Kevin Durant’s Former Podcast Partner Takes Cheeky Jab At KD Following The Suns’ Starting Lineup Release

Ahead of the 2024-2025 season, Mike Budenholzer revealed what the Phoenix Suns lineup would like for the campaign. Kevin Durant has been shifted down to power forward to incorporate Tyus Jones into the starting five as the point guard. This change in his position has prompted KD’s former podcast partner to take cheeky shots at the 2014 MVP’s ability to rebound.

Since the addition of Bradley Beal to the roster, the Suns haven’t been able to stick to one lineup. Constant experimenting and mix-and-match of lineups was one of the biggest reasons behind the Arizona side’s humiliating first-round sweep in the 2024 postseason. Hence Budenholzer, the newest coach of the Suns, has made sure to eradicate this issue by establishing the starting lineup he will foreseeably use for the upcoming campaign.

While Jones and Devin Booker are the two guards, Beal will have to play a slightly more unconventional role of an undersized small forward. This leaves Durant to fill in the four spot and Jusuf Nurkić to be comfortable in his role as a center.

Eddie Gonzalez, a former host on “The ETCs”, replied to Duane Rankin’s tweet, taking a nasty jab at KD’s lack of rebounding prowess. With the 14-time All-Star shifted to the power forward position, Gonzalez hilariously claims that the Slim Reaper would “learn” to rebound.

“Better learn rebounding buddy,” Gonzalez wrote.

Durant has spent the majority of his career playing at the small forward position. Hence, the change to power forward does come as a surprise.

Apart from having the size–6ft 11”–to play as a PF, the Slim Reaper also has experience at the four. Since his move to the Golden State Warriors in 2016, the offensive maestro has spent a significant amount of games as the PF. As a result, the Durantula became a better rebounder and drastically improved on the defensive end.

Durant’s previous stint as a power forward

KD first switched to the power forward position during his first year with the GSW. With Steve Kerr trying out the small-ball lineup, Durant spent the entirety of the 2016-2017 season playing at the four. Kerr even revealed the prospect of making Durant play the four spot before that season commenced.

“It’s a tough matchup for people to guard him when he’s at the four because he’s so fast and shoots it so well. The biggest thing is at the other end – defensively – he has to be really engaged we need to rebound better when he’s at the floor,” Kerr said.

While he did lack on the defensive end, KD recorded the highest rebounds per game – 8.3 – of his career during that lone season.

The two-time NBA champ was forced to continue playing at the four spot, and even the five on some occasions, during his time with the Brooklyn Nets. Unfortunately, the stint with the New Jersey side wasn’t successful. However, it was part of the learning curve that allowed him to thrive as a power forward during his time with the Suns.

This past campaign, spending 75 games as the PF, Durant had the best defensive campaign of his career with a 114.4 Defensive Rating. Additionally, the contributions on the defensive end didn’t even come at the expense of him being less impactful on the offensive end. He still registered 27.1 points and 5 assists per game.

With a much more stable lineup, Durant playing at the four constantly will allow the Suns to terrorize the league. With traditional power forwards being slightly slower than Durant, resulting in defensive collapses, teams will be forced to make changes that they might not be accustomed to.