The Suns have a big challenge ahead of them facing the Timberwolves in the first round, but Stephen A. Smith thinks there is far more on the line for Kevin Durant than anyone else.
“Well, if we’re going to talk about legacy with LeBron James, how come we can’t talk about legacy with Kevin Durant?,” Smith said on First Take. “I think that Kevin Durant is a natural-born professional scorer. He’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen in NBA history.
“He’s got two championships; he’s got two NBA Finals MVPs. But that was playing with the Splash Brothers – the most elite shooting backcourt the game of basketball has ever seen. Now, they needed him to win, because they would not have won without him. And, despite the greatness of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant was still unquestionably the best player on the Golden State Warriors.”
Smith believes that Durant and the Suns must succeed these playoffs to keep KD’s legacy intact.
“In the end, here’s what it comes down to…he hasn’t been out of the second round since he departed from Golden State. He never won a title before he arrived,” Smith said. “When he departed Oklahoma City to go to Golden State, it was after they were up 3-1, and gave up a 3-1 lead, lost to the Golden State Warriors in that season that they won 73 games and ultimately lost to LeBron James in the NBA Finals.
“And three weeks later or so, this man is a member of the team that came back from a 3-1 deficit and beat him – which obviously created a lot of criticism aimed in his direction, led by me. Unapologetically so, I might add.”
Smith summed up his point by saying, “”If you get bounced out, how are we to look at him? It’s not going to be in a good light. Because what have you done since you departed from Steph Curry?”
To Smith’s point, Durant hasn’t achieved a hell of a lot since leaving Steph Curry and the Warriors.
This series against the Timberwolves is his time to prove he can get it done.
It won’t be easy though, since the Wolves have the best-ranked defense in the league and feature a stacked lineup of Anthony Edwards, Karl Anthony-Towns and Rudy Gobert.
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