There was a time when the Phoenix Suns striker, Kevin Durant, was considered the most plug-and-play superstar in the NBA. Place him in any program or situation, and he will approach 30 points per match on 50/40/90 for shooting, as he had already done on Tours of Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets. And as a top scorer in the league, he did this job well.
But as during has evolved further from his mandate in the bay region, we discovered that, unless you exchange Harrison Barnes for him on a juggernaut of 73 victories, it is not that easy to connect and play during.
Which makes sense. He is a superstar, and as with all superstars, there are personalities to suppose, he wishes to be satisfied and the requests to be granted. Only requests for during the time have apparently come on a whim.
“”I didn’t want to move And I wanted to see him with my team in Phoenix and see what we could do the rest of this season, “an agreement on the deadline for trade in the deadline,” so I’m happy to be there. “”
It is difficult to plan anyway you don’t know what you really want. And that seems to be where we are in the quarry of during. He chose to languish in the most disappointing team in the League a little longer.
This is the strange part. Everything in LeBron James’ career has been deliberate. The move to Miami, where he spent his youth in South Beach. The return to Cleveland, where he cemented his heritage as a hero of the hometown. And the procession in Los Angeles, where the interests of his business and his family lived.
It was once the recipe for a successful superstar for rental. It doesn’t always work according to the plan.
He felt more random for during. He received a telephone call From Draymond Green after the final of the 2016 NBA, he therefore left the aspirations of the Thunder championship for the team that had beat them during the Western Conference final. He Green tired And join another friendKyrie Irving, in Brooklyn. He asked the nets To acquire another friend, James Harden. And when Harden and Irving Tired of each otherDuring the Devin Booker was coolSo he joined the Suns and asked them For Bradley Beal too.
Now, it seems, it could be linked to another destination. Unless the Suns can do “a significant race” in the playoffs, there will be “real changes“In Phoenix this summer, starting with during, reported Shams Charania d’Espn. And his Suns of 11th place, who” embarrass the fans “and”embarrass“In the loss of Sunday, according to during, will not be a significant race, so expect these real changes.
Perhaps the difference between James and Durant is more a question of fortune than anything. If the Warriors had not blown up a 3-1 deficit at James Cavaliers in 2016 or a pandemic did not offer his Los Angeles Lakers time to prepare for the bubble, his two titles with Miami could very much look like in Golden State.
And if the nets of Durant had stayed healthy in 2021, when they lost against the possible champion Milwaukee Bucks, perhaps his third and fourth acts evolve differently. Maybe he, not James, is THE Champion for the rental.
Instead, we allow ourselves to ask ourselves what role for played in each of his stops ending in misery. He trampled His trainer and teammates leaving Oklahoma City. He finished with Green in the field and in the locker room before his exit from Golden State. Her chosen friends left him in Brooklyn. And each report De Phoenix gives the impression that the current team of Durant is deeply unhappy.
Win everything. And during this has not done much in recent years. He was swept away playoffs as many times (twice) because he won a series in the six seasons since he left the Warriors.
This is the story of his career. Whether he likes or not. Whether or not it is. He followed James’ plan for a traveling superstar and did not win as much. His championships came to a team that won before and after his departure. And his mandates, for any reason, were mired in discomfort.
This is why it was so interesting to see during refusing your chance to return to the Warriors. He did not know how far Golden State and Phoenix would have been far on the road and Phoenix had concluded a potential agreement on the deadline for this year, and rather than following this whim at a meeting, he categorized the opportunity.
Perhaps during a more deliberate approach to his career. He is now 36 years old, and although he is still an average of 26.7 points per game on 53/40/82, it may be his last opportunity to do things well.
We will know what “law” means during when he goes from Phoenix, probably this summer. He has a year left on his contract, so he can again choose his next destination or again change the teams in 2026. Does he vettra to join another friend in pursuit of the bliss of basketball that escaped him, with the exception of these glorious years in Golden State? Will his next stop also end in anxiety? This would cement the story.
But he has a chance to rewrite the script. It could be this superstar plug-and-play. He could, for example, transform the Rockets of Houston Upstart into a serious competitor by joining them next season.
But does he want that? Is it the most adaptable superstar in the league? Or is it the most complicated? He is unlucky or has created his own misfortune, and his next judgment confirms a model or the breeze.
