During the past week, ESPN has been releasing lists for the greatest players in NBA history at specific positions. Each category was narrowed down to a top ten of all time and as you might expect, the debates ensued. Regarding the small forward position, Lebron James was ranked #1 which is no surprise, followed by Larry Bird and other greats. Kevin Durant was ranked #4 which is outstanding considering he still has another 7-8 years to play but in his own humble mind, KD doesn’t think he belongs on any list like that just yet.
@IamJoeSports
Durant was ranked ahead of guys like Scottie Pippen, Rick Barry, James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins. All of those guys are in the hall of fame and maybe that’s why he feels the way he does but his take was certainly interesting.
“I’ve always been a firm believer in waiting until guy’s careers are over, but a lot of people nowadays get caught up in the moment, get caught up in what have you done for me lately and forget about the great players,” Durant said Friday of his rank. “I’m not downplaying myself, because I feel like I’m as good as any small forward that’s played, but at this point in my career I don’t think I should be on that list.”
That quote from KD is 100% correct. The media and fans ALWAYS get caught up with the now and what have you done for me lately way of thinking.
Now in my personal opinion, KD is exactly where he should be on that list. Players like Pippen & Worthy while great in their own right, couldn’t hold a candle to what Durant can do overall, especially on the offensive end. Now if you want to argue about the defensive side, I can see people going with Pippen but Durant still has time to make that part of his game better as well.
All Durant is missing from his resume now is a championship or two and if he can make that happen then he will be even higher on the all time list once he is done playing.
Click HERE to see the entire top ten list.
