Kevin Durant has been under fire in recent days, as the Brooklyn Nets superstar has struggled to get things going against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs.
Ime Udoka’s strategy for KD has paid off. The player has committed many turnovers and his impact on the scoreboard isn’t as big as many people thought before the start of the postseason. His bad performances during the first two games of the series raised a lot of eyebrows around the league, with many people criticizing the player for it.
Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless, two people who normally call KD the best player in the world, went off on him after Game 2 of the series, but they weren’t the only ones attacking Durant. Shannon Sharpe didn’t hold anything back against the Slim Reaper, taking some shots at him and comparing Durant to former teammate Russell Westbrook. During Thursday’s edition of Undisputed, Sharpe had this to say:
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1517180862797795347
“What happened is KD and Kyrie didn’t show up… Kevin Durant came up small yet again… I need my big guns to start firing, and it was misfire after misfire after misfire after misfire, that’s not good enough… You had a 7-point lead in the 4th quarter with the best player on the planet and you get outscored 29-12?”
“Is that Russell Westbrook? Kevin Durant is turning into Russell Westbrook right before our eyes. Missing, bricking shots, and turning the ball over.”
KD’s game is leaving more doubts than certainties in recent days. While Kyrie Irving has done everything he could to lead the Nets to take wins, Durant has been a shell of himself. He needs to step up for Game 3 or the Nets will be in a complex position for Monday. Even with the possible debut of Ben Simmons, Brooklyn could see their season finished if the Celtics win the next two games. To avoid that, Durant must play at the highest level.
