After ‘The Last Dance’ docu-series saw the light, there have been plenty of questions surrounding Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls. Obviously, the GOAT debate is a huge topic for everybody, but there are more doubts that fans and analysts brought to the table throughout the five weeks ESPN broadcasted Jordan’s path to success with the Bulls, his ups and downs and the last season with the team.
One of the biggest questions asked during those weeks was how good MJ would be in this era. Some say he’d average 40 or 50 points in today’s game. Moreover, people wonder what current player would be a great teammate for the Bulls legend nowadays. Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report recently wrote about this, dropping some names that, according to him, would be great to see alongside His Airness.
One of the players who were mentioned there was Kevin Durant, 2x NBA champions with the Golden State Warriors, currently part of the Brooklyn Nets. One could say KD and Jordan’s game would complement each other perfectly, but not for one anonymous Eastern Conference general manager.
“There’s only one guy who wouldn’t willingly move over and be No. 2—KD,” the unnamed NBA executive said. “He’d struggle playing with Michael. Too sensitive, and he’d want to shoot all the balls. If Michael yelled at him for missing too many shots, he wouldn’t have liked it.”
We saw what happened with KD when he joined the Warriors and how the way people look at him changed when he became the second star of the team behind Stephen Curry. This ‘sensitive’ narrative isn’t new for NBA fans. Just imagine how KD would react after finding out he has to be the sidekick of Jordan.
You can say he was the best player on the Warriors roster, but everybody in the Bay saw Curry as their prime star and leader. Imagine how things would be if he not only was the second-best player on a team but had a leader like MJ.
That’s why not everybody is sold on that idea that he would thrive sharing touches with Jordan. Even an NBA executive says he’s too soft to play alongside the GOAT.
