Kevin Durant Stats: 5 incredible records set by the Slim Reaper
Kevin Durant is in line to be one of the top 5 greatest players of all time. He definitely has the talent to do it, on top of being a physical specimen the likes of which has never been seen before in the NBA. He's essentially a 7-foot tall player with guard-like skills and limitless range who can score on you in just about any manner you can envision - ankle-breaking crossovers, transition dunks, 30-foot 3-pointers, posting up, fading away - these are all bread and butter shots.
One could make the argument with a straight face and no malice intended that Durant is indeed the least-appreciated players of this era. Much of that has to do with the decision he took in the summer of 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors as a free agent, obviously - a decision that has forever scarred his legacy in the eyes of some people.
Those people, though, aren't fit to lace the boots of someone who's averaged north of 30 points per game over the last two NBA Finals, and is better on both ends of the floor than he's ever been in his career. Indeed, his raw stats look as much like statlines belonging to LeBron James as anyone else in basketball history, and King James has been thought to be a worthy successor to His Airness as maybe the greatest player in basketball.
Durant is still under 30 years old - smack in the middle of his athletic prime. There's only so much haters can put him down for once he's got more championships than LeBron - a possibility that looks all too likely given the kind of form he's in now. The following are 5 records he's set that make him one tough act to follow:
#1 Only player to score 25 or more points in 41 straight games this century
When Russell Westbrook went down with a torn meniscus in the middle of the 2013-14 regular season, the burden of carrying the team to the playoffs fell to KD. While Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb were good NBA players at the time, the Western Conference playoff picture was a really tough fight to get through.
It was Durant's scoring that pushed the Thunder to a 59-23 record and the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs. He won the MVP trophy ahead of LeBron for his best statistical season that year, and notching 25 points or more in 41 straight games was a big part of the reason why.
KD's averages of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game on 50.3% shooting from the field, 39.1% shooting from downtown on 6.1 attempts per game and 87.3% free throw shooting while playing stellar defense made it amply clear that he was still the Thunder's best and most important player despite Westbrook's emergence as a superstar, and this notion was only driven further when they failed to make the playoffs the next season with him ruled out by injury.