Kevin Durant is too good for the Phoenix Suns.
And the greatest basketball player in Olympic history is definitely too talented to be wasting the end of his career on a 28-33 team that is getting ‘embarrassed’ nightly.
GettyKevin Durant deserves better than a bad Suns team[/caption]
LeBron James was magically given Luka Doncic just before the NBA trade deadline.
Durant foolishly remained loyal to the Suns, and now he’s paying the price on the hardwood.
“We didn’t play up to our standards,” said Durant, after Anthony Edwards one-upped his aging hero with a 116-98 victory for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
“We embarrassed the fans and we embarrassed ourselves the way we played. I want us to be better.”
Kudos to the Slim Reaper for publicly acknowledging how bad the Suns have become.
But his last line isn’t helping anything.
Phoenix isn’t getting ‘better’ in 2024-25, especially when the overpriced Suns still can’t figure out what to do with Bradley Beal, who’s being paid $50 million to not do very much on the basketball court.
Doncic got lucky by getting out of Dallas just before the deadline.
Durant was too nice.
Too loyal, too low key, and too unwilling to cause some much-needed deadline chaos.
GettyDurant spent nine years with Oklahoma City and won the NBA MVP in 2013-14[/caption]
GettyLeBron James won another gold medal with Durant in the 2024 Summer Olympics[/caption]
That’s how Jimmy Butler waved bye-bye to Pat Riley – and ended up being sued for allegedly failing to pay $260,000 in Miami Beach rent and causing $127,000 in damages.
Durant easily could have gotten out of Phoenix if he’d made more professional noise at the deadline.
That’s exactly what Butler did, and now a talented-but-unpredictable athlete is teammates with Stephen Curry in Golden State.
Durant bounced from Oklahoma City to Golden State and Brooklyn as he became one of the greatest scorers in NBA history.
Yet a guaranteed first-ballot Hall of Famer with 30,206 career points and four Olympic gold medals strove for deadline peace in The Association, at the exact time he should have been using his well-earned voice.
Why snap back all the time on social media, if you’re not going to find a way off of the Suns?
Durant reportedly could have gone back to The Bay if he’d agreed to a trade to the Warriors, who are 32-28 and would have instantly been playoff dangerous with KD and Steph reunited.
Even odder was the fact that a 36-year-old superstar pledged his deadline allegiance to a team that is one offseason away from being broken up.
“I just didn’t want to get traded midway through the season,” Durant told ESPN.
“It was nothing against my time with the Warriors or, I heard, because I don’t like Draymond (Green). At the end of the day, I just didn’t want to move.
“I wanted to see it through with my team in Phoenix and see what we could do the rest of this season, so I’m glad I’m still there.”
Is he, though?
Two weeks after the deadline, the Suns are 11th in the Western Conference and barely better than a rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers team that also isn’t going anywhere.
“Forty points off turnovers, tough to overcome that,” Durant said on Sunday. “They (Minnesota) didn’t overpower us on the glass, we just gave them the ball.”
Only James tops Durant in career scoring among active players.
Before his career ends, KD could end up in fourth place all-time, eclipsing Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain.
It’s never been super smooth for Durant in the NBA, despite one of the greatest offensive skillsets the league has ever seen.
He left Oklahoma City for a dynasty, won two rings and Finals MVPs with the Warriors, then was hammered by fans and the media for taking the easy path by joining a dynasty.
A Brooklyn super-team depending on consistency from Kyrie Irving was a bad idea from the start, and Durant wasted three good post-Warriors years with the Nets.
Then he went to the Suns too late, joining the year after Phoenix went 64-18.
Everyone who knows basketball understands that Durant is one of the greatest players of all-time.
During an NBA era when superstars have more power than ever, Durant picked the wrong time to stay loyal to a loser.