Kevin Durant's legacy was hurt by his "failure" with the Oklahoma City Thunder according to a recent greatest players of all time list.
Kevin Durant's All-Time Legacy Hurt by 'Failure' With Thunder originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to capture their first championship since relocating to Oklahoma City last season as they defeated the Indiana Pacers in seven games during the NBA Finals.
Oklahoma City’s star trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams led the way and with them now locked up for the foreseeable future, more championships could be coming for the Thunder.
Of course, this is not the first time the Thunder have had a great young trio, though this time they were able to bring a championship to Oklahoma City.
The other trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden failed to do so and on Bleacher Report’s list of the greatest players in NBA history, they believe that Durant’s failure cost him a higher ranking other than 13th.
“Durant’s itinerant career and failure to lead a team to a championship as a true alpha hurts his legacy—as does sharing an era with James, Curry and Jokić. It’s possible that KD could have taken the Thunder to the promised land if he’d stayed put, and he probably left another championship or two on the table by departing Golden State when he did,” Bleacher Report’s NBA staff wrote.
Of course, Durant did help lead the Thunder to the NBA Finals once during his nine seasons with the franchise but they were unable to return, especially after moving on from Harden.
Eventually, Durant left for the Golden State Warriors in 2016 where he would win two championships alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, which did not do much for his legacy.
Despite this, the 17-year NBA veteran has put together an incredible resume with two championships, two Finals MVPs, one regular season MVP and a Rookie of the Year award.
While Durant has carved out a historic NBA career, if he would have stayed and won a championship in Oklahoma City he may have been ranked higher on Bleacher Report’s list.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
