Kevin Durant's legacy

Lalouie · Post #121 » by **Lalouie** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 7:27 am

in the nba wiki kd's legacy is as a great scorer

in the fans' wiki perception kd has been an ongoing damage control

Alatan · Post #122 » by **Alatan** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 7:37 am

I love how he one upped LBJ and cockblocked him from winning more on stacked teams.

Jables · Post #123 » by **Jables** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 7:39 am

Real talk, if he just stayed at GSW and won a few more he would've papered over the cracks at some point, the marketing/media phenomenon behind these players forgives all if they just win. Shaq was a narcissistic, lazy bully, Kobe a rapist whos victim was intimidated by the media into not going to trial, meanwhile Tim Duncan didn't care about the media so it didn't care about him so the rare mentions he gets in top 10 lists is just to give the speaker some cred. People act like the Spurs were a super team, bruh their coach was worth more than the other two of their big 3 (ignoring Robinson for the first ring). That's just how I see it.

He didn't do anything LeBron didn't do. Except he was slightly more annoying about it mind.

jpengland · Post #124 » by **jpengland** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 7:47 am

I’m not sure he cares that much what his ‘legacy’ is.

Fans put too much stock into it.

He’s one of the greatest scorers of all time who continually developed his game and has aged better than nearly any player in the history of the game.

He went to GSW to win and play the kind of basketball he enjoyed playing and that worked out.

Post #125 » by **Jamaaliver** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 11:47 pm

KD's post GSW career is proof that simply being good at basketball is not enough to win in this league.

The intangibles do matter.

Read on Twitter

bledredwine · Post #126 » by **bledredwine** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 11:57 pm

Alatan wrote:I love how he one upped LBJ and cockblocked him from winning more on stacked teams.

Bingo. It was beautiful watching him play Lebron’s own game and seeing the hypocrisy of his fans in the process.

Homer38 · Post #127 » by **Homer38** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:03 am

bledredwine wrote:
Alatan wrote:I love how he one upped LBJ and cockblocked him from winning more on stacked teams.

Bingo. It was beautiful watching him play Lebron’s own game and seeing the hypocrisy of his fans in the process.

KD only needed a 73-win supporting cast to be able to win a title as his team's 1B MVP... what an accomplishment!

It doesn't change the fact that LBJ is the best player ever... Jordan had a 55-win supporting cast with the Bulls in the 1990s, and for the most part, the Bulls were always healthy come playoff time, with Pippen being the exception in 1998 for the last two Finals games against Utah, otherwise, Pippen would have had a chance to be the Finals MVP, according to some old article, during that Finals.

Post #128 » by **tsherkin** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 1:59 am

Jables wrote: bruh their coach was worth more than the other two of their big 3 (ignoring Robinson for the first ring). That's just how I see it.

You can successfully make that argument for 2003, but not for the subsequent titles.

Post #129 » by **tsherkin** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 2:02 am

bledredwine wrote:
Alatan wrote:I love how he one upped LBJ and cockblocked him from winning more on stacked teams.

Bingo. It was beautiful watching him play Lebron’s own game and seeing the hypocrisy of his fans in the process.

It's a little different. Lebron's move wasn't popular, but he didn't join the team which beat him in order to win. He found a roster which was actually competitive instead of the garbage Cleveland was feeding him. And he was doing it after facing Boston, which was a hellishly strong team itself, as were the Spurs. KD literally joined the team to which he'd lost in the playoffs, and on top of that, wasn't as good as Lebron in playoff basketball (outside of the 2011 Finals, which was not Lebron's finest hour, no doubt).

NZB2323 · Post #130 » by **NZB2323** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 2:55 am

Homer38 wrote:
bledredwine wrote:
Alatan wrote:I love how he one upped LBJ and cockblocked him from winning more on stacked teams.

Bingo. It was beautiful watching him play Lebron’s own game and seeing the hypocrisy of his fans in the process.

KD only needed a 73-win supporting cast to be able to win a title as his team's 1B MVP... what an accomplishment!

It doesn't change the fact that LBJ is the best player ever... Jordan had a 55-win supporting cast with the Bulls in the 1990s, and for the most part, the Bulls were always healthy come playoff time, with Pippen being the exception in 1998 for the last two Finals games against Utah, otherwise, Pippen would have had a chance to be the Finals MVP, according to some old article, during that Finals.

Jordan never played with Pippen, Kukoc, Grant, Cartwright, Longley, Armstrong, Kerr, and Paxson all on the same team. The 94 Bulls won games with depth, luck, and clutch shooting from Kukoc. They were 11th in NetRtg. The 2010 Heat were 13th without Bosh.

As for injuries, Pippen had the migraine in game 7 of 1990 and the back injury for game 6 of 1998, Kukoc missed 3 playoff games in 1996, Pippen only played in 44 games in 1998, Rodman only played in 55 games in 97, and 64 games in 1996.

In general the Bulls were more healthy than LeBron’s supporting cast but the same is true for their opponents. Outside of Worthy in 1991 and Grant in 1996, the Bulls opponents didn’t have a lot of injuries, whereas the Warriors had the Green suspension, Derrick Rose’s career was never the same after the ACL injury, and Deng, Hinrich, and Rip Hamilton were injured in the 2013 playoffs, Amar’e and Baron Davis were injured for the Knicks in the 2012 playoffs, Diaw was injured for the 2013 playoffs, and Dame and Bam were injured in the 2020 playoffs.

How many games do the 2010 Heat win without LeBron? 2016 Cavs? 2020 Lakers? Are their win totals that different than 55?

The Heat won 47 games in 2009 without Bosh. Kevin Love led a lineup of Brewer, Rubio, Martin, and Pekovic to 40 wins in 2015. Isn’t Kyrie, JR Smith, Thompson, a Dellavedova a superior supporting cast? AD led the Pelicans to 48 wins.

Are you saying Pippen could have been Finals MVP in 1998? Jordan’s GmSc is almost double Pippen’s for the series.

California Gold · Post #131 » by **California Gold** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 3:16 am

KD is a guy that has to be carried. We all know he's not a leader and has suffered multiple times on different teams because of it. Your best player has to be the leader or else the team success does not translate.

ball_takes23 · Post #132 » by **ball_takes23** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 3:43 am

tsherkin wrote:
bledredwine wrote:
Alatan wrote:I love how he one upped LBJ and cockblocked him from winning more on stacked teams.

Bingo. It was beautiful watching him play Lebron’s own game and seeing the hypocrisy of his fans in the process.

It's a little different. Lebron's move wasn't popular, but he didn't join the team which beat him in order to win. He found a roster which was actually competitive instead of the garbage Cleveland was feeding him. And he was doing it after facing Boston, which was a hellishly strong team itself, as were the Spurs. KD literally joined the team to which he'd lost in the playoffs, and on top of that, wasn't as good as Lebron in playoff basketball (outside of the 2011 Finals, which was not Lebron's finest hour, no doubt).

Lebron one-upped Boston's older big 3 with a big 3 who were all in their prime, ages 26-28. This is evidenced by the fact that after getting his ass whooped for 3 years in Cleveland he beats Boston 4-1 in his first year in Miami. KD one-upped Lebron's big 3 in their prime by creating a big 4 in their prime. Some people would say thats not fair but you could also make the argument that Lebron's 3 top 15 players and 2 top-5 players on one team was also not necessary to compete with Boston who had 0 top-5 players and maybe 1 top-10 player at best. And also like you said KD is nowhere near the basketball player that Lebron was, he is nowhere near the GOAT conversation or even the top 10 conversation, so why is he getting held to the same or higher standards than Lebron is?

Post #133 » by **zimpy27** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 8:56 am

I do wonder if Durant really has a drive to win.

He certainly wants to win but not sure about his drive to take over games.

biebstothelotto · Post #134 » by **biebstothelotto** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 10:45 am

If people are going to harshly judge Kevin Durant for joining the Warriors, then some of that criticism should also be directed at Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and the rest of the team. After all, they actively recruited him—they wanted him there just as much as he chose to join. Yet Durant shoulders 100% of the blame, which feels unfair, even if we agree that the move wasn’t the most competitive. The Warriors seem to get a free pass.

If Curry had only one or two rings, his legacy would look very different. But the rings he won with KD are used to elevate his status, while those same championships are somehow considered "fake" when it comes to Durant. That double standard doesn’t make much sense.

bledredwine · Post #135 » by **bledredwine** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 3:17 pm

tsherkin wrote:
bledredwine wrote:
Alatan wrote:I love how he one upped LBJ and cockblocked him from winning more on stacked teams.

Bingo. It was beautiful watching him play Lebron’s own game and seeing the hypocrisy of his fans in the process.

It's a little different. Lebron's move wasn't popular, but he didn't join the team which beat him in order to win. He found a roster which was actually competitive instead of the garbage Cleveland was feeding him. And he was doing it after facing Boston, which was a hellishly strong team itself, as were the Spurs. KD literally joined the team to which he'd lost in the playoffs, and on top of that, wasn't as good as Lebron in playoff basketball (outside of the 2011 Finals, which was not Lebron's finest hour, no doubt).

Miami Heatles were considered a cheat team at the moment "not 6, not. 7, not 8" and there were threads about them going
without a loss.

And that 73 win Steph team didn't even win the championship, not to mention Steph wasn't himself as soon as he entered the playoffs.

It was more similar than you'd think and the only way Durant could make a move just as deadly as 3 MVP candidates teaming up (including Wade who was a Lebron'ish level to begin with) was teaming up with Steph,

and aside from that? Durant absolutely made Lebron look bad in those finals, especially in the clutch.

So yeah, well played by Durant. What else was he supposed to do?

The amount of space that Lebron had with that Miami team was ridiculous. I remember predicting that his field goal percentage would shoot up, and sure enough, it did.

And at least Durant was the best player on his team, unlike Lebron in 2011.

Post #136 » by **tsherkin** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 3:52 pm

bledredwine wrote:Miami Heatles were considered a cheat team at the moment

Yes, people had a reasonably ignorant reaction to it. I suspect The Decision broadcast exacerbated things more than the actual move, though.

And that 73 win Steph team didn't even win the championship, not to mention Steph wasn't himself as soon as he entered the playoffs.

And?

The amount of space that Lebron had with that Miami team was ridiculous. I remember predicting that his field goal percentage would shoot up, and sure enough, it did.

Yes, it was a whole 0.7% better that first year in Miami

And actually 0.8% worse inside the arc. He actually had an immediate dip in his proportion of shots inside the RA when he went to Miami, and it didn't recover until 2012, as he started to post more to help create space for Wade on the perimeter.

Nate505 · Post #137 » by **Nate505** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 4:31 pm

jpengland wrote:I’m not sure he cares that much what his ‘legacy’ is.

The guy who created a burner account to argue with fans doesn't care about his legacy? Sure

TheGeneral99 · Post #138 » by **TheGeneral99** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 4:49 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:KD's post GSW career is proof that simply being good at basketball is not enough to win in this league.

The intangibles do matter.

Read on Twitter

KD sometimes annoys me but I will say that in 2021 he nearly beat the Bucks almost single handedly without Kyrie and a hobbled Harden who went on to the win the finals.

He obviously made a horrible choice to join Kyrie in Brooklyn. I will never for the life of me understand why he would choose Kyrie as his running mate when in 2019 as a free agent he could have easily joined a young and up coming Celtics team or an up and coming Nuggets team that he could probably won a few championships with and he would have got the credit. The dude literally chose the worst person to pair with.

But I will give KD credit for coming back from an achilles tear at his age...that's impressive.

TheGeneral99 · Post #139 » by **TheGeneral99** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 4:53 pm

biebstothelotto wrote:If people are going to harshly judge Kevin Durant for joining the Warriors, then some of that criticism should also be directed at Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and the rest of the team. After all, they actively recruited him—they wanted him there just as much as he chose to join. Yet Durant shoulders 100% of the blame, which feels unfair, even if we agree that the move wasn’t the most competitive. The Warriors seem to get a free pass.

If Curry had only one or two rings, his legacy would look very different. But the rings he won with KD are used to elevate his status, while those same championships are somehow considered "fake" when it comes to Durant. That double standard doesn’t make much sense.

I think the difference is the Warriors already won without KD and just beat KD in the conference finals after coming back from a 3-1 deficit. It's not like Durant had no chance to win with OKC...he still had nice players around him like Westbrook, Adams, Ibaka etc. that could have won.

Why would the Warriors refuse to allow Durant to join them?

Durant should have understood the backlash he would get from joining a 73 win team that had already won without him and then barely beat his team just a couple months before.

AdamSSSlither · Post #140 » by **AdamSSSlither** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 5:57 pm

everybody knows his move to gsw was most b!tch in nba history.
but as lame as durant has become his game is still top 10.
just finished 6th is ppg w/ 52/43/83% shooting splits. is a good defender when he wants to be.
its not his fault the roster construction was pathetic/not cohesive.
and getting hurt again is making things worse for durants face value.

long term legacy = one of the greatest scorers/shooter in nba history and he is climbing career points scored list.
hes done it all and won it all.
ROY,
MVP,
2X A.S.MVP,
2X FINALS MVP,
15X ALL STAR
11X ALL NBA
4X SCORING TITLES
4X GOLD MEDALS
2X NBA RINGS
i think his "legacy" is fine.
currently 8th all-time, from the looks of it he could easily finish top 4 all-time points scored.
not too shabby for a sellout crybaby moma's boy on a burner acct.