"All 4 had the big guy at the top, Steph, LeBron, Kobe and Duncan" - Colin Cowherd believes Kevin Durant has to become a leader to win a ring with his own team
Unfairly or not, Kevin Durant’s legacy has been questioned because of his poor playoff record outside of the Golden State Warriors.
Durant left the OKC Thunder in 2016 to join forces with a Warriors team that went to the NBA Finals in back-to-back years. After years of failure, he promptly won two straight titles playing with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green at Golden State.
Moving to the East to form a super team with Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets hasn’t gone as planned for Durant.
On his podcast, Colin Cowherd pointed out that Durant must develop into a leader in order to carry his team to success.
"Since the turn of the millennium, look at our four dynasties. Warriors, Miami Heatles, Lakers with Kobe, Spurs with Duncan. All four had the big guy at the top: Steph, LeBron, Kobe and Duncan.
"All four were totally unique personalities, totally unique games, but all four were leaders in their own way. That’s what KD has to graduate to."
Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are all generational talents and the leaders of their respective championship teams.
The standards they set for their teammates was partly the reason for the dominance of their respective teams.
Tim Duncan never had a losing season in 18 seasons went to the playoffs every year he was in the league and won 5 Championships in a league with Kobe and Shaq in it . https://t.co/HKHPcRJTlZ
Cowherd believes Durant’s basketball abilities should be on par with his leadership skills for him to be described as a legend of the game,
"I don’t wanna hear about this, 'I’m just a baller.' You’re too great of a player to just be a baller! And it’s not just about ball with you because if it was, Golden State was perfect."
Kevin Durant’s ability to lead the Nets was questioned by several basketball analysts during the Kyrie Irving fiasco last season. They asserted that Durant could have held the Brooklyn Nets point guard accountable for his shortcomings.
Irving’s absence badly affected the team’s chemistry, and this was glaringly exposed in the Boston Celtics’ beatdown of the Nets in the playoffs.
.@stephenasmith isn’t here for the Steve Nash slander for the Nets’ season.
“I don’t want to hear about Steve Nash. When you’re talking about Steve Nash, I want to hear about Sean Marks ... Kevin Durant ... and Kyrie Irving. ... I don’t hold [Steve Nash] accountable at all.” https://t.co/agH1zDYV8m
Kevin Durant will need more from his supporting cast to carry his team to an NBA title
While Durant's leadership skills clearly need to improve, the “Slim Reaper” will also need more from Kyrie Irving, if he stays, and Ben Simmons next season.
Simmons hasn’t played in over a year, and it remains to be seen how he can contribute to the Nets’ cause.
Ben Simmons has a defensive DRIP (our projection of his contribution to the team’s +/- per 100 poss. on defense) of 1.4, which leads the @BrooklynNets and ranks 20th in the #NBA.
@OptaAnalystUS explores the on-court impact of every major deadline deal.
theanalyst.com/na/2022/02/jam…
When engaged, Simmons is a valuable piece with his size, playmaking and elite defense. The Australian would have been the ideal player to guard Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum, who gave Brooklyn a ton of problems in the playoffs.
Simmons’ mental issues, however, could prove to be a stumbling block. Who knows how he’ll react to playing in front of a hostile road crowd? If his confidence is shot, Kevin Durant will have more problems on his hands.
Brooklyn has a 27-17 record in three years with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving together. Forty-four games may be all they end up playing if Irving and the Nets can’t reach a middle ground in their contract talks.
Duos that have played more games together than Durant and Kyrie:
45 - Dirk and Rondo
47 - Hakeem and Vince
48 - Rasheed and Iverson
48 - Nash and Kobe
53 - LeBron and Shaq https://t.co/IzKKce6YQY