There’s no question that Kevin Durant is one of the all-time best players in the history of the NBA. He’s got a smooth shot, grace when going to the rim, he’s very silky. He’s fun to watch, he is definitely shown to have the ability to score points with ease, with a career average of 27.2  ppg and having 13 seasons scoring 25 ppg or more, and 4 scoring titles. But with Kevin Durant’s exceptional play on the court there are other characteristics about him that just don’t sit well. Putting aside his stoic and crabby demeanor, which can make him difficult to like – but that’s just his personality. What I’m talking about is his mental toughness and his heart. 

This off season was no different – when Kevin Durant was at it again. It always seems when he can’t win fast enough with a loaded team, he always seems to start screaming to be traded to yet another loaded team.  And one of the biggest problems I always have is the fact that he always seems to want to go to teams that are already well established.  Now I get that some might argue and say that that’s smart, take the path of least resistance, and I get it. I understand that logic, but the fact is, it makes someone look weak if they’re just jumping on an already powerful team. If you’re a player that’s supposed to be a leader, you shouldn’t want to join other players, they should want to join you.  You’re the one that should be leading your team, not just going and adding your skills to another team. He’s becoming just a “hired gun” to go anywhere to bring another skilled player to a team and then trade him off. 

Today’s NBA is the ring chasing era… it just seems like it’s all about finding the easiest path to get a ring. So much emphasis is put on “the chip.” Players only have this mentality that they’re not going to be considered a “great player” if they don’t have “X amount of rings.” Everybody wants to win the ring, of course that’s the whole drive of competitiveness is to win, to be the best you can be, to have the best team. They all want the ring, but they all want the easiest way to get it.  Nobody seems to want to earn it the hard way. 
The Experts at VegasTopDogs think the Nets are better now without Kyrie on the team.

Let’s say that a player goes to a team that isn’t top notch and his talent and leadership leads that team to a championship. Now let’s say, that same player instead, is unhappy with the mediocre team and demands to be traded to a team that already has 2-3 really good players, goes there and wins 3 championships, the respect level for winning the one championship is far higher. 

Kevin Durant just isn’t the guy to lead a team anywhere, after 14 seasons it’s been proven time and time again. Everybody isn’t built to be a leader, and that’s okay. But what isn’t okay, is when that same player is demanding respect like they are a leader. I think playerwise, Durant is a better player than Dwyane Wade was, but Dwyane Wade was a far better leader than Kevin Durant. Some guys have that leadership gene, and some just don’t.  

Brooklyn has had a ton of talent on that team for a few years – I’m not sure just what else he wants to have around him, to get the rings that he obviously is pining for. It’s becoming apparent that he isn’t built mentally like ball players were in the past. He doesn’t have the push to make others better, he wants to simply take his basketball skills and just add them to the team that’s already on the court. 

Durant really seems to be kicking his fan base, when he was with Oklahoma City he was really a lot of fun to watch, but now it seems that you’re just watching a guy who just goes through the motions looking for coattails to grab onto, looking to piggyback to an already established foundation to try and get a ring to add to his “legacy.” I actually feel that there are many fans who actually want to see him fail because of his lack of loyalty.  
He has no “legacy” who is his legacy with?

The new NBA slogan should be “when things get tough just quit!” Because that’s the way these players behave these days, without any loyalty to the city or the fans where they were hired, to come join and try and bring that city a championship. The discontentment in the NBA is mind boggling, these guys are never happy. Because they’re always comparing themselves to the next guy, instead of being satisfied with what they have. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a 1000 times, the players today are just made differently and not necessarily in all good ways. They dictate what team they will play for and if that doesn’t work, they pout and stomp, and go somewhere else to play. 

So far this season Durant has been off to the races, netting 32ppg but the “new look” Nets are sitting at 1-5. If they don’t turn it around, how long into the season is it going to be before the 7-0 PF starts shouting to be traded.

Again.
Well we all know what they always say right? 
If you can’t beat them, join them!