preface
In the real and cruel world of the NBA, whether an athlete can bring more value to the team and even to the NBA is the main criterion for measuring whether the athlete can continue to be a top superstar, and Durant was once such a superstar, he could have achieved fame, he is a top sports player, he has also had unlimited scenery, but many changes have finally made him discouraged.
Offensive genius Durant
23-year-old Durant, once as the team boss to the Finals, won the scoring king of the whole season, but also ranked second in the MVP ticket price, has become the top star in the NBA, then Durant can be described as a breeze, and then he once again led the Thunder, in the Western Conference Finals with a 3:1 lead over the Warriors, his desire for the championship is urgent, but also made him at the peak of his time, played a super personal performance, but in the championship road in various defeats, In the end, the flame in his heart was extinguished.
In 2007, the Seattle Supersonics selected Keve Durant, an offensive genius, although at that time the Supersonics ranked at the bottom of the West with a record of 22:60, but in this team, there was a future star, after the second season, the Supersonics moved to The Russian City, and the team name became known as the Thunder, this year Durant began to fully adapt to the NBA intensity, his shooting rate increased from 60% to 67%, and his three-point shooting rate soared from 28% to 42%. The true shooting rate has increased from 51.9% to 57.7%, and under the improvement of high efficiency, he has also taken into account the substantial improvement of the production volume.
This year, although he had a high-ranking little brother around him, and at that time, Wei Shao, was still a rookie who was extremely struggling on the offensive end, at this time the Thunder was still a lottery team, and its record was only ranked third from the bottom in the West, until the 09~10 season, Durant ushered in the show Harden and Ibaka, in this season, Durant's true shooting rate reached a terrifying 60% Durant, and thus crowned the scoring king, selected into the best team, became the league's top offensive hand, With the progress of teammates, the Thunder's record soared from 23 wins and 59 losses to 50 wins and 32 losses, ranking eighth in the West.
The king boom combination resounded throughout the NBA
Entering the playoffs, Durant's performance has been affirmed, he is second in the MVP vote, second only to James, who has stepped into the league's top stars, 10 to 11 seasons he with the confidence to reach the playoffs, continue to flourish, but in the playoffs although they eliminated the Nuggets and Grizzlies, but in the finals, when facing the Lone Ranger, they finally can only stop here, 11-12 seasons, the Thunder played 47 wins and 19 losses, In second place in the West, they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs.
But in the face of the Spurs who were in good shape that year, this doomed extraordinary showdown has also become the rise of Durant' history, in the case of losing two games first, 4 consecutive games to reach the Finals, and in the Finals, they challenged the big three that were in the heat at the time, and the final outcome was not unexpected, Durant did not stage a miracle in this game, but at the moment they are still a team that can afford to lose, Durant is still very young, he is only 23 years old, By this time he had twice finished second in the MVP, winning the top scorer for three consecutive years and being named to the All-Roms squad.
Teammate 23-year-old Westbrook has been selected for the best team for two years, Harden has also grown into the league's best 6th man, it can be said that after this finals, whether individually or in the team, the future of the Thunder is immeasurable, until the 12~13 season, Durant team has changed, Harley was sent to the Rockets, the Thunder three less became the combination of Dewett and Westbrook' king bomb, its power is still 10 points strong, they led the team to achieve the best record of 60 wins and 22 losses in the season, However, in the playoffs, there were surprises.
Finally discouraged
At the end of the first round of game 2, Wei Shao was knocked down in a confrontation process, which eventually led to the tearing of the meniscus of the right knee, which meant that the season was completely reimbursed, if it was only this one change, it was far from being able to completely let the Rockets eliminate the Thunder, but the road to winning the championship later has become very difficult, and without this trump card of Wei Shao, the Thunder's offense began to become very weak, so it can only rank second in the league in the end, after missing the MVP three times in 4 years as the second place in the vote, Durant eventually won his first MVP medal of his career.
However, Westbrook's comeback in the playoffs allowed the Thunder to start a new journey, and then in the 14-15 season, Durant's injury made its data decline significantly, and durant's injury also made the Thunder's competitiveness also begin to decline, the Thunder because of three consecutive years of injuries and affected the team's overall championship, so in the 15~16 season, whether it is individual or team, they can no longer use youth as a reason. They desperately need a championship to prove their prowess, but the situation is more complicated at the moment.
The Warriors have become a super team, they played the best record in history of 73 wins and 9 losses, the Thunder even the chances of rushing out of the West at this moment are 10 points slim, but also from this moment on, Durant and the Thunder began to drift apart, leaving only regrets and confrontations, after being won by the Warriors for three consecutive games, the Thunder once again fell in the journey to win the championship, in the 4 years of their careers, the first three years because of personal and teammate injuries and affected them could have reached the highest level, even in the last year, Being reversed in a good situation also took a blow to his back.
After joining the Warriors, things changed suddenly
So the 27-year-old Durant was disheartened, during the offseason, regardless of the opposition to the Thunder, defected to the Warriors who defeated themselves in the playoffs, and invested in the warriors' first season, the outside world can clearly see that Durant has changed a style of play, he does not need full firepower to win the game, and he no longer attacks because Robertson and Westbrook project deterrence, and face the opponent's unscrupulous attack, he enjoys the vast space that Curry and Thompson attract defense outside, and then open up. His receiving power reached a career-high 56%.
In the Warriors, Durant ushered in his real stage, facing the Cavaliers led by James, he riveted enough, in the offensive end of the unstoppable state, with a high 96.8% true shooting rate, to help the Warriors easily win the championship, won the first FMVP trophy in his career, but in the 18~19 season, Durant's career once again ushered in a reversal, Durant because of the injury did not fully recover the situation, in the Finals hasty comeback, After only 12 minutes, the game was affected by a rupture in the Achilles tendon, which eventually changed his career.
In 2019, the 30-year-old Durant has won two championships and fmvp, after switching to the Warriors, he finally matched the honor, he got the superstar achievement he deserved, and even last season, he was in a team with Curry and Green Cowris, so that the season had already seen the finale for fans at the beginning, and Durant was also considered the closest superstar to complete the FMVP triple at the time, and only Jordan and O'Neal completed this achievement before, Only the sudden injury broke the original plan, making Durant's career usher in a huge turning point.
brief summary
The age of 31, for a superstar, can be described as a golden age, which means that this player still has a long time to continue to show his sharp edge in his career, but for Durant, it is a watershed in his entire career, the injury of Achilles tendon rupture has cast a shadow on his career, throughout the history of the NBA, once the player encounters a rupture in the Achilles tendon, it means that in the future, if he wants to recover as before, it will be minimal. Although Durant, who has excellent ball-free ability, durant continues to maintain a star-level offensive output even if he is plagued by injuries.
But whether it can maintain the level of top superstars is still unknown, in many people are bragging that the alphabet brother will become James's successor, the strength to resist James is no longer Durant, when many fans are wantonly touting the power of the small card in the middle distance, but forget that in this regard, there was also a big Mac, he is Durant.