Following Brooklyn's crushing defeat in round 1, Kevin Durant finds himself at the epicenter of media backlash. A year ago, he was hailed as the best player in basketball by many fans, but now his status among the elites is being questioned.
On 'The Herd,' one of basketball's most popular (and controversial) voices, Colin Cowherd, became the most recent high-profile person to speak out about the 2x Champion, and how he isn't nearly as good as a certain MVP in Milwaukee.
"We've spent a lot of time talking about KD this week. Giannis is better than KD has ever been. I hate to break it to you. KD was never the best player in this league. He was on the best team and was Finals MVP, I'm not disputing that. But he was never better than LeBron in his prime. I never think there's a year where he's been better than LeBron. Giannis is significantly better than LeBron today. Not close... KD was never better than LeBron. When KD gets a lot of attention -- he's calling himself god now, wonderful. But Giannis is a better player than Kevin Durant."
Kevin Durant has accomplished more in his career than most players even dream about. Over 13 years in the league, KD is a 12x All-Star, 4x Scoring Champ, 9x All-NBA player, 1x MVP, 2x Champion, and 2x Finals MVP. He's got career averages of 27.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game on 49.6% shooting.
Outside of Golden State, however, Durant has seen very little success. Aside from a FInals appearance in 2012, he has yet to lead a team on his own to a title.
In the words of Charles Barkley, he's never really been a "bus driver."
Compare his career to Antetokounmpo's so far (which includes beating Durant to lead his own team to a title last year), and it's clear why some believe the Bucks star has already overtaken him as the best in the world. It will be up to Durant to take that title back.
Until then, he'll just have to endure all the hate that comes his way as he watches the playoffs commence from his living room.
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