Kevin Durant’s time in Phoenix could also be ending, so how will he be remembered? | USAEMALL.com

PHOENIX — Picking a defining Kevin Durant highlight from his two-plus seasons with the Phoenix Suns isn’t easy. There’s much from which to choose.

In January 2024, he hit a winning jumper against the Chicago Bulls, hanging in the air like Michael Jordan. In February, he scored his 30,000th career point, a milestone only seven other NBA players have reached. Last month, he scored 19 fourth-quarter points to complete a rally against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Durant has scored 3,887 points in 145 regular-season games for the Suns, never losing his legendary scoring touch, even as he aged. If he had a clean look, everyone assumed the result. For one recent attempt, there’s even visible evidence.

On March 7, the Suns trailed the Denver Nuggets 125-122 with 1.4 seconds left in regulation. Suns forward Royce O’Neale inbounded from the right side, throwing cross-court to Devin Booker. Three Denver players rushed to Booker. The Suns guard swiftly dished to Durant, open in the corner, in front of the Phoenix bench.

Durant fired, beating the buzzer. Behind him, six teammates stood in anticipation. Center Nick Richards held up three fingers. Rookie Oso Ighodaro raised two. Point guard Collin Gillespie clenched a fist. Veteran Tyus Jones gripped a white towel.

Those four expected Durant’s shot to drop. The other two, Bol Bol and Monte Morris, they knew.

The Suns posted a photo of this on social media. Sitting at his locker before a recent game, Bol looked at the photo and smiled. “I had my hand up before he even shot the ball,” he said. “I mean, it’s Kev. An open 3. That’s pretty much a layup.”

Look at Morris in the black T-shirt. He’s already celebrating. The veteran point guard — out that day with a back issue — started yelling, “That’s good! That’s good!”

“It was kind of wild, open in the corner,” Morris said at his locker. “It was in rhythm, so I was like, ‘He’s making this!’”

That’s what Durant has brought throughout his career, and it was no different in the desert. His shot-making was elite, just about the one thing fans could count on every night. At 36 this season, he averaged 26.6 points per game with shooting percentages of 52.7 percent from the field and 43 from 3-point range.

But his time here is probably over.

In the third quarter of a March 30 home loss to the Houston Rockets, Durant grabbed a defensive rebound and took off. After slowing to reset the offense, he accelerated into the lane and stepped on the foot of Houston forward Jabari Smith Jr., spraining his left ankle. The injury has kept him out five games. Only two remain.

Phoenix is the league’s biggest disappointment. A team with the league’s highest payroll failed to make the Play-In Tournament. Owner Mat Ishbia is expected to make major changes. Durant, under contract through the 2025-26 season, is the Suns’ top trade piece.

If this is it for Durant in Phoenix, his left ankle makes for depressing bookends. After getting traded to the Suns from the Brooklyn Nets at the 2023 trade deadline, Durant played three road games before returning to Arizona. Before his first home game, Durant turned his left ankle during pregame warmups, a mishap that sidelined him for three weeks. Two-plus years later, he suffered the same injury near the same exact spot against Houston.

It’s not the full circle anyone had in mind.

Evaluating what happened between sprains is difficult. Durant has played at an elite level, but the Suns have gotten worse. They went from losing in the Western Conference semifinals to eventual champ Denver two years ago, to losing in the first round to Minnesota last year, to missing the postseason altogether. They won one playoff series with Durant, against a short-handed Clippers team in 2023.

This isn’t all Durant’s fault. In the summer of 2023, the Suns traded for Bradley Beal, a three-time All-Star who had twice averaged 30 points per game. The idea was to build around a “Big Three” of Durant, Booker and Beal, but it always looked better on paper than it did on the court. Defense and toughness were overlooked. And as a second-apron team with the league’s most expensive roster, the Suns were limited in how they could make roster changes. This season, they crumbled.

There were plenty of memorable moments in Kevin Durant’s two-plus seasons with the Suns. But the team’s postseason results got worse each year. (Kate Frese / NBAE via Getty Images)

Durant understands how this works. Excellence and expectations go hand-in-hand. Failure brings criticism. Stars receive more than their share. It’s how it goes.

Throughout his time here, Durant has seldom ducked reporters. After this season’s trade deadline, he was honest in discussing how he was blindsided to learn that the Suns had considered moving him to Golden State. At times, he challenged reporters, asking why a certain question was asked or why it was phrased in a certain way.

In October, Durant appeared on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams. During the conversation, the two discussed a statue the Miami Heat had recently unveiled of former Heat star Dwyane Wade. The topic shifted to Durant.

“I highly, highly doubt I’ll get a statue of me put anywhere for playing basketball,” Durant said. “I appreciate the love, though, and the respect that people show me. That’s enough for me.”

Adams suggested Durant was just saying this because of the public reaction to how Wade’s statue had turned out. Durant corrected her.

“No, see, Dwyane Wade is a different case, man,” he said. “He is Miami. He is the Heat. … There’s very few players who get that type of love in a city like that. It’s usually those guys who got the Hall-of-Fame career with the championships and have been with one city for a long time. That’s not the case for me.”

Durant is a Hall of Fame lock, but he doesn’t have a true NBA home. He still gets booed in Oklahoma City, where he spent eight seasons, taking the Thunder to the NBA Finals before leaving and signing with Golden State. He helped the Warriors win two championships, but he wasn’t in the Bay Area long. Durant’s time in Brooklyn is mostly remembered for his recovery from an Achilles injury.

Phoenix, a basketball town starving for a title, could have been different. Its fans have embraced superstars in the past. In 1992, the Suns traded for Charles Barkley, adding what it believed was the final piece to a championship puzzle. In his first season, Barkley nearly delivered. He led the Suns to an NBA-best 62 regular-season wins, earning league MVP. The Suns advanced to the Finals, where they lost to Jordan and the Bulls. Despite the heartbreak, the city celebrated with a parade.

The rest of Barkley’s time here wasn’t as pleasant. He battled injuries. He forced his way out of town after four seasons. And years later, no one cares. The Suns don’t do statues, but they inducted Barkley into their Ring of Honor because of what Barkley did. He lifted the franchise.

They would’ve done the same for Durant had he dribbled a similar path.

(Top photo of Kevin Durant: Chris Coduto / Getty Images)