Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets has been one of the NBA’s best players for well over a decade.
For a brief period, he even challenged LeBron James for the title of ‘Best Player in the World’.
KD has the height of a traditional power forward or center but possesses the skills and shooting ability of an elite guard.
This incredible blend of size and skill has made Durant debatably the most skilled offensive player of all time.
He has two seasons averaging greater than 30 PPG and has a chance to make it three this season (currently sits at 29.5 PPG).
Durant has also never averaged fewer than 20 PPG.
If you extend that limit to 25 PPG, Durant has only failed to top it once – his rookie season when he averaged 20.3 PPG.
While he was never able to win a title in Oklahoma City, he did win two with Golden State.
We will get to his lengthy list of accolades later, but Durant is an absolute lock for the Hall of Fame.
Outside of James, no current player has a more sure-fire case for the HOF than KD.
Durant Possibly the Greatest Scorer Ever
The NBA has seen some incredibly talented scorers in its history.
George “The Iceman” Gervin, Larry Bird, Elgin Baylor, Allen Iverson – all players who were nearly impossible to stop.
One could make the argument Durant is better on offense than those four players – or anybody else for that matter.
Kevin Durant:
Youngest player in NBA history to win an NBA scoring title
(at 21 years old).Youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club.
2nd youngest player in NBA History to record 10,000 career points.
(at 24 years old)
#EasyMoney pic.twitter.com/LH9QTt8hPx— Kevin Durant Superfans (@35Durant_fans) June 28, 2019
KD has been a walking bucket since entering the league in 2007.
He averaged 20.3 PPG his rookie season, becoming the third teenager to ever average 20+ PPG in the NBA (two others have since joined the list).
‘The Slim Reaper’ would win his first scoring title two years later, which began a 5-year stretch that saw Durant win 4 scoring titles.
After shooting only 29% from three his rookie year, he has never shot below 35% from deep since.
For all intents and purposes, Durant is unguardable.
If you put a small defender on him, his release allows him to shoot overtop.
If you put a bigger defender on him, he will simply drive around him and get to the basket.
He and teammate James Harden are the only two players in NBA history to average 25+ PPG on 60% True Shooting or greater.
Durant is consistently among the league’s elite in terms of counting and advanced stats.
And joining the Golden State Warriors proved he is just as dominant and efficient working within a system than as a standalone star.
He also hit one of the more memorable shots in NBA Final’s history.
Kevin Durant gives the Warriors the lead with the pull up 3. pic.twitter.com/pno31nDA6C
— RealGM (@RealGM) June 8, 2017
Accolades on Accolades
‘The Durantula’ has the accolades and awards to prop up the counting stats.
Putting up numbers will always get players into Hall of Fame discussions, but titles and MVP’s solidify those cases.
Here is a list of Durant’s accomplishments to go along with his career averages of 27.1 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 4.1 APG, 1.1 SPG, and 1.1 BPG:
- 2x NBA Championships
- 2x NBA Finals MVPs
- 1x NBA MVP
- 10x NBA All-Star
- 2x NBA All-Star Game MVP
- ROY
- 6x All-NBA 1st Team
- 3x All-NBA 2nd Team
KD’s trophy case is definitely running out of room.
What these accolades prove is that Durant’s individual success has driven team success.
His teams have made the playoffs 9 of his 12 seasons, and the Nets seem primed to make that 10 of 13 this year.
And Durant has never shrunk on the big stage.
He consistently elevates his game in the postseason and never shies away from the big shot.
Between the incredible offensive talent, individual accolades, and team success, Durant is an absolute lock for the Hall of Fame one day.
Let’s just hope that his Hall of Fame speech is even half as good as his MVP speech.
"You the real MVP."
On This Date: In 2014, Kevin Durant's iconic MVP speech brought the room to tears 🙏 pic.twitter.com/zkVeKKOhrV
— ESPN (@espn) May 6, 2019
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