Pre-2020-21 Rank: #2, Pre-2020-21 Rank: #2, Pre-2021-22 Rank: #2, Pre-2022-23 Rank: #2, Pre-2023-24 Season Rank: #2
When we started this project in 2020, Kevin Durant was ranked #2 behind only LeBron James.
It felt right (and it still might be where KD should be). Establishing himself as a superstar with Oklahoma City, where he took them to the Finals in 2012, Durant grew frustrated as the small market team looked to miss their window to win it all. He joined Steph Curry and Golden State, where he won two championships.
Following a devastating injury, Durant was expected to lead a new big three (with James Harden & Kyrie Irving) in Brooklyn, but that resulted in a documentary-level implosion, with all three forcing trades out. KD’s landing spot was Phoenix, but Durant’s team crumbled around him like in Brooklyn.
Durant, who made history Internationally as the highest scorer ever in Olympic history, is already a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and nothing will change that. However, his legacy has taken a beating and is more complex by the year, and as such, he drops to #3 behind his former teammate, Steph Curry.