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Kevin Durant Longhorn Legend

Patrick Bateman

By Patrick Bateman
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Became the all-time leading scorer (among both men and women) against Brazil today   

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aggie08

aggie08 21491

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17 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

warriors W/L since Durant left: 136-142

119-73 and an NBA Championship in that span and when Steph plays. Works out to about a 51 win team, which checks out. All-time great team with Steph and KD, just a perennial contender with Steph.

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shadow_operative

shadow_operative 15932

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8 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

119-73 and an NBA Championship in that span and when Steph plays. Works out to about a 51 win team, which checks out. All-time great team with Steph and KD, just a perennial contender with Steph.

man i wish KD had never left. 4-5 titles for him at this point if he hangs around, yes? he and steph would probably both actively be in the "10 greatest players ever" conversation if that were the case.

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aggie08

aggie08 21491

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2 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

man i wish KD had never left. 4-5 titles for him at this point if he hangs around, yes? he and steph would probably both actively be in the "10 greatest players ever" conversation if that were the case.

He's had some pretty bad luck since leaving--some partially self-inflicted, some not--or he'd have another title as well. 

For comparison, the Nets won at a 52-win clip when KD played, despite Kyrie being Kyrie and KD/Kyrie/Harden playing a grand total of 16 games together.

If CP3 can stay upright (a big if), gotta think he gets back there this year or next.

 

 

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SilasCoade

SilasCoade 2622

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Of his 10 makes only one was at the rim. His other 9 buckets I don't think even touched the iron. This dude is unreal. Comes off a month rehabbing an injury and goes 10/15 on 14 jumpers. Just continues to be incredible on the offensive end and has picked up his defense in the last 5 years despite the injuries.

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Dutchrudder

Dutchrudder 11135

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On 2/16/2023 at 5:50 PM, ztejas said:

I've never seen anything like this. 

The highlight intro video at 2:55 was interesting. They only showed clips from his years in Brooklyn, nothing from OKC or GS.  The rest of that just looks like generic pep rally bullshit, and softball questions like "how are you going to mesh with Booker" or "what would it mean to win a championship here?"  

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hobbes2702

hobbes2702 13029

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47 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

Of his 10 makes only one was at the rim. His other 9 buckets I don't think even touched the iron. This dude is unreal. Comes off a month rehabbing an injury and goes 10/15 on 14 jumpers. Just continues to be incredible on the offensive end and has picked up his defense in the last 5 years despite the injuries.

His defense since the last few years at OKC has always been highly underrated. He’s a high level shot blocker despite not being a rim protector and his ability to keep guys from driving due to his length is high high level. 

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Mitch Cumsteen

Mitch Cumsteen 18547

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He looked really good last night. Then again, I can't recall a time when he didn't. Granted, the Hornets were in a race to the bottom before Lamelo blew out his ankle but still... Phoenix is going to be a problem.

Should be some really fun games down the stretch. They get Dallas for a KD/Kyrie reunion Sunday. They have two games against Denver, two against Sac, two against the Lakers (would be good TV if LBJ gets back), Golden State, Milwaukee, Philly and finish up the regular season against the Clippers. They are in 4th place right now, but only 3 games up on the 10th seed. There's going to be a lot of jockeying down the stretch and teams trying to get home court or avoid the play-in or just make the play-in. The end of the season should be a great ride in the west.

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ztejas

ztejas 43411

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1 hour ago, statsman said:

KD gets a mention here, for some kindness-

https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/nba/2023/3/8/23629542/greg-oden-butler-nba-ohio-state
 
Oden is a fan. 

Right before Oden joined Butler’s staff in 2022, he took his family to Miami on vacation. The Heat were playing the Nets, and Oden wanted to watch Kevin Durant, the player he’ll forever be tied to for surpassing as the no. 1 pick in ’07.

 

Oden never forgot how Durant, the no. 2 pick, responded in 2016 when asked on ESPN if he thought Oden was a bust. “Nonsense,” Durant said. “He didn’t get a chance. He was injured. … When he did play, he was a force. Protecting the paint.” It meant a lot to Oden to hear Durant dignify him in that way.

 

And, during halftime of the Heat-Nets game, Durant came over to chat with Oden. Oden pointed out Sabrina and Londyn, and Durant waved to them. Then, the two top picks embraced. The small gesture meant more to Oden than he had words for. “That was big time,” Oden says. “I’m a KD fan for life.”

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statsman

statsman 5453

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My mistake. I thought he was still playing the 36 mpg that he played in Brooklyn, which I think makes him, at age 34, more injury prone. I see Phoenix had him at 33 mpg. 
 
KD loves to play, lives to play. At his age, with his injury history, he needs to manage load, even if he doesn’t want to. 

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19068

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KD is awesome- he’s amazing- he’s a top 15 player of all time and his career has been great. 
I still think that this career is only about a 50th percentile outcome and there’s a world where with a little luck and better injury stuff for him (and his teammates) he has like 7 or 8 rings in his NBA career and is thought of as on par with Lebron and MJ as opposed to “merely” on par with guys like Steph and Kobe and Jerry West and the like. 

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19068

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Basically he probably should have 1 title with OKC and with Good injury luck. it would have been 3 with golden state and 1 with the Nets. 
Phoenix seems like a place he could win a couple of the cards fell right. 
I know his career wouldn’t have played out exactly how it did if he won one with OKC. 

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19068

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14 hours ago, statsman said:

That universe where he wins one in OKC is a universe where they trade Westbrook instead of Harden. One where the GM realizes how fundamentally the game was changing. 

I was screaming that from the mountaintops. Have always hated Russ. 
boy they could have gotten a lot more for him than they did Harden as well. 
Imagine a trade to the Hawks for like Al Horford, Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague. 
OKC could have trotted out this lineup in 2012/13:

Teague/Harden/Durant/Ibaka/Horford. 

Have a rotation of Nazr Muhammad, Korber, Deshuan Cook, Jeff Green and Reggie Jackson.  I mean- you probably ship back out Perkins in that deal and her even better that way. 
I feel like Atlanta would have jumped at this deal. 

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Horn Under a Bad Sign

Horn Under a Bad Sign 20392

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Popovich praises KD:

 

3. Popovich’s admiration for Durant runs deep

A reporter opened Popovich’s pregame media session asking him about his memories of playoff battles with the Durant-led Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I don’t remember any of those battles. I just remember him on the Olympic team,” Popovich said. “He was great. I love him. All the other battles don’t matter.”

Popovich goes out of his way to praise all of the Team USA players he coached to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, but he seems to have a particular fondness for Durant.

Over six games in Japan, Durant averaged 20.3 points and shot 52.9 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from 3-point range and 90.5 percent from the free-throw line. In the gold medal game against France, he pumped in 29 points.

“He’s the best,” Popovich said. “You can’t stop him. There’s no way that he can be stopped. Now, you can go double team him for 48 minutes, and he’s smart enough to give it up, but that usually doesn’t happen. Somebody might box-and-one him, but I haven’t seen it lately. I’ve gotta believe no matter what happens, between he and Monty and and Chris Paul and Book, they’ll figure out what they need to do. He’s just got everything with that size and able to get a shot wherever he wants it. He loves it.”

A big factor in Popovich having so much respect for Durant stems from the work ethic of the former Texas standout.

“Nobody knows how hard he works,” Popovich said. “Nobody knows what he does before and after practice, especially after practice. When we were with USA, we’d have a practice and then he’d go over under a bucket with one of the coaches and he might go for another 25, 35 minutes. Hard. With every one of his moves in the book. I mean, hard. From inside the bucket, to the post, to the 3-point line, coming off this movement and that movement. We were all in amazement just watching him.” 

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ztejas

ztejas 43411

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On 4/7/2023 at 7:22 AM, ztejas said:

Durant is officially over 55/40/90 splits with 2 games left to play. It would be the first such season in NBA history. 

Durant does it - he won't be playing PHO's final game. Joins Bird and Nash as the only 2 time 50/40/90 guys. Also finishes the season at 13th on the scoring list - 54 points back of Hakeem at 12th. Say he scores what he did this season next season - he would finish around Carmelo who's 9th all time .  

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statsman

statsman 5453

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KD article in The Ringer-

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2023/4/25/23696667/kevin-durant-phoenix-suns-basketball-nomad
 

When it comes to holding grudges, he is no Michael Jordan. I remember how he forgave Draymond (I don’t think Green ever really apologized) and they figured a way to blame it all on Kerr (it was Green’s fault). 
In the article, he defends Westbrook and says that he doesn’t really think Russ had a beef with him (Narrator: “Russ definitely had a beef with him”). 
 
I guess it’s to his credit that he just doesn’t want to go around pissed off at people. 

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17435

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43 minutes ago, statsman said:

KD article in The Ringer-

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2023/4/25/23696667/kevin-durant-phoenix-suns-basketball-nomad
 

When it comes to holding grudges, he is no Michael Jordan. I remember how he forgave Draymond (I don’t think Green ever really apologized) and they figured a way to blame it all on Kerr (it was Green’s fault). 
In the article, he defends Westbrook and says that he doesn’t really think Russ had a beef with him (Narrator: “Russ definitely had a beef with him”). 
 
I guess it’s to his credit that he just doesn’t want to go around pissed off at people. 

IMO he's saying the right things publically and still holds a grudge agaisnt all parties.

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19068

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14 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

i seriously doubt that KD wastes his time and energy being upset at russell westbrook over petty beefs that happened ages ago. are any of you guys still holding grudges over former coworkers you didn't get along with from 10 years and three jobs ago?

Yes. 
not in the sense that I ever sit around and think about them, but if you said the name to me of a couple of 3 people in my life in that situation I’d be like “man fuck that guy” even if I hadn’t thought about them for 7 years. 

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17435

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2 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Yes. 
not in the sense that I ever sit around and think about them, but if you said the name to me of a couple of 3 people in my life in that situation I’d be like “man fuck that guy” even if I hadn’t thought about them for 7 years. 

Yep.  Ditto.  There are definitely people I wouldn’t work for or with again.  

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Serak The Preparer

Serak The Preparer 3431

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11 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

i guess that was a poor question on my part, as none of us work in a profession like prow desafío al sports, where getting very angry and combative with your coworkers only to quickly move on and move forward is commonplace.

Don't presume too much. I work in prow desafío al consulting, and I think it's pretty comparable.

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17435

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I've said repeatedly the last five years that a healthy KD is the best player in the game.  And I'm not the only one, quite a few talking heads have.   I'm not sure that's the case anymore.  Incredible scorer, but he doesn't control the flow of a game like Lebron.  Not really an all around guy.  Peak KD is arguably the most unstoppable guy ever.  I think healthy KD is still easily top 8, just not top 3 anymore.  

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HamsterHookah

HamsterHookah 112

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Another data point for KD being on the Mount Rushmore:

Two basketball players have signed a lifetime deal with sneaker giant Nike: Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Now we can add a third—Phoenix Suns superstar and two-time NBA champ Kevin Durant has joined the club, according to NBA.com.

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ztejas

ztejas 43411

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4 hours ago, closetohumping said:

Not really an all around guy. 

I don't think he's the best player in the league but he's been very good to elite on D this playoffs. He's been better on D than O in this Nuggets series so far. 

Unlike peak LeBron he can't be the best player on both ends of the floor for 40+ minutes a night every game in the playoffs (anymore at least) - but outside of Curry and Jokic he's still consistently as good as anyone right now. 

Series ain't over - he may have some stuff in the bag still. 

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