Skip Bayless Hits Back at Kevin Durant, Questions His “Desire to Win”

Skip Bayless made a bold claim against Kevin Durant on his show earlier this month. The former FS1 host claimed that KD looks “mentally semi-retired” and isn’t focusing on basketball as much as he should. The lack of focus is directly reflected in the team’s performance this season.

KD has never been one to hold back. Be it his trolls or someone from the media giving harsh takes on him, the NBA veteran responds to everything unapologetically. He took to X to give Bayless a piece of his mind. Quoting the clip from The Skip Bayless Show, KD wrote, “F*ck it, we’re both washed, it was a great run.”

About a week later, Bayless is back with a response to KD. On a recent episode of his podcast, Bayless doubled down on his take on KD’s priority. He said, “They [Suns] now rank 27^th of 30 teams in defensive efficiency… That all starts and ends with the man who’s still the best player on that team…Who now ranks 212^th in individual defensive win shares.”

Bayless stated that the disastrous defense is a major reason behind their 31-37 season record and why they’re not even in play-in contention. But Bayless hasn’t lost all hope. He still believes KD is great physically, it’s the intangibles he needs to work on: “Hunger, burning desire to win, the sacrifice to do whatever it takes.”

The media veteran also questioned KD’s ability to win at a high level. “He can still play at a high level, but win at a high level? Is he still as obsessed with winning as he was going into year 10?” Bayless questioned.

Funnily enough, while all of Skip’s retorts were founded, they didn’t directly respond to what KD tweeted out. Durant called him ‘washed’. Bayless didn’t defend himself with his own show numbers or metrics to beat these ‘washed’ allegations and rather spewed out more numbers on Durant

Still, Durant’s future with the Suns doesn’t look all too cherry. And if he’s going to leave Phoenix, Lou Williams has some advice for him.

Lou Williams doesn’t want to see Kevin Durant on a superteam

KD has been one of the best players in the league for nearly two decades now. Widely regarded as one of the greatest scorers ever, Durant has the unique ability to make any team a title contender by simply joining them. At this stage of his career, he’ll likely be looking for another championship, to close it all off on a high note.

However, Williams doesn’t want him to take the easy route to another title. “No more superteams,” he said on Run It Back. The team that Williams would like to see KD on is the San Antonio Spurs.

Lou Williams' message to Kevin Durant:

"No more superteams."@TeamLou23 thinks KD should join an up-and-coming team, like the Spurs with Wemby, not an established team like the Lakers or Mavs 👀 pic.twitter.com/5EKF8t2gJl

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 12, 2025

He said, “You (Durant) go to San Antonio, it’s gonna be the Wemby and De’Aaron Fox show. KD, you’ll be there, I’m not gonna say Kevin Durant is gonna be a third option, but you can allow these young guys to be the focal point of what they’re building.”

As per Williams, becoming a veteran figure on a team full of young stars is going to give him his best shot at another title. This brings in teams like the aforementioned Spurs or perhaps the Rockets as well into the potential mix.