Before Kevin Durant produced a double-double against the Celtics, Jay Williams came in with a piping hot take about the GOAT conversation.
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Brooklyn are undoubtedly the team favored by most fans to come out of the Eastern Conference. They lived up to that billing with a come-from-behind win at the Barclays Center against Jayson Tatum and co.
However, Kevin Durant apparently has even loftier expectations to fulfil if we’re to go by Jay Williams’ words. The ESPN analyst remarked in the pre-game conversation that KD has a case as the GOAT.
“There’s a lot of talk about whether LeBron James will be the greatest player of all time and compete with Michael Jordan. If KD were to win a championship this year, win his 3rd Finals MVP, his name will start to inch towards that conversation.”
Jay Williams just said that Kevin Durant is going to enter the GOAT conversation if he wins the title. pic.twitter.com/b5JGoZbs2s
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) May 23, 2021
This is a heavily controversial take given the already crowded nature of that conversation. Durant definitely has the credentials to be mentioned in the same breath as the all-time greats.
There’s a good chunk of players who believe that Durant is already a top-10 player of all time. The question that remains is whether he can add more championships to his resume through the remainder of his career.
How did Kevin Durant perform against the Celtics tonight?
Kevin Durant was the best player on the floor and the lone reliable scorer all game long. He stepped up his urgency in demanding touches and wore the Celtics defense down with his mid-range game.
On a night when the Nets started off ice cold from range, they needed everything they got from KD. Boston went into the locker room with a 6-point lead at halftime.
The Nets quickly turned things around in the second half with their other players coming alive. Harden and Kyrie both finished with slightly more respectable shooting splits as the Nets ran out 104-93 winners.
His 39th career playoff double-double
His 63rd career playoff 30-point gameNets fans, this is @KDTrey5 📼 pic.twitter.com/rXBl7gRXon
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) May 23, 2021