‘District 1 option! But as an ace or leader, 2% is not enough?’ These are basketball fans’ evaluations of ‘KD’ Kevin Durant (34‧208cm) recently. He is one of the current NBA players. Although he seems to be coming down little by little from his heyday, his sense of stability in offense and defense is not inferior at all compared to the ace swingmen of each team. He himself doesn’t seem to want to be pushed out of the top small forward position.
The icons of the present era include ‘King’ LeBron James (38‧206cm) and ‘Spicy Curry’ Stephen Curry (35‧188cm). Skills, career and even recognition… , Even in a situation where stars of various colors are constantly competing for each team, the two are considered special. Durant is a player who is not strange even if you compare them head-on.
Fans who give high marks for their skills, such as ‘a player who is as good as LeBron and Curry in terms of his peak skills’ and ‘a player who would be convincing even if he beat them and was selected as the first pick, assuming he came out with LeBron and Curry in the draft’ This is a lot. As mentioned earlier, he is a swingman with good balance in the air, but he is especially good at scoring. In addition to the nickname ‘scoring machine’, he also received rave reviews saying ‘one attack power is not envious of Jordan’.
LeBron, an all-around player with power, technique, and durability, and Curry, who changed the trend of an era with his three-point shot, are so amazing, but Durant’s uniqueness is also extraordinary. With a height of 208cm and a wingspan of 225cm, he deserves to be competitive enough to play as a big man. He may feel a bit disappointed in terms of his height, but since he is accompanied by a fraudulent wing fan, he is not particularly pushed in height compared to a decent power forward or center.
Compared to Domantas Sabonis (210cm) and Nicola Jokic (221cm), who are the best centers in the league, the dignity of the wingspan is felt more clearly. In addition to these good physical conditions, he runs and runs well based on his outstanding athletic ability. It is a rare case from the very beginning that such a player plays as a swingman, but his skills are also top-notch.
His playing style itself is simple. He mainly solves the game through shooting, such as strong penetration, mid-range, and three-point shots. He is not the type to play around with defenders while stirring the court with great ball handling and fighting with various fakes and techniques. But Durant is the technician everyone fears. Everyone knows what moves he usually uses and what weapons are powerful, but even if he attacks openly, it’s hard to block.
It repeats simple plays with its unique rhythm, but it scores points with a high success rate, so it is common for opponents to say ‘uhh…’ and then allow high scores in an instant. Sometimes it is hidden by the play of more colorful colleagues, but there are many cases when you look at the record after the game is over. There is a big reason why he rarely loses his pace under any circumstances and does what he has to do.
Durant’s pull-up jumper is one of the most powerful weapons in the league. In addition to mobility and height, it has a fingertip sensation that is more than that of a fairly average shooter, so it can continuously pour out mid-range, 3-point shots, and deep threes from anywhere. If the opponent’s nerves are focused on shooting, he strides in with a big step and makes a breakthrough, and if the defense wants to focus on breaking through, the pattern of attacking with a shot is repeated.
This is why Durant is called the best volume shooter. Unlike heavy ball handlers who drag the ball for a long time alone and take up a lot of attack time, they prefer the pattern of giving and receiving passes smoothly and scoring points in a concise way, so no matter what combination they enter, they quickly become like existing members who have been working together for a long time on the spot. It mixes well. In fact, many clubs favored signing Durant because of this.메이저놀이터
Unfortunately, however, Durant is also the player who is being criticized for ‘the results are not coming out well compared to his skills’. In such an extension, being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs is painfully painful. This is because the formation of the ‘super team’ in Brooklyn ended in failure, and another championship candidate went to the Phoenix Suns, but the result was disappointing.
The season ended after the second round of the playoffs, losing in a battle of strength against the Denver Negits led by “Joker” Nikola Jokic (28‧211cm). Even though he transfers to a team with strong power every time, except for the Golden State days, the results that do not meet expectations continue. Like Curry, he has to become a team legend as a franchise star, or form a super team like Lebron and then produce a definite result, but unfortunately, he is only repeating his steps.
Even in this playoff, when he suffered the loss of elimination, the words, ‘As an option, he is the best in the world, but as an ace or leader, he is not the best’ are popping up among the fans. Of course, in the background where the desired results did not come out in Phoenix, it is an analysis that a large number of good players were expelled due to the trade, and the thinned player base, and the resulting close to overuse of certain players, also had an impact. Chris Paul’s injury was also painful.
From Durant’s point of view, he would have many things to say about the harsh criticism, such as ‘This was like that, and that was difficult because of this’. However, behind the players who broke through the fierce competition and achieved results, the difficult process was always with them. It is true that he is not just a good player, but it is a big regret when considering the position where he has to compete in the previous rankings.