This is the 3rd in a series of six articles about the top NBA superstars who hope to dethrone King James as the best player on the planet over the next decade. Here are links to our two previous articles covering Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard.
A two-time NBA Finals MVP and NBA champion, Kevin Durant was another superstar whom, like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard, analysts believed had surpassed LeBron James to be the best player in the league.
Even though age and recent Achilles injury have taken some of the luster off his chances to dethrone James and become the best player of the 2020’s, the 6′ 10″, 240 lb 31-year old Durant cannot be discounted as a candidate. Before his injury during last year’s Finals, many experts considered Kevin to be the best player in the NBA after leading the Golden State Warriors to back-to-back championships over LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Now with his third team in twelve years, Kevin Durant has joined Kyrie Irving and a talented young Brooklyn Nets team that should be one of the favorites to challenge the Milwaukee Bucks as the best team in the East. Like Giannis and the Bucks and Kawhi and the Clippers, Kevin and the Nets will need to become a dominant team and win multiple NBA championships for him to have a chance to earn honors as the best player of the decade.
How KD recovers from his torn Achilles will determine whether he’ll be able to come back and be included in the conversation as to which superstar will assume the throne from LeBron and become the king for the next decade. The 31-year old, Durant will face an uphill battle not only to regain the transcendent ability he had before the injury but also to stay relevant and rule for an entire decade in the 2020’s as LeBron did during the 2010’s.
If Kevin can fully recover from his Achilles injury and with Kyrie turn the Brooklyn Nets into an NBA long-term dynasty, he could then beat the long odds and be able to replace LeBron as the NBA king of the next decade.
Like we discussed, age, injury, and championships are the key to winning honors as the best player for the next decade. For KD, that means two strikes due to age and injury, which is amazing considering just a year ago there was talk he had surpassed LeBron to become the best player on the planet.
Becoming the best player of the 2020’s decade, however, is a much more challenging accomplishment and I think KD probably has the least chance of the the three candidates we have discussed with Giannis still the favorite of the three because of age and lack of injuries while Kawhi and KD both are long shots specifically because of their age and injury history.