When was Durant's peak for you?

[MotownMadness]

Looks like Durant is working out with Mobley right now.

https://instagram.com/mlivingston_dpt?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

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He seems to always be working out with youngsters. I used to see Doumbouya post workout videos with him, the Cade this year.

Seems like if you're willing he will train with you or something

[JN61]

Its a tough question. For me, I was most awed by Durant in that 2012 WCF against the Spurs. He averaged 29.5 pts, 7.5 rbs, 5.3 asts, 1.5 blks and 1.7 stls on 58% eFG% with a 129 ORtg and 108 DRtg, all against a Spurs team that had won 18 games in a row including sweeping the first two rounds. With the Thunder down 2-1 in the series and up 4 going into the 4th quarter, he scored 18 points in the 4th quarter to ultimately tip that series in OKC's favor. He defended at a higher level in Golden State and put up bigger numbers in that 2021 series against the Bucks, but I personally think he peaked younger in OKC.

2012 certainly not even if he had really good series. Back then you could still easily push Durant around as a defender. Gotta go between 2016 and 2018 here I think. The best all around player version of him. Even if he laid big dud in the playoffs.

[JN61]

Definitely his MVP season

But that was mostly due to Westbrook missing half the season so it inflated Durant's individual numbers because he was leading the offense and not Westbrook. From skill and game standpoint I still think Durant had major flaws to his game like being still simply too weak and even average athletes being able to prevent him from playing his game comfortably. Few years later he was strong enough so as said it's really last few seasons of OKC or/and warriors years.

[TheLand13]

2017 Kevin Durant will always be his peak for me. Not only was he still a world class scorer, he was also an incredibly elite defender that season. I don't know why he can't continue to put that kind of effort into the defensive end of the floor, but that season, he was really great at that end. To me, 2017 was not only his best season, but he was the best player in the world at that point (yes, even better than LeBron). Then he regressed back to being an above average defender at best in 2018 and LeBron once again surpassed him.

[Mauro Pedrosa]

If you ask this question last year this time, many might say Brooklyn.

Right. He looked like the terminator against the Bucks. Too bad his feet are too long

[Pennebaker]

KD's true peak was in OKC.

There was a time when KD was known as a kind of humble savior against big egos. You da real MVP was peak KD.

It was all downhill from there. Winning couldn't even stop his death spiral in terms of his reputation. Nobody fondly remembers KD in Golden State. The Warriors players didn't even like him.

[chilluminati]

His absolute skill peak was from 2014 with the Thunder all the way to 2018 with the warriors. In 2019 I believe I started to see his step waver slightly, and some of his shot selection felt more limited. I say this like he got worse, but it's like losing an inch when you have 10 miles.

He had an Achilles injury and very rarely has players been able to come back from that. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that's what slowed him down.

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Yeah obviously lol

[HollowEarth]

It's his time on the warriors. On OKC the offense was simpler and every year teams were able to zero in and counter Durant. He took more bad shots and turned the ball over more in the playoffs.

In 2017, Durant produced at the same level as peak Jordan with equivalent efficiency. I get that a big part of that was defensive attention on Steph, but also give Durant credit for embracing a motion offense, moving off ball, picking his spots, and going hard on defense as a small-ball big man.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

KD's true peak was in OKC.

There was a time when KD was known as a kind of humble savior against big egos. You da real MVP was peak KD.

It was all downhill from there. Winning couldn't even stop his death spiral in terms of his reputation. Nobody fondly remembers KD in Golden State. The Warriors players didn't even like him.

Fake humility Durant lol. People were on to him back then.

[cupcakesnake]

His age 25 season (2014 in OKC) Durant led the NBA in Win Shares, VORP, BPM, PER, and usage. He never led the NBA in even a single one of these categories in any other year. It was also his career high scoring rate (41.8 points per 100 possessions), and his 2nd most efficient scoring season by TS Add (the year before was his most efficient scoring season). He also won MVP that year and had a strong playoff run, beating a very good Memphis and LAC teams before falling to an all-time great San Antonio team).

I think you can argue that he had better seasons as a defensive rim protector in Golden State (to be fair he had a small defensive role on an elite defensive team). I think he has been a better passer in Brooklyn. But in terms of raw firepower and production, there isn't another season that touches 2014 for KD.