I will not say that people have to like him. That’s up to everybody to decide for themselves. But I‘m not sure fans are appreciating enough that a player like Durant is in this league. For Curry or Lebron, I often hear the notion: „we should enjoy and embrace these guys as long as they are still in the league and we get to see them play!“ I rarely hear that about Kevin Durant.

KD is doing it since day 1. Since he came into the league in the late 2000s, he is a dominant player in this league, and he never had a subpar individual season when he was healthy & ready to compete. To tore his achilles and other devastating injuries never stopped him. Always came back to his top-level at the moment he was healthy again. Not even age has slowed him down at this point.

The thing for which I respect Durant the most is that you can sense his love for Basketball. He is not just there to grab the money and to just do his job, he genuinely likes playing Basketball day in, day out. That guy is a hooper. I think that’s also one of the factors for his longevity, the love for the game.

And he always played for his country at the Olympics, never skipping it like other star players do (by the way, Steph Curry for example, whom I also like, hasn’t played at the Olympics to this day). For KD, Team USA was always a no brainer. I respect him for that. Not many are like that.

Anyway, just felt the urge to say something positive about Kevin Durant lol. I hope he will be around for a couple more years, and injury-free.

  • ChipperWP@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’ve thought about making a version of this post. I’ve been watching the NBA for 30 years, and Durant is probably the most perfect basketball player I’ve seen since Jordan. Not only that, he truly loves basketball - like, lives and breathes it

    For some reason people don’t say ‘we’ll never see another KD again’, but I suspect he might truly be one of a kind. I think he’ll become more appreciated after he retires

  • DistributionNo9968@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Yes, he gets (and deserves) tons of appreciation.

    Everyone agrees that KD is a legend, the people that dislike him do so because they find him annoying, not because they deny his remarkable on-court prowess.

  • BrandinPodziemski@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    It’s just salt. KD committed the ultimate sin by destroying lebrons chances at ever being seen as the unanimous goat. Years later people are still salty about this or will even actively cheer on his injuries or bad plays

    • Pretend-Square8686@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      You’re completely biased as a warriors fan. Real cousins know prime LeBron would body Jordan with size and height. LeBron is the all time scoring leader. Since everybody loves looking at rings, lebron winning that series against the warriors would say nothing to that crowd since lebron would still be one short.

      Lebron has way better longevity.

      Notice how kd doesn’t really play a pivotal role in any of this, the warriors could’ve won that year without kd. That’s why kd isn’t seen in the same way.

      Loyalty plays a big role in legacy. LeBron went back to Cleveland to get them a ring and he did without a super team of the same caliber of those warriors. Kd tried to emulate that with multiple teams but has always failed because he is not that guy that can organize the team around him for success. He’s just talent that organizations have to plan around themselves. He isn’t a Le GM.

    • ThirdEyeKaiii@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      It’s just salt. KD committed the ultimate sin by destroying lebrons chances at ever being seen as the consensus goat

      This

  • LoveIslandFansRawk@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I have KD ahead of Kobe on the GOAT list… I think I have KD at #12 and Kobe at #13. I love watching KD, he’s killing it still. I love listening to him talk about hoops, he’s maybe the most insightful player to listen to breakdown the game

  • ThirdEyeKaiii@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    He’s not appreciated by casuals (i.e most of this sub) but I dont think that matters. He’s heavily influenced a large amount of the new generation of great players coming into the league, that counts for way more than the approval of random kids and neckbeards on social media.