The Pure Greatness of KD
As I tuned into the Suns, Celtics game last night I wasn’t sure what to expect. The Celtics had just beat the Warriors by 50, dropped a 20 point lead against Cleveland, then lost again to the Denver Nuggets in a tight matchup. The Suns had been hit and miss, sitting at close to .500 in their last 10 games, with an impressive win a few nights before against Denver.
The Celtics ended up being the better team, leading by 9-10 points the majority of the game, and eventually closing out the victory 117-107. Although Tatum, Brown, and Luke Kornet had great performances, the story of the night was Kevin Durant. Scoring 45 points on 18-26 shooting, KD lit up the gym. As I watched from my couch, this performance by KD seemed eerily similar to one from the past.
Back in 2021 I took a trip to NYC aka The Big Apple to see some friends and a lady! I was pumped to get out of Texas for a bit as I hadn’t done a lot of traveling the last few years due to Covid. Luckily, it was the week Covid restrictions were lifted in the five boroughs, so I knew it was going to be a good time.
I flew in a day early due to a game going on at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Nets and Bucks were squaring off for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
It was a bit of a bummer due to Kyrie Irving being out the rest of the series, but the city was buzzing at the return of James Harden and the hope in having one of the best players in the NBA - Kevin Durant.
As I watched from the upper deck, there was a chill in the air. The Nets were down by 15-20 points most of the first half and leading into the third quarter, but it was almost palpable that a comeback was inevitable.
Soon, KD began to light up the gym. Three pointers, dunks, free throws, the man was floating around the arena. He simply couldn’t miss and put on one of the most beautiful displays of basketball dominance we’ve ever seen.
He even got veterans Blake Griffin and Jeff Green involved. Jeff Green couldn’t miss, scoring 27 points on 7-8 shooting from three. He had the team looking like the 2013 All Stars.
As Travis Scott and myself looked on from the crowd, no one could believe what their eyes had just witnessed. The Nets walked away with a 114-108 victory and a memory for the ages.
Riding the train back to Manhattan I was dumbfounded. Had I just witnessed KD’s greatest playoff performance of all time? Coming off a torn achilles, no one knew if he’d be ‘KD’ again.
Last night, watching from the couch instead of the bleachers, it started to feel like KD was going to do it again. Dbook was out, Beal was coming back from injury but still not fully himself. It felt eerily similar to the 2021 Bucks Game 5.
Minus the victory, it was another historic performance from KD. 45 points on 18-26 shooting from the field. Yet again, he passed the eye test of producing the most beautiful basketball we will ever see.
It’s easy to criticize the man and forget about how dominant of a player he is, but how much longer will we get to witness this greatness? 16 seasons in and although it doesn’t appear the end is in sight, you never know what life can bring.
Standing in the game-room of my childhood home, I remember tuning in to ESPN to watch the Texas A&M Aggies take on the Texas Longhorns in basketball as one of the greatest rivalries in sports.
There was new guy in the mix, this tall lanky kid from Washington DC. Who the heck was this seven foot, slim reaper?
Whether he’s balling in OKC, playing the greatest basketball of all time with the Golden State Warriors, shutting down the Barclays Center, or more recently bring life to the desert, there’s no doubt Kevin Durant is one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
Can we all enjoy him while he’s still here?
