-
Tim MacMahon
HIS INSTAGRAM HANDLE, @easymoneysniper, sums up the essence of Kevin Durant‘s scoring ability.
His teammates, even the fellow future Hall of Famers, have always been in awe of how uniquely smooth, simple and pure Durant makes getting buckets look. That has been the case from the time he broke into the league as a rail-thin teenager to now, when Durant continues to rank among the league’s most prolific, efficient scorers in the 18th season of his career.
“He’s that guy that you see almost like a monument in a science museum of just like, what does a great scorer look like?” former Brooklyn Nets and Team USA teammate Kyrie Irving told ESPN. “Seven feet, able to handle the ball, able to shoot over anybody, but also a fierce competitor.”
Durant had established himself as a historically elite scorer before he even hit his prime, winning four NBA scoring titles by the age of 25. Only Michael Jordan (10) and Wilt Chamberlain (7) have claimed more scoring crowns. Durant has racked up points with remarkable precision, joining Larry Bird and Steve Nash as the only players in NBA history with multiple 50/40/90 shooting-split seasons. And he hasn’t declined at age 36, averaging 27.1 points this season, which matches his career average that ranks sixth all time. It’s the 16th season that Durant has averaged at least 25 points, which is more than everyone in league history except for LeBron James (20).
Durant is approaching the 30,000-point milestone entering Friday’s game against the Golden State Warriors (10 p.m. ET on ESPN), just 94 points shy of becoming only the eighth member of that exclusive NBA club.
Ahead of Durant’s latest scoring milestone, several of his teammates over the years discussed the elements that make the 15-time All-Star one of the most unique, complete scorers ever to pick up a basketball.
Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder, 2007 to 2016: 17,566 points in 641 games (27.4 PPG)
Durant won Rookie of the Year during the SuperSonics’ final season in Seattle and emerged as the peach-fuzzed face of the franchise for the NBA’s most exciting young team soon after the move to Oklahoma City.
The Thunder drafted Russell Westbrook and James Harden early in the next two lotteries after selecting Durant with the No. 2 overall pick, giving Oklahoma City a nucleus of three future MVPs. Durant shined the brightest of the young stars, winning his first scoring title in his third season, when he averaged 30.1 points.
Durant claimed four scoring crowns in a five-year span — and joined the prestigious 50/40/90 club in the one season during that stretch that he didn’t lead the league in scoring. He won the 2013-14 MVP as a 25-year-old who averaged a career-best 32.0 points.
The Thunder seemed destined for multiple championships when Durant, at age 23, led Oklahoma City to the 2012 NBA Finals. Alas, the Thunder never made it back to that stage, as Sixth Man of the Year Harden was traded before the next season, and a combination of injuries and the Golden State dynasty kept getting in Oklahoma City’s way before Durant opted to leave in free agency in the summer of 2016.
Nick Collison (SuperSonics/Thunder, 2007 to 2016): “There were other guys that were changing the game, but it was more like bigs who could shoot and maybe put it on the floor a little bit in straight lines. He could really play on the perimeter and he’s 7 feet tall. That was what hit me right away. … He’s doing a move like a 6-foot-5 guy, but all of a sudden he’s at the rim and he’s barely jumping. He’s reaching out and dunking the ball. I just hadn’t seen it before. … To do it at 7 feet, no one had done it like that and very few guys have done it since.”
Jeff Green (SuperSonics/Thunder, 2007 to 2011; Nets, 2020-21): “It’s rare that you have seen a guy who is a legit 7-foot who can handle how he handles but also stop. He stops under control to get to a shot. You can’t block it. … I’ve never seen — in recent history, today’s game — a guy that tall with the handle that he has [and] that’s super smooth that can do what he does.”
James Harden (Thunder 2009 to 2012; Team USA, 2012; Nets, 2020 to 2022): “His change of pace, change of direction … he’ll get you leaning one way and once he crosses back over, he’s so tall that if you’re not on his hip, he’s shooting right over you or he’s getting to the basket. That right there automatically is just a different type of a handle for a 7-footer. You really don’t see that. I don’t see [another] guy at 7 feet that can shoot it fluidly like him and handle the rock and do the things he do.”
Kendrick Perkins (Thunder, 2011 to 2015): “KD’s post-up game — midpost [and] at the elbow — I think that’s what he’s mastered. He mastered that from having a lot of battles in the Western Conference against Dirk Nowitzki. Then you see him add so much to his game. Whether that’s the turnaround over both shoulders, whether that’s the one-legged fadeaway. I think adding that to his game helped him elevate in all other areas. Once he mastered that, eight out of 10 times it’s going in or he’s going to the foul line.”
Golden State Warriors, 2016 to 2019: 5,374 points in 208 games (25.8 PPG)
Durant felt the wrath of critics after deciding to leave a contender to join a Golden State core that had won a title and was coming off a record-setting 73-win regular season. But nobody can rip the results of his Bay Area tenure.
Durant’s scoring numbers dipped while sharing the ball with the Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but he was a dominant force for some all-time great teams. The Warriors went to the Finals in all three of Durant’s seasons with the franchise and won titles the first two years. Durant was the Finals MVP on both occasions, averaging 35.2 points in the 2017 five-game series victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and 28.8 points in the next season’s sweep of the rematch.
But Durant’s stint with the Warriors ended with disappointment following a season filled with turmoil fueled by speculation about his looming free agency. He missed a month during the playoffs due to a calf strain before returning for Game 5 of the Finals, when the Toronto Raptors had the Warriors on the brink of elimination. Durant ruptured an Achilles tendon during the second quarter, which ended up being his final moments in a Golden State uniform.
Nevertheless, it was a three-year run of historic greatness.
Stephen Curry (Warriors, 2016 to 2019; Team USA, 2024): “Pure talent and work ethic. I mean, it doesn’t happen by accident. He’s been blessed with a certain skill set with his height. You can’t really rush him. He can see over pretty much most defenders. And if there’s a taller guy on, he can use his counters and all that to get good looks. But you have to worry about all three levels, and he can put it on the floor, too. So it’s kind of pick your poison.”
Zaza Pachulia (Warriors, 2016 2018): “He could score anywhere — inside, outside. If you just look at his inside game, it was as good as anyone else, either post-up or attacking the rim. His outside shooting was as good as Steph — shooting over the people, shooting on the move.”
Klay Thompson (Warriors, 2016 to 2019; Team USA, 2016): “How many 7-footers can shoot the ball from that deep like him? Maybe Dirk, Wemby now. His ball skills and his shooting touch is what I’m so impressed with. I’ve seen him shoot over everybody. I think I get him from 3, but his midrange is the best I’ve ever seen.”
Draymond Green (Warriors, 2016 to 2019; Team USA, 2016, 2021): “I mean, there’s no bad shot for him. He’s 7-feet, dribbles the ball like a point guard, shoots the ball like shooting guards, dunks the ball like centers. … If you’re a little behind, he’s 7-feet so it don’t affect his shot. You have to be right on him in order to get a contest to where it affects him at all. And you can get that same contest and he still will make it.”
Curry: “It’s a combination of being a three-level scorer and the efficiency that he has had his whole career. I know we’re both kind of obsessed with the 50/40/90 pursuit — and he got it one year [in Golden State] — but the way he does it is totally different than the way I do it. Just the fact that he’s such a graceful, efficient scorer no matter what defense you really throw at him, to do it for that many years is really impressive. So there’s a reason people talk about him as the greatest legitimate scorer ever.”
Brooklyn Nets, 2019 to 2023: 3,744 points in 129 games (29.0 PPG)
Durant joined forces with his friend Irving in free agency — and eventually Harden again via a forced trade from the Houston Rockets — to form the NBA’s next superteam in Brooklyn. The possibilities were deemed well worth waiting a full season as Durant sat out the first year of his deal while recovering from an Achilles injury. But the Nets fizzled, as that trio played a total of only 16 games together before breaking up under the weight of drama and dysfunction.
But Brooklyn was so close to breaking through. How close? Maybe only a couple of inches away.
The most memorable singular moment from Durant’s Nets tenure — and arguably his career — was his toes-on-the-3-point-line turnaround jumper in the final seconds of regulation in Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals. Instead of hitting a game-winner to beat the Milwaukee Bucks, Durant sent the game into overtime. The Bucks, the eventual champions, prevailed. The Nets were eliminated despite Durant’s 48-point, 53-minute performance alongside a hobbled Harden (hamstring) and without Irving (ankle).
The Nets never won another playoff game. The rest of Durant’s time in Brooklyn was marred by controversy involving his co-stars, resulting in first Harden and then Irving getting their trade requests granted. Durant was the last of the trio out the door, as the Nets dealt him when it became apparent that a rebuild was necessary.
Harden: “He don’t care where you at. You could be a tall defender, shorter defender. Once he raises up, all he sees is that rim. It’s unbelievable.”
Royce O’Neale (Nets, 2022-23; Suns, 2024 to present): “He’s stronger than you think and he looks. He uses his body and his athleticism to shoot over you, to get to the elbows. His hesi pull, you might know it’s coming, but he’s still getting it off. It’s just all the hard work and routine for him and the craft that he puts in. Once he gets there, you better hope he misses, but it’s tough. You can’t block it. It’s a high-arching shot. I always say he’s the toughest player I’ve had to guard.”
Jeff Green: “Obviously he’s a volume shooter, but the efficiency of how he scores, it’s not like he’s going 6-for-25. He’s going a cool 13-for-19, 14-for-20. It’s not like people are making him miss. If he misses, it’s because he missed. And he makes a lot of tough shots.”
Kyrie Irving (Team USA 2016; Nets, 2019 to 2023): “He’s a scientist out there. He’s always hovering around 50/40/90. Man, he’s like an efficient machine when it comes to breaking down how he goes about scoring and doing it for so long.”
Spencer Dinwiddie (Nets, 2019 to 2021): “He’s just really good at, no matter where he is at on the floor, just kind of getting square up to the basket and then [shooting with a] high release point. And obviously you’re not going to block it. The balance, the rhythm and all that stuff, it’s just something you’ve never seen from a 7-footer before. KD’s just pure skill. He’s just smooth. We ain’t never seen nothing like it. We probably never will, to be honest.”
Phoenix Suns, 2023 to present: 3,222 points in 119 games (27.1 PPG)
Mat Ishbia made a massive splash in his first night as Suns owner, pulling off a blockbuster deal to pair Durant with perennial All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker. The cost was steep: a package that featured forwards Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, who were key members of the Suns’ 2021 Finals squad, along with four unprotected first-round picks and a swap.
Durant’s scoring brilliance has continued in the desert — “His longevity, it’s undeniable,” former Suns teammate Chris Paul said — but Phoenix’s ultra-aggressive front office has failed to construct a contender-caliber supporting cast around its star duo.
The Suns, who have been trying hard to turn their limited assets into another trade upgrade, are mired in play-in territory despite Durant not having slowed down as he nears another milestone.
Bradley Beal (Suns, 2023 to present): “People don’t really understand how good his feet are. Granted for his size, too, just his ability to be able to get by his defender with the first quick step, whether that’s with a jab or just a simple just catch and rip. … I think that’s probably what separates him from a lot of guys, is just that continuity of being able to constantly get to your spot without any resistance almost. … As a defender, you have to press up on him because [if] you sit off of him, he can just rise up over you. But the minute you press up on him, he’s really talented enough to get low, sweep through, jab you one way and you’re gone.”
O’Neale: “He knows exactly where he wants to get and what type of shots he wants to shoot. I think the fact that he’s unpredictable in a lot of it matters. You never know if he’s going to hit you with a pull-up, drive, fadeaway. He’s just got so many things that he can counteract with. That makes him so tough to guard — just his counterattacks versus you, the way he sees the game and the way he shoots the ball.”
Tyus Jones (Suns, 2024 to present): “Practice, games — he shoots at a high clip all the time. It’s very impressive and it’s motivating to be around that, to be around the greatness of that and to see his work ethic. He — knock on wood — rarely has an off night. He’s able to get to his spots, he scores at every level, different ways, going right, going left. So I would say the efficiency is just the most impressive. He’s not shooting a ton of shots to score a bunch of points.”
Mason Plumlee (Suns, 2024 to present): “It feels like he’s never forced a shot. The thing that kind of also made me think of that was I was watching him do a podcast with JJ [Redick], and JJ is like, ‘Why don’t one game you just shoot it every time? You can raise up over and just [shoot].’ He’s a pure basketball player, so he’s not going to take bad shots [although] he has every right to, and nobody would say anything to him if he wants to. So even his end-of-clock, tough shots against two guys, he makes ’em look fundamental. I mean, it’s amazing. Some guys that hit two, three shots in a row, they’re shooting the next one. The heat check will be just a disgusting shot. And Kev just takes good shots.”
Jones: “You put smaller guys on him, he shoots over the top of them. Put bigger guys on him, he’s going to make them dance. So it’s just a mismatch and he scores very, very effortlessly.”
Beal: “You try not to be a fanboy, but it’s amazing to see for sure.”
Devin Booker (Suns, 2022 to present; Team USA, 2021, 2024): “We’ve never seen it before. Everyone tries to emulate it, and we still haven’t seen it. So he’s just a one-of-a-kind type player and the greatest scorer to ever live.”
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Michael C. Wright and ESPN Research’s Matt Williams contributed to this report.