Kevin Durant is a player that has often been criticized for his actions, no matter what he does. He’s been blasted for going to the Golden State Warriors in free agency. He’s been talked about due to his activities on Twitter. Needless to say, Kevin Durant has been the target of many jabs on TV shows and on social media.
The most recent claim came from Scottie Pippen. Pippen compared Kevin Durant to LeBron James and claimed LeBron James would have taken a more team-oriented approach to win against the Milwaukee Bucks series rather than outscore them by himself. Kevin Durant responded to the criticism and pointed out that Scottie Pippen is a superstar who got angry when his coach called a play for his teammate instead of him.
Didn’t the great Scottie pippen refuse to go in the game for the last second shot because he was in his feelings his coach drew up the play for a better shooter??
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) June 24, 2021
The original criticism came from a GQ interview, where Scottie Pippen talked about a variety of topics, including the Milwaukee Bucks – Brooklyn Nets series, as well as the comparison between Durant and James. Here is an excerpt from the interview.
The Chicago Bulls were the better team. It’s not an individual game, you can’t go into basketball and beat nobody with an individual record. And I used this example of what happened to Kevin Durant just the other day: this is the first time we’ve ever really seen Kevin Durant have to be the man and bring the team home. We ain’t never really had to see that because he’s had [Russell] Westbrook, Steph Curry, Klay [Thompson]. He’s been beating people, definitely in Golden State, by committee. With a team. He did that, but that team already knew how to win without KD. But you put KD in Brooklyn, and Kyrie [Irving] gets hurt and James Harden ain’t that guy, now KD not only has to score for them but also make plays for them. And this is no knock to KD, but they asked me, “Has he surpassed LeBron James?” And my answer was: LeBron James knows team basketball better than KD.
KD can score better than LeBron, probably always have been able to. But has he surpassed LeBron? Naw. He tried to beat the Milwaukee Bucks instead of utilizing his team. You see what I’m saying? LeBron James would’ve figured out how to beat them and he wouldn’t have been exhausted and he may not have taken the last shot. But LeBron ain’t KD, and KD ain’t LeBron. KD is a shooter, a scorer. But he doesn’t have what LeBron has.
He’s also an MVP!
A two-time MVP. In the Finals. [Laughs.] That’s good when you’ve got Steph Curry leading the troops. But when you’re leading the troops, you gotta know how to lead and win. And KD, as great as his offense was, it turned out to be his worst enemy because he didn’t know how to play team basketball when it came down to it. He kept trying to go punch for punch. They were beating him with Giannis [Antetokounmpo], [Khris] Middleton, and what’s the little guard name?
Jrue.
Yeah, Jrue Holiday. So, you got three guys scoring for the other team and you the only guy scoring for your team? Who gonna win? And we in the overtime and you done played every minute?! You gonna lose. But, LeBron would’ve been better in that kind of situation because he would’ve used his team to pick them apart.
So then what else does Kevin Durant of all people need to learn at this point?
He needs to learn how to utilize his teams. He has to learn how to set up his teammates to be better. That’s it. As great as he is, there’s a [cap] to his [talent]. He could’ve easily made that three, killed them in regulation, and we wouldn’t have been talking about this. But I knew going into overtime, he wasn’t gonna make it. He was taking all the shots. You done played the whole game, bro! And they’ve got guys physically wearing you down. You gonna lose. Giannis was under the same stress but not quite. Giannis got rest and he didn’t have to score every time. KD? He got no rest and pretty much had to put a bucket on the board every time they went down. And he did that, but that’s a lot. If he had a chance to do it all over again he would probably do it the same way. But he ain’t have no more. He shot that last shot and it was shorter than Giannis’ free throw shots. [Laughs.]
You know he was tired after that.
But, have you ever seen LeBron take a shot like that? He ain’t gonna take that shot. He’s gonna be smarter. He’s gonna force a double team. That’s what KD wasn’t able to do. He was so exhausted he couldn’t even go to the bucket. I’ma be honest, I felt like Steve Nash should’ve put KD on the block and just let him sit there and throw passes so he could rest. But he kept him at the top of the floor where they were getting all up under him. It wasn’t fair. But that’s just coaching. Steve Nash is an inexperienced coach. So, he gotta know. He wore KD down. How are the fuck are you gonna win? He played the whole fucking game. How you wake up the next day and say you shoulda won?
There is no question that Scottie Pippen is pointing to Kevin Durant’s scoring-oriented style as one of the reasons that the Brooklyn Nets lost the series. Kevin Durant’s comeback is valid though, as it is commonly known that Scottie Pippen refused to re-enter a game against the New York Knicks, due to Toni Kukoc getting the last shot.
Kevin Durant didn’t stop there and pointed to the fact that Scottie Pippen chose to rehab during the season and delay his surgery because he wanted to enjoy the summer, rather than playing throughout and sacrificing for the team. He finished the Tweet by pointing out that the team followed Phil Jackson as a leader and not Scottie Pippen.
This guy Scott also wanted to enjoy his summer so he chose to rehab during the season lol yo @ScottiePippen THEY FOLLOWED PHIL, NOT YOU!!!
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) June 24, 2021
There is no question that Kevin Durant is willing to go against his critics on Twitter, and he makes some valid points. It is hard to blame Kevin Durant for the loss against the Brooklyn Nets, as even when he attempted to facilitate, there were times that others on the roster didn’t deliver on offense. Hopefully, Pippen and Durant will end their beef here, but one thing is clear, and that is Kevin Durant is willing to fight back.
