(Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports)
The heart and soul of the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise, Kevin Durant has had an amazing career, he’s believed to be one of the best scorers of all time by many analysts and fans alike. He is able to do nearly anything on the court and can share the spotlight with those like Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, etc. His stats prove he can compare to the all time greats, so the only question that remains is,
Where Does He Rank All-Time?
Let’s analyze his accolades as of 2016:
1 NBA MVP
7x NBA All-Star
NBA All-Star Game MVP(2012)
5x All-NBA First Team
NBA Rookie of the Year
4x NBA Scoring Champion
These accolades are extremely impressive, leaving him sitting among the greats with still many more years to come. He has all these and many more accolades related to his college career, high school career and his experience with the United States National Team.
He is a one time member of the 50-40-90 Club, an exclusive group of great NBA players that have done one of the most difficult things to do in the NBA, Averaging 50% from the floor, 40% from Three, and 90% from the Line. In fact, he has a chance of accomplishing this feat for a second time this season, Durant is averaging 28.1 Points Per Game, on 50.7% from the field, 39.6 from the Three and 89.4% from the line, insanely impressive stats for him this season, he might be getting his second entry into the 50-40-90 Club.
To prove that his appearance in the 50-40-90 club is impressive, Lets look at the other players that have appeared in this group. Hall of Famer Larry Bird, Former MVP and future Hall of Famer Steve Nash, Former MVP and Future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, and multiple time all stars, Reggie Miller and Mark Price as well as the 2015-2016 NbaStephen Curry
He has all these accolades and he is still young and I predict he will have nearly double these by the end of his career.
His Career averages are 27.3 Points Per Game, 6.9 Rebounds Per Game, 3.5 Assists Per Game, 1.2 Steals Per Game, and 1 Block Per Game. Just these stats themselves show that Durant can do just about anything on the court including score, defend, rebound and even pass a bit.
One downfall of his career that many analysts point out is his lack of NBA Championship Victories. In the western conference it is difficult to succeed as much as a team could in the eastern conference. But I don’t see him as completely to blame for the Thunders lack of success in the postseason, His playoff career averages are 28.9 Points Per Game, 8.2 Rebounds Per Game, and 3.8 Assists Per Game, on 46.2% from the field. Therefore, the people to blame for his lack of playoff success would for the most part be his teammates.
Could Kevin Durants year for a championship be 2016? The Thunder are 1-1 in their series with the Golden State Warriors. If Westbrook and Durant and the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder roster are able to work together I believe they will be able to take down the Giants of the NBA, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
For these reasons, his downfalls and his successes. I rank the heart and soul of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant at 37th on my all time list.
Do you agree? Tell me in the comments below where you have him ranked.
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