In many people’s eyes, Kevin Durant is the best basketball player in the world. As an elite defender and unprecedented scorer, his game has long been considered to be right up there with the best we’ve ever seen.
But there are some things KD still has left to prove — namely, his ability to lead his own team to a title.
Speaking on Durant, former NBA big man Scot Pollard got real on his track record while shedding some light on some of the major flaws in his resume.
(via SiriusXM NBA Radio):
“Too many players believe they are ‘the guy.’ I’m not trying to take anything away from KD, I think he’s an incredible player. But I don’t think he’s ever dragged a team to a championship. I’ve always been a firm believer that there’s 5-8, maybe 10, guys on any given year that are actual trans-generational players that could play in any generation. Everyone else in the NBA besides those guys is a role player. So when you have this many players saying things like ‘I want out’ and ‘I want a coach fired’ it’s like, listen, understand that without this player on your team, you didn’t win. Understand that without this player on the next team that you’re on — and if you keep getting traded around and you keep playing for different teams, how good are you?”
"Too many players believe that they are 'the guy'."@ScotPollard31 weighs in on a problem that the NBA faces today pic.twitter.com/5StJl55SM6
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 16, 2022
Guys like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and countless others have all won titles as the “main guy.” And while Durant does have two Finals MVPs to his name, one could make the case that Curry was always the real leader of the Warriors.
Whatever your opinion is on Durant and his legacy, it’s pretty clear that not everybody ranks him as highly as he ranks himself. In truth, the best way to finally shut up all the haters and doubters may just be to swallow his pride and ball out for the Nets this season.
