Rockets’ Kevin Durant Falls out of The Athletic’s Top-Ten NBA Players

Kevin Durant’s basketball resume is littered wit milestones. There’s nothing that he hasn’t accomplished.

In fact, when asked what drives him to keep playing, he first noted that he isn’t chasing anything anymore. Instead, he wants to continue outdoing his previous seasons, while also using his platform to represent his family and bring positivity to his last name.

Again, he’s not chasing any milestones. He’s won MVPs, scoring titles, Finals MVPs, championships, All-NBA teams, etc. And he’s a walking shoe-in for the All-star game every year, at this point.

However, he’s starting to become a bit underrated. This could be because of his age (37-years-old entering his 19th season).

Surely his best days are behind him, although he just averaging 26.6 points on 64.2 percent true shooting in 2024-25 – numbers that would be career seasons for most players. But again, he’s set the bar so high that this has become the norm.

For him, at least.

He also hasn’t been on a legitimate title run since the 2022-23 season, after he first arrived to the Phoenix Suns. And that’s only if you consider the second-round of the postseason as a “title run”.

Last season, his Suns missed the play-in tournament altogether, due to a myriad of issues, headlined by poor roster construction.

This has caused many to question Durant’s impact on winning.

(Foolishly, I might add).

The Athletic’s John Hollinger crafted a list of his top-10 players in the league and Durant didn’t make the cut. Durant was in the next tier of players “who are hanging on”. Along with Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kawhi Leonard.

Again, all players well into their careers who have solidified legacies.

 Hollinger's assessment of Durant is below.

"Durant is still one of the most feared scorers in the game but has only made one All-NBA team in the last half-decade and has played more than 62 games once in the last six years. He’s still an elite scorer in a playoff series but hasn’t had an exclamation-point impact on a postseason since he was a Brooklyn Net playing Milwaukee in 2021.

At 37, Durant also doesn’t make the impact on defense or as an off-dribble creator as he once did; it’s particularly notable in transition, where the younger Durant was basically an automatic basket.

That said, he’s still good enough to be the clear go-to guy for one of the Western Conference’s best teams in Houston, and if he can stay on the floor for 70 games, he has a chance to put up a top-10 season."

The Rockets have the perfect roster construction for a veteran like Durant. They've got young, defensive-minded wings, which won't force him to chase elite scorers around all game.

He'll also be afforded the opportunity to take games off and load manage, due to the Rockets' depth.

Health permitting, Durant should have another one of his better seasons in 2025-26.