Kevin Durant Has to Make It Work With the Suns | The Bill Simmons Podcast

Kevin Durant Has to Make It Work With the Suns | The Bill Simmons Podcast

Here’s the thing Kevin Durant you have to make this work in Phoenix you can’t do you have no more outs I know technically you have more outs because it’s the player power era and everybody can switch teams I’m not killing Kevin Durant I am not gonna criticize him I’m not saying

Anything other than you have no outs you have to make this work this is the equivalent of your buddy who got married for the fourth time and this time didn’t sign a prenup and if it doesn’t work out this time he loses all his money what Katie loses in

This if this Phoenix thing doesn’t work out now is his legacy changes and you could say he doesn’t care I think he does I I I really do I think he cares about his place in the history of the league I know he does the whole thing about I just I’m just out

There I just want to ball I just want to hoop I just don’t believe it I think he cares how he measures against LeBron how he measures against the best players in the league I think he’s online too much I think he’s just too aware and too too

Hypercritical of people who are critical of him and he has to make this work because if you go backwards 2016 he leaves OKC I’ll def I defended it then I’ll defend it now he was there for eight years he needed or nine years he needed a new challenge they couldn’t get over

The hump and you know didn’t really want to play with Westbrook anymore can you blame him wanted a new city goes to Golden State works out great Finals MVP two years in a row 201819 range he’s starting to realize I can’t win here even though I’m winning it’s always gonna be Curry’s

Team I’m always gonna be looked at as I join somebody else’s team this is goes back to my point that he does care about his legacy because he does because if he just just cared about winning only and just being in a great situation this is a guy that was with

Steve cerr Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and he left so why did he leave because he wanted his own team he wanted to prove that he could do it as the guy and win the finals as the guy on his own team so he makes the mistake of pitching

His wagon to Kyrie goes to Brooklyn rehabs from an Achilles for a year figures out this James Harden trade that uh you know the karma whatever happens and all of a sudden Harden Kyrie and ktie on the same team and it’s fantastic and then it goes sideways and Harden is hurt Kyrie’s hurt

Ktie still almost brings them almost brings them past Milwaukee foot on the line it’s six inches but he’s playing the best he’s ever played at that point it’s a a heroic performance and it comes down at six inches doesn’t go his way you know what happens after that Kyrie harded they goes

Sideways summer 22 this is his first kind of mistake he’s mad about that they traded hard in for Ben Simmons and some picks probably gotta look under the hood with Ben Simmons wasn’t crazy about about that one um maybe how they handled the Kyrie Co stuff he Demands a trade that

Summer and guess what they kind of stare him down comes back plays great again okay we’ve settled it down Kyrie’s playing well KD’s playing well this is going okay KD uh Kyrie asked for he wants out and KD is like well I want out too then it’s a little less defensible but I’m

Gonna give it like a half defensible because if Kyrie’s leaving and he doesn’t want to waste the rest of his career in Brooklyn and he has a chance to go to Phoenix and play with Booker and Chris Paul and Aon in a team that won 65 games a year before on

In a city that uh is dying for a finals team great well what happens they put Bridges and cim and a bunch of picks and swaps in the KD trade now they have a lot less room now you’re all in basically well not necessarily because in the summer of

23 after they lose to Denver and the series by the way was not that close um they trade Aon and they trade Chris Paul and they trade basically all their seconds and some other stuff for Bradley Beal and I just I just can’t imagine KD didn’t didn’t think this was a good idea

I just don’t think they would trade for Bradley Beal if KD was like please don’t do this well what happens Bradley Beal has been hurt three times like who oh who could have predicted that he’s hurt every year and then KD doesn’t like the fact that I’m guessing they’re relying on him

For Rim protection he’s the best defensive forward on the team he has to play 35 36 minutes a game when he’s in his mid-30s and has had multiple major injuries and is probably looking big picture like I’m probably gonna get hurt soon if I have to keep playing at this

Pace and is looking around at all the moves they made he’s like man this sucks and you could feel it on the court where he’s like God I’m in another bad situation how to do this well one of the reasons you’re not in a great situation is you’re new team traded all this

To get you so you’re doing this 2011 heat model which we saw with the 2011 heat didn’t work it doesn’t work when you have three guys plus Udonis Hasam and keep your fingers crossed with Mike Miller and then nobody else um I think he’s got to suck it up and

Figure out how to make it work now if you watched last night it was a fascinating KD game he had 16 assists 27 points he basically was this galvanizing for us he was like the best version of KD and I thought he made a statement and here’s another statement

I have him 16th in my Pantheon he’s the last guy he’s the best scoring for it ever two finals MVPs 2014 MVP six First Team all NBAs for his career he’s 50 39 89 percentages he’s almost a 50490 guy which seems inconceivable but that’s true he scored almost 28k

Points career points per game he’s sixth all time 27.3 only eight guys total have a 27 points a game or more four retired Wilt MJ Elgen West than KD Luca MBI and LeBron it’s eight ever in the history of the weag for his career he’s averaging 27 seven rebounds 4.4 assists LeBron’s

Averaging 27 eight rebounds seven assists so LeBron is the second greatest player of all time and KD’s stats are really close to his this is all stuff KD he can he can say he doesn’t think about this stuff I promise you he does I promise you he measures himself against

LeBron he has two titles LeBron has four his stats are pretty close he hasn’t been as durable um but he’s a little closer to LeBron at least statistically than I think people realize he has to make the Phoenix thing work because if you go through the

Trades OKC I don’t see it the Knicks they care too much about their culture and whatever they built I don’t think they’d want a guy who’s been unhappy in multiple situations New Orleans he’d never go Miami I don’t see it it’s really only Golden State could he go back to Golden State

If this got super unhappy and it becomes like the Dallas episode when bobby uing shows up in the shower and he’d been dead for four years Draymond Wiggins kaminga Moody 26 28 first and a 29 pick swap for KD on paper it’s a salvage for Phoenix I

Just Matt ISB just got this team he made a big deal about we have Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and we’re good we have two of the best 12 players in the league this is gonna work and I think the owner is GNA be too stubborn to ever ever

Abandon ship with KD after less than a year so KD you’re stuck in Phoenix you’re one of the best 16 players of all time make it work man make it work it’s more to more to at stake for you this year than just the the the season and

Where you land in the playoffs make this work don’t be the guy that we look back 25 years from now and say KD awesome player but man what a handful cuz I think you’re better than That

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons discusses why Kevin Durant has no more outs and why he needs to make it work in Phoenix.

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