Kevin Durant is one of the most interesting players in the NBA, and his career is endlessly fascinating. KD led a young Thunder team to the Finals in 2012, then came within a game of doing it again two years later. After that heartbreaking seven-game loss to the Warriors, he turned the league on its head by joining Golden State.
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Though he won two Finals MVPs with the Warriors, Durant dealt with hate from fans around the league for the way he conducted his free agency. He eventually left the Warriors, and though he’s been individually great the whole time since, he’s yet to recapture anything close to that same team success.
Now on the Rockets after being traded from the Suns this summer, Durant appeared on the newest episode of The Pivot and spoke about each of the stops in his career. He was asked by Channing Crowder which of his five teams has maximized his abilities the most, and as is usual for KD, he had a thoughtful answer.
“Everywhere,” he said. “When I was with the Thunder, I had to score points for my team. I had to find different ways to score points. I had to come off down screens like Steph sometimes, I had to iso up top like Kobe sometimes, I had to play point guard like Bron sometimes.”
OKC challenged Durant to constantly adapt his game. “When I got to the Warriors, they challenged me to guard a little better on the other end of the floor,” he said. “Guard a point guard for a few possessions and slow the point guard down. Block a shot.”
“When I got to Brooklyn,” he continued, “they put it all together. Just do everything: rebound, block shots, play the point guard, you know. So all of these stops challenged me to do more and bring out more of my game, that I feel like every spot maximized me.”
Durant has been a model of consistency everywhere he’s been, and over his 18-year career has established himself as one of the most unstoppable scorers in basketball history. If there’s been a flaw to point out, it’s that he hasn’t always surrounded himself with a cast of talent that makes total sense.
On OKC, a young Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka were so athletic and so dynamic that other teams couldn’t stop them. The Warriors were a juggernaut, with the unstoppable scoring combo of Durant and Steph Curry and a malleable defense led by Draymond Green.
Durant hitched his wagon to Kyrie Irving and Harden again in Brooklyn, but the fit just wasn’t there. That was even more true in Phoenix, where the Suns built the entire team out of jump shooters.
Durant is hoping to one day end his career with the Rockets, though he admitted that he once said the same thing about the Suns. There’s a chance that this time it could stick, though, as Houston is young, deep and tough defensively. The Rockets were already good, finishing second in the West last year. The hope is that the addition of Durant makes them great.
Durant has shown he’ll fill whatever role a team needs, and with the Rockets losing point guard Fred VanVleet to a torn ACL last month, he may need to change his game once again.
