Kevin Durant Under Fire For All-Time Dream Lineup; Skips LeBron James, Stephen Curry And Michael Jordan

NBA fans criticize Kevin Durant for his all-time dream lineup that excludes LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Michael Jordan.

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Aug 10, 2024; Paris, France; United States shooting guard Stephen Curry (4) and guard LeBron James (6) and guard Kevin Durant (7) celebrate with their gold medals on the podium after defeating France in the men's basketball gold medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Durant has always had some very debatable takes on the subject of basketball. So much so that he himself loves engaging in basketball debates on social media with fans and has claimed it helps in the promotion of the game. But his most recent take seems to have triggered many more fans than the ones he usually targets.

During his recent sit-down with Amen Thompson, his Rockets teammate for a Boardroom interview, Durant named his all-time dream lineup with some very peculiar choices.

“I’m going with Shai, me, Wemby, Kevin Garnett, and Klay Thompson. We’ve got f***ers all across the board,” said Durant in confidence.

“Wemby at the five? With Me, Shai, and Klay? Oh my god! With KG too? That’s a lot of team. I don’t know. We’re going to have to test that, man. We got to, I want to see what the, I want to see what the commenters got to say about that team right there,” said Durant before posting that lineup on social media.

 

The Rockets forward not only skipped legendary names like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry, but he also included names like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama under the umbrella of “legends” in his own dictionary.

Therefore, NBA fans were incensed on social media and took to the comments section to discuss this lineup in depth. They had several concerns with the lineup, which we will try to break down in depth.

“Humbly inserting yourself into the all-time dream lineup is kinda funny, but I respect your game,” said an NBA fan on X.

“Wemby and Shai aren’t legends yet, but this is a top-tier lineup for sure. Buckets on buckets,” said a fan who wanted to highlight that it might be too soon to deem Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as legends of the game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a historic season in 2024-25 to lead the Thunder to a championship. While some might say recency bias has kicked in for Durant, the only other guard to win the MVP, scoring title, NBA championship, and a Finals MVP in the same season other than Gilgeous-Alexander was Michael Jordan.

While I agree with the fans’ concerns of putting Wembanyama in his lineup too soon, his confidence in Wembanyama speaks to the kind of threat he predicts the seven-foot-five-inch Spurs star could potentially be for his opponents in his prime.

“Of course, no Steph😂😂you’ve always been jealous of him.”

“No Curry or LeBron, pure hater energy.”

“Bro got beef with the man that gave him his two rings is crazy work,” said another fan while referring to Durant missing out on Stephen Curry in his dream lineup.

Durant skipping on his former teammate, who is the greatest shooter of all time, definitely raised some eyebrows. Fans have always felt an unspoken strain in Curry and Durant’s relationship, despite the duo claiming to the public that they have no problems among them.

“Klay Thompson over Booker is insane. Durant is seething over his time in Phoenix and even more in his feelings over the Suns’ early successes. Brooks has delivered more in value towards winning than Durant ever did. It’s just so sad for the fans. We all know this Suns team, while they try hard now, ain’t winning no championship,” said a fan on X

“Bro, Klay over Michael just doesn’t make sense,” wrote another baffled fan of Michael Jordan on X.

A lot of the fan sentiment was also directed at the inclusion of Klay Thompson in the lineup over elite guards like Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, and Kobe Bryant. Thompson is the only player on his lineup who has previously been his teammate. He also skipped some of his elite former teammates, like Kyrie Irving and James Harden, to include Thompson.

While a lot of fans might disagree, this is, in fact, a very well-thought-out lineup from Durant. The task was to assemble the best lineup and not name the best player in each position. Let’s analyze this lineup from the perspective of how things would run on the court in a regular season.

With Gilgeous-Alexander and Durant as the only two playmakers on this team, the other players would be focused on playing their specific roles that are required to make a team truly elite.

Wembanyama and Kevin Garnett as defensive additions are very crucial to the team. Their impacts on both ends of the floor would wreak havoc for their opponents; meanwhile, Thompson would remain the constant catch-and-shoot threat that would be the wild card on offense for Durant’s team.

Therefore, even though Durant triggered some fans with this lineup, I feel this would be a team that wins over 75 games in the regular season easily. What do you think about this lineup? Let us know in the comments section.

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Chaitanya Dadhwal is an NBA Analyst and Columnist at Fadeaway World from New Delhi, India. He fell in love with basketball in 2018 after seeing James Harden in his prime. He joined the sports journalism world in 2021, one year before finishing his law school in 2022. He attended Jindal Global Law School in Sonipat, India, where his favorite subject was also Sports Law.He transitioned from law to journalism after realizing his true passion for sports and basketball in particular. Even though his journalism is driven by his desire to understand both sides of an argument and give a neutral perspective, he openly admits he is biased towards the Houston Rockets and Arsenal. But that intersection of in-depth analysis and passion helps him simplify the fine print and complex language for his readers.His goal in life is to open his own sports management agency one day and represent athletes. He wants to ensure he can help bridge the gap in equal opportunity for athletes across various sports and different genders playing the same sport.
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