We Finally Get To See If Kevin Durant Can Win Without Being Surrounded By MVPs

The Brooklyn Nets were supposed to cruise through the playoffs but after losing both James Harden and Kyrie Irving to leg injuries, the Nets are tied 2-2 with the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, it’s suddenly Kevin Durant vs. Everybody.

Brooklyn went up 2-0 after historic offensive nights but then they traveled to Milwaukee for Game 3 and took a surprising L. Their absurd shooting numbers returned to the median and their Durant stopper, PJ Tucker, got his swag back.

PJ Tucker and the Bucks defense held Durant to 20-for-53 shooting (37%) from the field in their back-to-back wins to even the series.

It’s interesting that Kevin Durant has always been labeled as this ‘unguardable’ figure when PJ Tucker—a player 6 inches shorter than him—can put that man in a torture chamber like this. Yes, Tucker is fouling the shit out of him but the best players in the world use their opponents’ aggressiveness to get to the free throw line while Durant is only averaging 6 free throws a game during this series.

It’s almost as if Durant is only unguardable when he’s playing next to future Hall of Famers.

Whether he was in Oklahoma City playing with Russell Westbrook and James Harden or in Golden State with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and now in Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving and James Harden once more, Durant has ALWAYS had the greatest teammates ever.

Now, I don’t want this article to come off as if I hate super teams or like I’m shitting on Durant for joining these teams. We can’t mock players for never winning titles while simultaneously invalidating their title wins via the silliest complaints and dissecting how good their teammates are/are not.

If I was one of the greatest basketball players in the league and I simply wanted to win championships with my buddies while making the most amount of money possible then I’d do the same thing.

How can you look at the current NBA media landscape of nonsense debate culture and care about your ‘legacy’? Who cares what Max Kellerman or Kendrick Perkins or StephGoat2004 has to say about your place in NBA history?

That being said, it is going to be fascinating to watch Kevin Durant vs. Giannis. 2 of the 3 best players left in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Is Kevin Durant really this unstoppable killer that he is depicted as when he’s playing alongside Landry Shamet instead of Kyrie or Klay.

This is why I still believe Kawhi Leonard is the best player in the NBA. People say that Dirk Nowitzki is the last great player to carry a team on his back and win without being surrounded by All-Stars but Kawhi did that in Toronto.

Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan were LOSERS in Toronto. They got Dwane Casey—the Coach of the Year—fired because they could not make shots in the playoffs. Now Lowry is perceived as this great savvy veteran who is clutch thanks to Kawhi winning him a title.

I can never say that Durant is better than Kawhi when I’ve never once seen Durant play basketball when there aren’t other Hall of Famers next to him. If KD can lead Joe Harris and the ghost of Blake Griffin to the Eastern Conference Finals over Giannis and the Bucks then all Durant slander must be muted.

Until that inevitably occurs (Nets in 6), it’s Kawhi 1 and everyone else below him.