Kevin Durant has played for multiple contending teams in his career. After leaving the Thunder in 2016, he took his talents to the Golden State Warriors. From there, he went to the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns before finally landing on the Houston Rockets.
So he’s seen the young rosters and the old rosters, played distinct roles in every team, and now he’s looking back at how the different stints shaped him. Appearing on ‘The Pivot Podcast,’ Durant talked about the team that helped him maximize his talents.
“Everywhere, I mean, when I was with the Thunder, I had to score points for our team, I had to find out different ways to score points. I have had to come off down screens like Steph sometimes, had to iso up top like Kobe sometimes, and had to play point guard like Bron sometimes. So they tested me to play all different styles because they needed me to score,” Durant said.
The former MVP averaged 27.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists during his eight seasons with the Thunder, shooting between 46.2% and 51% from the field in different years. He was the only source of offense before other young players such as Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, and James Harden stepped up.
“They had seen that I can score from any angle. So they moved me around, and I learned my game there. And then, when I got to the Warriors, they challenged me to guard a little better on the other end of the floor. Guard the point guard for a few possessions and slow them down. Block a shot, you know?” he added.
Winning two rings back-to-back came with a lot of hard work. But during his time with the Warriors, Durant became a fully developed version of himself.
Despite winning a chip in 2015 and winning 73 games in the next season, the Warriors’ loss to the Cavaliers in the 2016 Finals was debilitating. The Cleveland Cavaliers had become too strong with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving both playing peak basketball, aided by Kevin Love.
The Warriors needed an answer. They needed the jolt of adding someone like Kevin Durant just as much as Easy Money Sniper needed them to win a ring.
With the Warriors, his points average dropped to 25.2, but he shot 52.5% from the field during those three seasons, along with 6.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists. He developed on the other side of the court as well. In his first year with the Warriors, his defensive rating was 101.3, while his career average is 107.4.
Since leaving the Warriors, he’s joined two failed superteam experiments, the Nets and the Suns. In the last five seasons he’s played for these two teams, he has averaged 27.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.6 assists, shooting 53.1% from the field and 40% from the three-point line.
“When I got to Brooklyn, they just put it all together. ‘Just do everything.’ Rebound, block shots, play the point guard. So all of these stops challenged me to do more and bring out more of my game. I felt like every spot maximized me. Played 48 minutes, three straight playoff games. That’s maximizing me the most,” the 15-time All-Star said.
He acknowledged that not every effort will result in winning the ring, but these were learning experiences for him. Despite the behind-the-scenes controversies and storylines, he consistently improved his game.
“So you might not result in winning a ring, but if you wanna talk about specifically me, my individual (game), how I got better as a player in all these spots? Yeah, they threw me out there and fed me to the wolves and told me to figure it out.” He concluded.
Durant’s journey is still in the making. He’s playing on a young contender where he can add a lot of veteran leadership, elite on-court involvement, and guide them to a championship. It would be the ultimate ending to his legendary career.
