Where did you rank Kevin Durant at his highest and where do you have him now?

[Nowoco]

Nick Wright made a good point the other day when he said that 5-6 years ago, there was lots of talk of KD being top 10 all-time with some prominent analysts putting him in there.

Now he was saying that it's a struggle to get him in the top 20. I have to say I agree.

Where DID you rank him and where DO you rank him now? Has it changed?

[GimmeThat]

I think the league (G-League included) tends to expand before his playing time take a considerable drop

[FultzNationRISE]

I was never as high on him as other people.

I just dont value one dimensional scorers THAT highly, no matter how talented. I mean I think they can have a lot of value, but I dont just look at scoring as the singular measure of a player’s impact the way a lot of fans do.

KD was never above average as a playmaker, rebounder, defender, leader, or really anything but a jump shooter.

And thats not to say hes not a great player who brought alot of value to his teams in his prime. His shot making is valuable. Im saying that compared to other fans I never saw him as really anything close to becoming “top 10 all time.” But I also didnt give a shit how many mvps or championships he was gonna win or whatever, which a lot of people assumed he would and that affects how they rank him. I rank people based on how I see them, not irrelevant criteria based on the players circumstance.

Its called abstract thinking. Considering a concept when you dont have concrete instructions and formulae. Deciding how to analyze it through a fluid cloud of factors, not just desperately searching for an “a + b = c” formula that society or some authority told you is how to do it.

But I think most peoples brains arent actually wired to do that. I always used to think it was a choice people made for some strange reason. But I actually think the opposite now.

[SouBeachTalents]

KD was never considered a top 10 player. Nick Wright is talking completely out his ass on this one

[GimmeThat]

Its called abstract thinking. Considering a concept when you dont have concrete instructions and formulae. Deciding how to analyze it through a fluid cloud of factors, not just desperately searching for an “a + b = c” formula that society or some authority told you is how to do it.

even if you did a Venn Diagram, you'd still arrive at an a + b = c conclusion

[j3lademaster]

I have him ~top 15. 27 ppg on 50/39/88 for his career is absolutely incredible. If he had 2 fmvp’s with literally any other team he’d be top 10.

[Carbine]

Durant was absolutely an above average defender in his peak. That is without question. Especially in today's league of switching. It's just hating or blatant turning a blind eye to the obvious if you think he wasn't.

There were plenty of nights he was the most impactful defender on the Warriors team.

[Jasper]

Nick Wright made a good point the other day when he said that 5-6 years ago, there was lots of talk of KD being top 10 all-time with some prominent analysts putting him in there.

Now he was saying that it's a struggle to get him in the top 20. I have to say I agree.

Where DID you rank him and where DO you rank him now? Has it changed?

speculation -- I would have him in my top35 (should of stayed with Wars)

[ArbitraryWater]

Hes kinda right.

Even myself, around 2019 or 2021, Id prob have considered him for top 15.

Now I got him at the back end of the top 25 tbh.

[red1]

scrawny bitch


not a fan of durscrawny bandwagoning ass

[ImKobe]

KD was never considered a top 10 player. Nick Wright is talking completely out his ass on this one

Yes he was, I remember that quite well after 2018. With Steph winning his 4th and Jokic winning his title last year tho he's arguably been passed by both, or at least people are already projecting Jokic ahead of him which is fair at the moment.

[1987_Lakers]

Yes he was, I remember that quite well after 2018. With Steph winning his 4th and Jokic winning his title last year tho he's arguably been passed by both, or at least people are already projecting Jokic ahead of him which is fair at the moment.

I've never seen anyone have KD as a top 10 player of all time.

ISH had him at #17 in 2021.

Realgm had him at #22 in 2020 & 2023.

[ImKobe]

I've never seen anyone have KD as a top 10 player of all time.

ISH had him at #17 in 2021.

Realgm had him at #22 in 2020 & 2023.

That's what, a combined 40 people on message boards? There was top 10 all-time talk with KD or at least people projecting him to finish in that range. Most of ISH hates KD (salty Bron stans) and he still placed 17th in a poll which tells you that he was indeed ranked/projected close or in that top 10 range at one point in time. Obviously he had the achilles injury which ruined the 3-Peat run but there definitely was top 10 talk in 2018/19 before that happened.

[1987_Lakers]

That's what, a combined 40 people on message boards? There was top 10 all-time talk with KD or at least people projecting him to finish in that range. Most of ISH hates KD (salty Bron stans) and he still placed 17th in a poll which tells you that he was indeed ranked/projected close or in that top 10 range at one point in time. Obviously he had the achilles injury which ruined the 3-Peat run but there definitely was top 10 talk in 2018/19 before that happened.

https://theathletic.com/3137873/2022...lenny-wilkens/
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...check-our-list

Still can't find anything having him in the top 10.

[ImKobe]

https://youtu.be/RK_OxG7UpM8

Gottlieb and Cowherd talking about Durant being a potential top 10 all-time player in 2019, ESPN had him like 14th all-time that year and they've always been biased against him.

There definitely was potential top 10 talk at the time. A lot of that on reddit, some on radio etc and from different sites that I came across at the time. Obviously KD gets more mixed reactions from people now as there's Lebron fans who hate him for joining GS and now the GS fans hate him as well for leaving. You can't deny that when he was in GS and they were for going for their 3rd that people started to rank him up there because of the trajectory he was on and how dominant he was in those 2 Finals. There was talk of him potentially passing Larry Bird as the #2 SF ever.

I'm saying the hype definitely was there prior to his achilles injury and prior to him leaving GS. Now yeah I don't think it's particularly close, but when he won B2B Finals MVPs over Steph with Steph having just 1 himself at the time? He was inching toward that 10 spot.