A lot of talk has been made about what Kevin Durant’s role was on the Suns this season after they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Immediately after the sweep, The Athletic’s Shams Charania released a story detailing some of the frustrations in the Suns’ locker room, including with Durant:
“Meanwhile, Durant, among the best scorers in NBA history, was not always happy with how he was used. Sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside Booker and Beal this season. Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to voice his concerns more adamantly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff.”
Suns general manager James Jones addressed this report at his end-of-season media availability yesterday.
“A constant focus for us is to continue to figure out how to maximize Kevin Durant,” Jones said. “No one’s done it yet. I believe we’d be the first team to do it. Because if we can maximize him, we can maximize our entire roster (and) we’re a better team. But that’s not an issue. I think Kevin had a phenomenal season this year offensively. I think there’s a stretch, he had some of the best stretches of his career this year. So it wasn’t an offensive thing, it wasn’t just a utilization or usage thing. It was just the totality of figuring out when and where and how to do it together. We just could not get on the same page. We ran out of time.
“I think if you ask Kevin, he’ll tell you, Kevin enjoys playing the game, we enjoy him playing the game. And when he’s playing at the highest level, he makes us a really, really good team and we’re damn near unbeatable. And you saw that at times this year. But like every great player what we may view as being like, awesome, Kevin thinks isn’t good enough. Because he wants to be great. That’s why he’s a Hall of Famer. And so the moment he becomes satisfied with the way he’s playing, I think that’ll be the moment he’ll tell you that it’s probably time to think about something differently.”
A lot of Golden State Warriors fans did not agree with these comments by Jones. Durant won two championships and back-to-back NBA Finals MVPs in his three seasons in Golden State playing alongside arguably the greatest team in NBA history.
The warriors maximized Kevin Durant to back to back finals MVPs on the greatest team in nba history
— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) May 2, 2024
James Jones literally had a front row seat to the 2017 Golden State Warriors and Kevin Durant https://t.co/2NtkFqlW87 pic.twitter.com/APqoiJdmSU
— Candlestick Will (@CandlestickWill) May 2, 2024
Durant played in 75 games this season, his most since his 2018-19 campaign with the Warriors.
Even at age 35 and five years removed from an Achilles tear, Durant still averaged the fifth-most points in the NBA at 27.1 per game on 52.3/41.3/85.6 shooting splits to go along with 6.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
“I don’t know why everyone else was surprised,” Jones said earlier this month of Durant. “You don’t become one of the all-time greats by watching basketball. You play it. And he’s a guy that spends every non-practice hour trying to figure out how he can be a better pro. And if you do that, if that’s your life, you get the results that you get. I’m not surprised he played 75 (games), I think he said the other day, like, if it weren’t for someone falling into his knee, he probably would have played this number of games. To be honest with you, if it wasn’t for us and him just being prudent, he’s the guy that would try to play 82 games, because he cherishes every moment on the court.”
“I don't know why everyone else was surprised … he's a guy that spends every non-practice hour trying to figure out how he can be a better pro”
“He’s the guy that would try to play 82 games”#Suns GM James Jones to our @brendan_mau on Kevin Durant playing 75 games at age 35 pic.twitter.com/lAD2jXG92D
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) April 16, 2024
Durant has the eighth-most points in NBA history and has proven that he can still play at a high level.
There is a lot of conversation about his legacy given that he has not made it past the second round since leaving the Warriors, but his greatness can’t be overlooked.
Stephen A. Smith’s bold take on the meaning of this year’s playoffs for Kevin Durant
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
