Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

NBA legend on Kevin Durant: 'The most skilled and complete scorer ever'

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Nov 8, 2024 10:43 AM ET

The NBA has seen several seven-footers who can shoot a high clip — Dirk Nowitzki, Lauri Markkanen and Karl Anthony Towns, to name a few. But there's never been another Kevin Durant.

The Suns star's guard-like handles make him a three-level threat who can pull up from anywhere on the floor with his silky jumper. And with his high release point, only a handful of defenders contest his shot on any given night. While Victor Wembanyama is the latest "create-a-player" come to life, Durant is the original cheat code that makes fans and analysts alike go, 'A guy that size isn't supposed to do that.'

Many have acknowledged Durant as the most gifted scorer or offensive weapon in NBA history. Pistons legend Isiah Thomas has joined that growing list.

The most skilled and complete scorer ever! @KDTrey5 is efficient at every scoring level and a very underrated defender. https://t.co/HpZNeFW7rB
— Isiah Thomas (@IsiahThomas) November 7, 2024

To Thomas' point, Durant may be the most efficient scorer in history. Among the top-10 scorers in history, he has the best true shooting percentage (62), above comparable scorers such as LeBron James (59), Michael Jordan (56.9) and Kobe Bryant (55), and even bigs who dominated at the rim. To that end, Durant's career 50.1 FG% pales in comparison to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (55.9), Wilt Chamberlain (54.0) and Shaquille O'Neal (58.2), but his effective FG% trumps everyone due to his ability to score so efficiently from the perimeter.

Durant is off to a blazing start in the 2024-25 season. With five 30-plus nights through his first eight games, he's led the Suns to a 7-1 record. The 36-year-old is fresh off becoming the first player to win four Olympic gold medals in men's basketball. He played with a lot of joy in Paris and it seems those positive vibes have carried into the new NBA season.

"The Slip Repear" is also the healthiest he's been in years. Last season, he played 75 games, his most since 2018-19.

KD this season:

27.8 PPG
6.8 RPG
1.4 BPG
55/42/81%

The best player on the 1st seed in the West. pic.twitter.com/MBe4GTsyGg
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 7, 2024

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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