, but he was always looked second best.
Second in the draft, second compared to LeBron James, and second in the finals.
Since joining the Warriors, Durant has won back-to-back titles, including two finals MVPs. However, that achievement may be overlooked, as he joined a team that previously replaced Michael Jordan’s Bulls for an all-time record of 73 wins in a regular season.
However, Durant has taken the team to a level of dominance never witnessed before, including when Jordan was at Chicago.
Since joining Golden State, Durant has also been able to show off what he can do on the defensive side of the court. Not having to carry a significant offensive load facilitates his role to become the team’s rim protector, averaging just under two blocks a game this season.
Although without Durant, the Warriors still have three other bonafide All Stars, we cannot simply ignore his last two stellar finals performances.
In Game 3 two years ago, Durant sunk a career-defining dagger-three to put the game away and take a 3-0 lead against Cleveland.
For the rest of time, fans will remember KD’s pull up three over LeBron in crunch time and this year’s cross-over 30-footer to put the Warriors up by six with less than a minute to go.
This year’s Game 3 was possibly his greatest game and one of the best NBA finals performances ever, putting up 43 points, as no-one looked close to slowing him down.
When it’s all said and done for Kevin Durant, people will give this man the respect he deserves.
Ro Joseph
Guest
Kevin Durant as of Dec 1st 2018, is not a top 10 player of alltime. The top 10 are 1. Jordan 2. LeBron 3. Magic 4. Kareem 5. Kobe 6. Shaq 7. Duncan 8. Wilt 9. Bill Russell 10. Bird. If Durant wins his 3rd ring this year, which Golden state are heavy favorites to do so, he will be in the top 10, replacing Bird. KD is better then Bird in every aspect expect passing. KD has been in the league for 12 season and averages 27ppg 7rpg 4apg. Those are the exact same stats lebron has. The difference is 3 apg more lebron is averaging. KD is the best and most efficient scorer of alltime. He can shoot the 3 off the dribble, catch and shoot the 3, mid range game, post game, can drive to the rim and is a very good freethrow shooter. He's also improved on his passing and defense since joining golden state. Hate KD all you want, hes already a legend and the best player in the league. Dwayne wade thought Lebron how to win. Curry thought KD how to win. Ppl keep using KD joined a "73 win team", but at the end of the day, that 73 win team didnt win the ring. Best regular season records dont mean nothing if you dont win. Toronto won 60 games last year. If KD had joined them instead, would ppl say he joined a 60 win team??? KD is better than Lebron. KD is a better scorer, shooter from 2 and 3, freethrows, better defender and the rebounding is even. Lebron is only a better passer. That's all he has over KD. Lebron is the system of any team he goes to. KD can go to any team and adapt to there system, lebron cant. Its also a myth that lebron makes others better. Every allstar lebron plays with has to defer and sacrifice to play with lebron. Kyrie is thebonly expectation. Even he left lebron. Wade, bosh, love all had to sacrifice there game for lebron. Curry, klay, draymond, Westbrook never had to sacrifice there games for KD. Curry stats are almost similar. KD is a legend. 4x scoring champ, 2 rings, 2 finals mvps, allstar mvp, rookie of the year, multiple allstar selections, all nba selections, 20k scorer, gold medal and the best player on the best team in nba history and 2 clutch 3's over lebron in the finals. Hes going to leave the warriors after this season and hopefully goes to the knicks to remind everyone he is the best. If he gets NY a ring, he will jump a few spots on the top 10 list no question
Jett Hatton
Roar Pro
Yeah, I think he sits in the top 15 somewhere, the headline was just a topic for discussion in order to see what other people think.
At work
Roar Rookie
The heat hadnt just won a record 73 games before LeBron joined them, they were a 47 win team. Durant joined the staticstically greatest team in history to get his ring, just sayin.
Julz
Guest
Not top ten, but top 20 of all time, maybe top 15. He's a top 5 scorer and a top 5 Small foward of all time no doubt, maybe top 3 when he's done. But he might, just might end up top ten once he's finished. Dude is a great player, but that snake move to GSW kinda ruins his legacy as a great player.
Jerry
Guest
Was he better in game 2? He scored more efficiently, but James scored more and got nearly twice as many assists. Basically, head to head there's 1 game clearly to James, 1 clearly to Durant and two that were close. But James had the better overall output all while having to shoulder a MUCH bigger load than KD.
Jerry
Guest
You reckon KD outplayed James in 2012? I'm not so sure - KD scored really efficiently, but James played better overall, IMO.
express34texas
Guest
KD's career is much better than Curry's overall if we look at everything. Curry has played in 4 FInals, and never been better than the 3rd best player in any of them. When KD went to GS, he's been clearly the best player on those teams now. Curry's MVPs look a little weird now, in hindsight. They've both been fortunate to be on this super team, but James has had many of those himself, and Curry is already tied with James in rings with 3 each. The difference is that Curry has never outplayed James in any playoff series, and hasn't really been that close to doing it either. KD, on the other hand, has outplayed James in 2 of their 3 meetings.
express34texas
Guest
When did James surpass Kobe, or even Duncan? Consistently getting outplayed by inferior players throughout his career in the playoffs plus not giving maximum effort on a consistent basis either. He's fortunate to have always played in the weaker conference, until next year. He'd be lucky to even make 3 Finals appearances if he was out West his entire career. He is certainly an all-time great, but way overrated by most. Always ring chasing, and still lower in rings than many of the all-time greats.
express34texas
Guest
No KD wasn't. He's outplayed James in each of the last 2 Finals. Did you watch the Finals this year? James had a great first game, after that, KD was certainly better.
Swampy
Guest
I don't mind ranking lists but really there is little point measuring a partial career VS a completed one.
Jerry
Guest
I'm saying he didn't HAVE to work as hard because he had a player at the very least equal to him and most likely better. I'm not actually saying anything about how hard he did or didn't actually work. Even if you just limit it to the ten players everyone rates above Durant - Jordan, Magic, Kareem, Shaq, Kobe, Lebron, Duncan, Russell, Chamberlain and Bird - they all won at least one title while being the unquestionable best player on their team which Durant hasn't done yet.
mushi
Roar Guru
Only caveat is that at the moment Curry's peak is shorter That said, it's why top whatevers are kind of ridiculous. There are studies done on how people respond beter to being ranked 9th than 6th? Because our, completely invalid, obsession with ranking in top 5s and then groups of 10?
mushi
Roar Guru
Agree it's a perception thing, but it is an entirely flawed perception. So if you say of course you don't know how hard he hard he worked (or others) how can you make a subjective judgment on how hard he worked versus others? That's nonsensical
Swampy
Guest
He is a future HOFer - it's too early to catagorize him as an All-time great. I'm just saying wait for the end of his career to assess. Look at Derek Rose - youngest MVP ever but injuries destroyed his rating. While I don't think anything will derail Durant's career we can't fully assess him.
Jerry
Guest
I'm not really saying that players can't do what he did, just if they do then when people make lists like this it's probably gonna weigh against them. Which is a pretty inconsequential consideration for them, I'm sure you'd agree. And I didn't say he didn't work hard, just that he didn't have to work as hard as the other guys on the list in that every one of them won a title while being unquestionably the best player on their team, which he hasn't really done yet. Of course I don't know how hard he does or doesn't work, it's a perception thing - but then the entire exercise is about subjective perception.
Swampy
Guest
Lol BJ Armstrong. He also played with Bill Wennington....
Swampy
Guest
If durant is top ten then by the very same criteria, curry is top ten. Two Mvp's, 3 titles, multiple all-stars, all-nba teams.
astro
Guest
Haha! Great response!
Jerry
Guest
I get the point but by the established conventions of the award, he was the deserved winner.
mushi
Roar Guru
Relaly? which advnaced analysis suggests rodman is one fo the greatest of all time?