<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/warriors-legends-stephen-curry-kevin-durant-make-barack-obamas-all-time-starting-5');   ga('set', 'title', 'Warriors legends Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant make Barack Obama’s all-time starting 5');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Warriors-news-Stephen-Curry-Kevin-Durant-make-Barack-Obamas-all-time-starting-5.jpg"></figure><h1>Warriors legends Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant make Barack Obama’s all-time starting 5</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-15T08:14:04-07:00">October 15th, 8:14am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-16T05:50:29-07:00">October 16th, 5:50am</time><address><a href="http://designsux.com">Burtland Dixon</a>As an avid enthusiast of entertainment, Burtland Dixon is a passionate individual who revels in the magic of movies, sports, music, and pop culture. Whether it's catching the latest blockbuster, watching the marquee matchup of the week, attending live concerts, or getting immersed in the world of gaming, Burtland finds joy in all forms of entertainment.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Celebrity</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>An ongoing debate in basketball circles revolves around the ultimate NBA starting five. Recently, former President Barack Obama added fuel to the fire by unveiling his own all-time lineup during his appearance on Netflix’s docuseries “<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-jimmy-butlers-emo-media-day-behind-the-scenes-look-on-starting-5">Starting 5</a>.” The list <a href="https://www.complex.com/sports/a/treyalston/barack-obama-nba-starting-five" rel="noopener">includes legendary players Michael Jordan</a>, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Kevin Durant, Complex reports.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">From one basketball fan to the next, I hope you enjoy <a href="https://twitter.com/HGMedia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HGMedia</a>‘s docuseries – Starting 5 – which is streaming now on <a href="https://twitter.com/netflix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Netflix</a>.</p><p>And if you were ever wondering which players I’d have in my starting five – take a look! <a href="https://t.co/Vet3Zz68Fr">pic.twitter.com/Vet3Zz68Fr</a></p><p>— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1845503860296778159?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>Obama’s selection reflects not only his personal preferences but also a deep understanding of the game’s evolution. Starting with the shooting guard position, Obama wasted no time declaring, “I’m from Chicago. So MJ, Michael Jordan, at shooting guard.” It’s no surprise, given Jordan’s immense impact on basketball and his storied career with the Chicago Bulls.</p><p>Next, Obama highlighted LeBron James’ versatility by positioning him as a point forward. “He’d be bringing up the ball and distributing,” Obama explained, recognizing James’ unique ability to play multiple roles on the court. Following that, Obama included Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry. “I want a little shooting and a little flair,” Obama stated, emphasizing Curry’s status as the greatest shooter of all time. In the modern era of basketball, Curry’s three-point shooting revolutionized the game, making him a vital part of Obama’s lineup.</p><p>At center, Obama chose Hakeem Olajuwon, the Hall of Fame player known for his exceptional skills and defensive prowess. “He was such an amazing athlete,” Obama noted, reinforcing Olajuwon’s capability to anchor a team both offensively and defensively. With an average of 21.8 points and 11.1 rebounds throughout his career, Olajuwon’s resume speaks volumes.</p><p>The final selection for Obama’s all-time starting five, Kevin Durant, generated considerable interest. Obama called Durant “the most efficient effective scorer in the history of basketball.” This recognition of Durant’s scoring ability is well-deserved, as he consistently ranks among the top scorers in NBA history. By choosing Durant, Barack Obama demonstrated his appreciation for a player whose skill set fits seamlessly alongside the other greats on his list.</p><h2>A Blend of Eras</h2><p>Obama’s lineup features a diverse range of players, each representing different eras of the game. This mix not only showcases individual talents but also highlights how the game has evolved over time. While Michael Jordan’s legacy remains untouchable, the inclusion of modern stars like Curry and Durant signals an appreciation for how today’s game continues to grow.</p><p>Fans might debate the merits of other potential candidates for the all-time starting five. Names like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal come to mind, particularly for the center position. Yet, Obama’s selection of Olajuwon reveals a keen understanding of how various skill sets translate across different styles of play.</p><p>As the docuseries “Starting 5” gains traction, the basketball community eagerly engages in discussions surrounding Obama’s choices. Whether it’s the playful banter between Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum showcased in the series or the historical significance of Obama’s lineup, one thing is clear: the love for basketball transcends time and continues to spark lively debates among fans and analysts alike.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Warriors legends Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant make Barack Obama’s all-time starting 5

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-lebron-james-response-joining-steph-curry-kevin-durant-team-usa');   ga('set', 'title', 'LeBron James’ 4-word response to joining Steph Curry, Kevin Durant on Team USA');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Lakers-news-LeBrons-James-4-word-response-to-joining-Steph-Curry-Kevin-Durant.jpg"></figure><h1>LeBron James’ 4-word response to joining Steph Curry, Kevin Durant on Team USA</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T14:00:40-07:00">October 14th, 2:00pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T14:08:44-07:00">October 14th, 2:08pm</time><address><a>Christopher Smith</a>Christopher Smith is an associate editor covering a variety of sports with a beat focus on the Chicago Sky for ClutchPoints. The Aurora, Illinois native earned a degree in philosophy from Creighton University, where he also competed as a Division 1 Cross Country runner.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers are inching closer to the start of the 2024-25 NBA season. Of course, one of the biggest parts of LA’s success is veteran forward LeBron James. James will begin his 22nd season with great energy. However, before his next campaign, James raved about the opportunity he had to play alongside Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant and Golden State Warriors legend Steph Curry on Team USA.</p><p>James, Curry, and Durant helped lead Team USA to their fourth straight gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Each star played a pivotal role in the team’s success with no shortage of clutch moments. James <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1845905435712262435?s=46" rel="noopener">spoke about the firepower of having such talent</a> on the squad, beginning with a four-word response during a post-practice Lakers media availability on Monday.</p><p>“How do you lose?” James said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.</p><p>“Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, but we didn’t. You have myself, [Kevin Durant], and [Steph Curry], you have that type of firepower at any moment… We all got our opportunities. You see what Steph did in the gold medal game. You see what he was doing in the semifinals. You see what KD was doing when he came back from his injury, and I was able to sprinkle my moments in throughout the entire summer. But I mean, how do you lose when you have three of the best players to play the game of basketball in this league.”</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-stephen-curry-storybook-tale-closing-out-france">Steph Curry moment</a> LeBron James referenced was when he scored 60 points over his final two games with Team USA to help the squad to victory. Furthermore, Kevin Durant injured his calf before training camp but returned as a reliable offensive threat.</p><p>The trio of superstars helped make Team USA proud, but now, each will embark on another journey to win a championship in 2025. Can LeBron James and the Lakers overcome stout opposition and make it happen?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

LeBron James’ 4-word response to joining Steph Curry, Kevin Durant on Team USA

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-kevin-durant-puts-online-dummies-full-blast');   ga('set', 'title', 'Suns’ Kevin Durant puts ‘online dummies’ on full blast');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Suns-news-Kevin-Durant-puts-online-dummies-on-full-blast.jpg"></figure><h1>Suns’ Kevin Durant puts ‘online dummies’ on full blast</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T10:11:30-07:00">October 14th, 10:11am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T10:11:30-07:00">October 14th, 10:11am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant rarely shies away from smoke on social media. The outspoken superstar is known to put NBA players and fans alike in their place when he deems it necessary. The Suns head into the upcoming season with underwhelming expectations, except for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-kendrick-perkins-phoenix-championship-dark-horse">Kendrick Perkins, who labeled the 2024-25 Suns his darkhorse</a> championship contender for the forthcoming season. However, that didn’t prevent Durant from <a href="https://x.com/KDTrey5/status/1845842014925111790" rel="noopener">calling out</a> online “dummies” on his X, formerly known as Twitter, platform.</p><p>“Sometimes I wake up and look at TheNBACentel comments just to truly see how many dummies come online thinking that they have high iq,” Durant said. “Good morning.”</p><p>Durant’s vitriol didn’t stop there. When someone replied to KD’s post, calling the 16-time All-Star “bitter” while helping TheNBACentel’s parody account increase engagement by acknowledging its content, Durant <a href="https://x.com/KDTrey5/status/1845849577913733139" rel="noopener">lashed back</a> at the social media user.</p><p>“I must’ve made this dude mad 8 years ago, and he’s still in his feelings,” Durant quipped. “The nba season is upon us.”</p><h2><b>Anonymous NBA GM says Kevin Durant, Suns are the team to beat in the West</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Suns-superstar-Kevin-Durant.jpg"><figcaption>David Frerker-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>There is no confirmation as to which post from the parody account Kevin Durant was alluding to in his initial comments on social media, as there was no mention of Durant or the Suns in any of their posts beforehand. While many have overlooked Phoenix’s offseason additions as significant, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/kendrick-perkins-gets-shredded-bizarre-mason-plumlee-suns-take">other NBA analysts keep an eye on the Suns</a>. In an attempt to perhaps bait KD into a reaction, the NBACentel account posted a quote from an anonymous NBA GM, NBA insider Mark Medina, naming the Suns <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/news-i-go-boston-celtics-they-deserve-favorites-nba-executives-2025-champions-west-contenders-exclusive?utm_content=buffer18f62&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer" rel="noopener">the best team in the Western Conference</a>.</p><p>“The team to beat in the West is Phoenix, believe it or not. I think their top-end talent is just ready to make a move,” Medina said. “KD [Kevin Durant] and Book [Devin Booker] are really, really good. They had an outlier year last year with trying to get everything working together. I think [Mike] Budenholzer and Tyus Jones are great additions. I think they will figure out a way to use some draft compensation and [Jusuf] Nurkić contract to get even better [in a trade].”</p><p>It’ll be interesting to see how the Suns fare against the returning Western Conference champion Mavericks, the Timberwolves, the Thunder, and the rest of the conference’s upper-echelon teams.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Suns’ Kevin Durant puts ‘online dummies’ on full blast

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/texas-football-news-kevin-durant-drops-mic-oklahoma-red-river-rivalry-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kevin Durant drops mic on Oklahoma after Red River Rivalry game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Texas-football-players-tackle-Oklahoma-player.jpg"><figcaption>© Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Kevin Durant drops mic on Oklahoma after Red River Rivalry game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-13T06:29:46-07:00">October 13th, 6:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-13T06:30:15-07:00">October 13th, 6:30am</time><address><a>Benjamin Adducchio</a>Benjamin Adducchio is a journalist and writer with more than a decade of experience in covering sports news. Ben is a passionate sports fan who loves college football, basketball, and the New York Yankees.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NCAA Football</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Texas football <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/matthew-mcconaughey-reacts-to-texas-football-win">got a big win</a> over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry game on Saturday. Former Texas star Kevin Durant had some words to the Sooners after the victory, and those words were absolutely savage.</p><p>“<a href="https://x.com/KDTrey5/status/1845266272189071853" rel="noopener">OU?? FOH</a>,” Durant posted to X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>Texas defeated Oklahoma in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/texas-football-news-4-word-message-after-oklahoma-takedown">a powerful performance</a>, 34-3, to justify their no. 1 overall ranking. The Longhorns forced several turnovers that quickly turned into points for the Texas offense.</p><p>Texas is now 6-0 on the season and in the driver’s seat to make the SEC championship game. Oklahoma fell to 4-2 with the disappointing loss, in a game that they actually led 3-0 at one point.</p><p>Durant played for Texas for one season, back in 2006-2007. He left the school for the NBA after one year, playing for former Longhorns coach Rick Barnes. Durant frequently shows his support for Texas athletics since his departure.</p><p>During his one season with the Longhorns, Durant finished as the Big 12 Player of the Year. He also has number retired by Texas.</p><h2>Texas football looks every bit as good as their ranking</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Texas-football-takes-the-2024-Red-River-Rivalry-against-Oklahoma-football.jpg"><figcaption>© SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Texas is giving Durant and other Longhorns fans quite a show. The squad is undefeated in its first SEC season, and ranked no. 1 in the country. The team looks like they haven’t lost a step since transitioning from the Big 12 to its new conference.</p><p>Texas is posting some incredible offensive performances, despite using two different quarterbacks this year. Veteran Quinn Ewers is the starter, but he got hurt earlier this year. That allowed young prospect and legacy player Arch Manning to step in for the team. Manning looked impressive, especially in a win over UTSA where <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/texas-football-news-steve-sarkisian-arch-manning-luxury-take-quinn-ewers-absence">he accounted for five touchdowns</a>.</p><p>The offense looked just as good as advertised against Oklahoma. Texas scored 21 points in the second quarter alone. Following the game, Texas players planted a Longhorns flag on the field atop a Baker Mayfield Oklahoma jersey. It was a move just as savage as Durant’s social media post.</p><p>The Longhorns made the College Football Playoff in 2023, and look to return again this season. Texas lost in a semi-final game to Washington, in a close contest. The 2024 team may be even better, as it has reached the no. 1 ranking in the country for the first time in several years.</p><p>Durant and Texas football fans will surely be cheering the team on, when the squad<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/texas-footballs-steve-sarkisian-issues-challenge-ahead-of-georgia-clash"> plays its next game</a> against Georgia. That conference showdown between two likely top 5 teams is on October 19 in Austin.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kevin Durant drops mic on Oklahoma after Red River Rivalry game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/kevin-durants-classic-nike-kd-4-sees-new-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kevin Durant’s classic Nike KD 4 sees new update');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kevin-Durants-classic-Nike-KD-4-sees-new-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Kevin Durant’s classic Nike KD 4 sees new update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-10T15:40:15-07:00">October 10th, 3:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-10T15:40:36-07:00">October 10th, 3:40pm</time><address><a>Dominik Zawartko</a>Dominik Zawartko is a Michigan State graduate with a degree in Political Science and English. Having previously worked in the nonprofit and legal sectors, he decided to pursue his true love of writing with ClutchPoints. Dominik's hobbies include painting, cooking food, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and always having a laugh. His main focus areas are UFC coverage and all things sneakers.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Phoenix Suns’ star Kevin Durant has been one of the most influential basketball stars of our generation and has made a massive impact with sponsor Nike through his soon-to-be 18 signature sneakers within their basketball line. None may have been more influential, however, than the Nike KD 4 and come next year, we’ll see a first-time colorway on the iconic silhouette.</p><p><i><b>Check our <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sneakers">Sneakers news</a> for more upcoming releases and breaking content!</b></i></p><p>The Nike KD 4 first released in December 2011 and marked a huge leap in growth for Durant’s signature line. Kevin Durant averaged 28 points and led the Oklahoma City Thunder to their first-ever NBA Finals, so his quick takeover of the league could have had something to do with it.</p><p>Releasing in numerous colorways throughout the early 2010’s, the Nike KD 4 has seen a resurrection in today’s age as Nike works to bring back some of their classic basketball models. We’ll see a “Hyper Royal” colorway don the sneakers for the first time ever.</p><h2>Nike KD 4 “Hyper Royal”</h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">FIRST LOOK: Nike KD 4 "Hyper Royal" 💙</p><p>MORE INFO:  <a href="https://t.co/QwAy2HctxE">https://t.co/QwAy2HctxE</a> <a href="https://t.co/oe7WDMHR9q">pic.twitter.com/oe7WDMHR9q</a></p><p>— Sneaker Bar Detroit (@SBDetroit) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBDetroit/status/1844077092591501677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>While yet to be officially confirmed, the “Hyper Royal” colorway is set to feature a vibrant blue, metallic hue over the upper of the classic sneakers. The shoes will feature a white mesh underlay to complement the patented white strap across the mid foot. A gradient white-to-blue effect is featured on the midsole and fades into the Hyper Royal outsole.</p><p>Finer details reveal a scaled pattern across the toebox as well as raised jewel textures throughout both Nike Swooshes. Both logos will feature a gold trim, creating a nice balance of counteracting colors throughout this pair. It’s safe to say Nike did a fine job with these and they should increase in popularity given the rare nature of the shoes themselves.</p><p>There’s still no word on an official release from Nike, but expect this pair to drop sometime during the spring of 2025. They’re expected to come with a standard retail tag of $150 and should be made available on <a href="http://nike.com">Nike SNKRS app</a> come release day.</p><p>How many pairs of the Nike KD 4 do you have in your stash?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kevin Durant’s classic Nike KD 4 sees new update

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/warriors-news-stephen-curry-beats-out-lebron-james-kevin-durant-nba-gm-poll');   ga('set', 'title', 'Stephen Curry beats out LeBron James, Kevin Durant in key NBA GM poll questions');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Warriors-news-Stephen-Curry-beats-out-LeBron-James-Kevin-Durant-in-key-NBA-GM-poll-questions.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Stephen Curry beats out LeBron James, Kevin Durant in key NBA GM poll questions</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-09T10:22:27-07:00">October 9th, 10:22am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-09T10:22:27-07:00">October 9th, 10:22am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the 2024-25 NBA season rapidly approaching, the league’s annual general manager poll has once again shed light on the opinions of team executives across the league. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry stood out in <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/2024-25-nba-gm-survey" rel="noopener">several key categories</a>, outpacing some of the biggest names in the sport, including LeBron James and Kevin Durant.</p><p>Stephen Curry, a four-time NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist after <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-stephen-currys-fans-blown-away-olympic-gold-medal-reveal">leading Team USA to victory in Paris this year,</a> appeared prominently in several categories of the poll, which reflects the views of GMs on various aspects of the game. Among the poll questions, Curry was a top pick for ‘Which player forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments?’, ‘Who is the best point guard/shooting guard in the NBA?’, ‘Which player is the best pure shooter?’, ‘Which player is the best at moving without the ball?’, and ‘Which player is the best leader?’.</p><p>In one of the most significant categories, Curry was chosen by 40% of GMs as the player they would most want to take the final shot in a game. This placed him ahead of both James and Durant, two players known for their clutch performances. James, who finished second in the voting for best leader, garnered 23% of the votes, while Curry topped the category with 33%.</p><h2><b>Stephen Curry’s shooting and leadership outshine LeBron and Durant amid Warriors’ transition</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Stephen-Curry-30-holds-onto-the-ball-during-Media-Day.jpg"><figcaption>© Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Curry’s dominance as a shooter was further highlighted as 87% of GMs voted him the best pure shooter in the league, with Durant receiving an honorable mention. His ability to move without the ball and his leadership skills were also acknowledged in the poll, emphasizing his importance to the Warriors’ system as he prepares for his 16th season in the league.</p><p>Curry’s impact on the court was clear last season, as he averaged 26.4 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 45% from the field and 40.8% from beyond the arc. Despite his stellar individual play, the Warriors struggled, missing the playoffs after a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-most-to-blame-for-ugly-play-in-loss-exit-vs-kings">loss to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament</a>.</p><p>Off the court, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-stephen-curry-62-6-million-contract-extension">Curry made headlines in August when he signed a one-year</a>, $62.6 million contract extension with Golden State, keeping him with the team through the 2026-27 season. This extension cements his future with the Warriors, who are undergoing significant roster changes, including the departure of longtime teammate Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks.</p><p>As the Golden State Warriors prepare for their season opener on October 23 against the Portland Trail Blazers, all eyes will be on Stephen Curry to see if he can continue to lead the franchise through this transition phase. With his continued recognition in the NBA GM poll, it’s clear that the league’s executives still view him as one of the most impactful players in the game.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Stephen Curry beats out LeBron James, Kevin Durant in key NBA GM poll questions

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-lebron-james-kevin-durant-trolls-ejected-fan-lakers-suns-preseason');   ga('set', 'title', 'LeBron James, Kevin Durant troll ejected fan in Lakers-Suns preseason');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Lakers-news-LeBron-James-Kevin-Durant-trolls-ejected-fan-in-LA-Suns-preseason.jpg"></figure><h1>LeBron James, Kevin Durant troll ejected fan in Lakers-Suns preseason</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-07T01:26:55-07:00">October 7th, 1:26am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-07T05:01:30-07:00">October 7th, 5:01am</time><address><a>Michael Aaron Gomez</a>Michael Aaron Gomez is a creative writer and longtime NBA fan. He has been a fan of the Lakers since the three-peat but believes LeBron James is the greatest player of all time.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 118-114 in the NBA preseason, as teams are currently preparing for the start of the regular season on October 22. While preseason games aren’t really demonstrations of basketball excellence, it doesn’t mean we can’t have any fun watching them. For instance, LeBron James and Kevin Durant joined forces in a rare occasion as they trolled an ejected fan toward the end of the third quarter, with the Lakers holding an 89-80 lead.</p><p>“Action stops as a fan is ejected for trying to shoot the ball from behind the basket,” as reported by LA Times reporter Dan Woike on X, formerly Twitter. “After a delay (including Lebron playfully signaling for him to be tossed) the fan resisted as security tried to get him out of the building.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Action stops as a fan is ejected for trying to shoot the ball from behind the basket. After a delay (including LeBron playfully signaling for him to be tossed) the fan resisted as security tried to get him out of the building <a href="https://t.co/RXbUPSIr05">pic.twitter.com/RXbUPSIr05</a></p><p>— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/1843129345520664625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Here’s LeBron cheering the security team escorting the fan out of the arena, via ClutchPoints.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">LeBron James and the Lakers bench as a fan was getting kicked out of the arena during the game 😂<a href="https://t.co/7eseHgLBYk">pic.twitter.com/7eseHgLBYk</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1843131296350171415?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Next, here’s Durant yelling at the fan to “get the f**k out” from the Suns bench, also via ClutchPoints.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Get the f*ck out."  </p><p>Kevin Durant to the fan who was ejected 😂<a href="https://t.co/ifZZ6IxmBA">pic.twitter.com/ifZZ6IxmBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/oa2rHRNufF">https://t.co/oa2rHRNufF</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1843133391262364043?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Lakers fall to Suns in preseason</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Lakers-news-LeBron-James-Kevin-Durant-trolls-ejected-fan-in-LA-Suns-preseason-1.jpg"><figcaption>© David Frerker-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>LeBron James and Kevin Durant trolling aside, the Lakers also made NBA history in this game for fielding both <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-shares-court-bronny-james-fans-loving-it">Bron and Bronny James on the court together</a>, becoming the first father-son duo to play together in any NBA game.</p><p>However, the King only played the first half, scoring 19 points, while Bronny went scoreless, though he grabbed two boards. Meanwhile, LeBron’s on-court partner Anthony Davis put in 17 points in his first-half stint.</p><p>Evidently, there’s still a lot of kinks for the Lakers to iron out during preseason and training camp, and rookie head coach JJ Redick sounds prepared to take on the challenge.</p><p>Moreover, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-jj-redick-reveals-la-failed-execute-preseason-opener">Redick’s coaching debut versus the Minnesota Timberwolves</a> showed him some areas for improvement that his team should focus on before the season begins.</p><p>“I think the thing I was most disappointed with was our one-through-four reds, which is our switching… We didn’t execute that at all,” the coach said in an interview with Jovan Buha of The Athletic.</p><p>Besides the wrinkles, the Lakers did see causes for optimism, particularly in their <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-2024-nba-draft-grade-for-dalton-knecht">No.17 draft pick Dalton Knecht</a>, who scored 16 points against the Wolves. The rookie boasted his NBA-ready game while <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-jj-redick-drops-truth-bomb-bronny-james-preseason-debut">Bronny James showed flashes</a> as a disruptor on defense, despite his relative lack of size and lackluster scoring.</p><h2><b>Troubleshooting</b></h2><p>Against the Suns, Rui Hachimura’s eight rebounds also signaled a welcome change in the Lakers’ philosophy. Last season, Hachimura only averaged 4.3 rebounds, <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/rui-hachimura-rebounds-last-season" rel="noopener">terrible production</a> for a player of his size and frame.</p><p>Hachimura is also just one of the Lakers’ key players who will need to step up if they want to reclaim playoff glory. For instance, they’ll need to shake off their terrible habit of falling asleep while holding a big lead, expecting Bron and AD to save them in the clutch.</p><p>Look for Redick to try fixing these problems early, particularly during the honeymoon period at the beginning of the season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

LeBron James, Kevin Durant troll ejected fan in Lakers-Suns preseason

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-kevin-durant-reacts-possibility-sharing-court-lebron-bronny-james');   ga('set', 'title', 'Suns’ Kevin Durant reacts to possibility of sharing court with LeBron, Bronny James');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kevin-Durant-reacts-to-possibility-of-sharing-court-with-LeBron-Bronny-James.jpg"></figure><h1>Suns’ Kevin Durant reacts to possibility of sharing court with LeBron, Bronny James</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-06T13:34:13-07:00">October 6th, 1:34pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-06T13:34:13-07:00">October 6th, 1:34pm</time><address><a>Jaren Kawada</a>Jaren Kawada is a former full-time sports bettor and is now a NFL, College Football and Betting Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. Kawada was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, after graduating from Butler University with a B.A. in sports media. Aside from football, Kawada is an avid combat sports and basketball bettor.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Entering his 18th year in the NBA, Kevin Durant is beginning to appreciate smaller moments as he closes out his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-kevin-durant-transcendent-goat-admission-lou-williams">decorated career with the Phoenix Suns</a>. Part of that includes appreciating the games he has left against longtime rival LeBron James.</p><p>However, in the 2024-2025 season, Durant acknowledged that he will now have to go up against two members of the James family with Bronny James now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. The 36-year-old called the idea of <a href="https://x.com/MarkG_Medina/status/1843002241462198368" rel="noopener">facing both members of the family “crazy”</a> but is looking forward to doing so, even in a preseason setting.</p><p>“[Playing against Bronny James] will be cool,” Durant told reporter Mark Medina ahead of the Suns’ preseason opener. “I remember Bronny running around when he was in elementary school, being around [LeBron James] and his family 10, 12, 13 years ago. So this moment is pretty cool to see him out on the court with James Jr. on his back with his dad is crazy.”</p><p>The 40 games in which James and Durant face each other have always been noteworthy. The Lakers guard star owns the all-time head-to-head record of 23-17 but Durant has won nine playoff series between the two as opposed to just five for James.</p><h2><b>Suns begin 2024-2025 preseason against Lakers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kevin-Durant.jpg"><figcaption>Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Before the regular season even begins, Durant may get his first opportunity to play against both LeBron and Bronny James with the Suns traveling to the Lakers for their preseason opener on Oct. 6. However, neither Durant nor LeBron James is guaranteed to see the court as two of the oldest players in the league.</p><p>Aside from Bronny James, the game will also feature <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-biggest-dalton-knecht-concern-after-summer-league">notable rookies Dalton Knecht</a>, Ryan Dunn and Armen Traore. Dunn, the 28th overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, was traded to Phoenix on draft night after originally being selected by Denver. Los Angeles’ head coach, JJ Redick, will coach his second preseason game after accepting the job as Darvin Ham’s replacement in the offseason.</p><p>Once the regular season begins, Phoenix will look to begin the season on the right foot after being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. The Lakers also lost in the first round of the playoffs and were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets for the second straight year.</p><p>Despite criticism for the way their season ended, the Suns decided to keep the core of their roster together in the offseason centered around Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Suns’ Kevin Durant reacts to possibility of sharing court with LeBron, Bronny James

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/14-hall-of-famers-kevin-durant-eliminated-in-the-playoffs');   ga('set', 'title', '14 Hall of Famers Kevin Durant eliminated in the playoffs');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/14-Hall-of-Famers-Kevin-Durant-eliminated-in-the-playoffs.jpg"></figure><h1>14 Hall of Famers Kevin Durant eliminated in the playoffs</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-04T08:03:46-07:00">October 4th, 8:03am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-04T08:10:17-07:00">October 4th, 8:10am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/spencersee10" rel="facebook">Spencer See</a>Spencer See is a part-time writer at ClutchPoints focusing on the NBA, evergreen content and celebrity lifestyle. He is also a lifelong fan of LeBron James. In his free time, he either goes fishing or watches basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kevin Durant is arguably the most unstoppable scorer in the NBA. Thanks to his combination of size and skills, Durant has established himself in the NBA for several seasons.</p><p>Furthermore, his career has also seen him win two NBA championships, two Finals MVPs, an MVP, and 14 All-Star Game appearances. With plenty of success in his career, let’s take a look at the 14 Hall of Famers Kevin Durant eliminated in the playoffs.</p><h2><b>Anthony Davis (Future HOF)</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>Back in the 2017-18 playoffs, an Anthony Davis-led New Orleans Pelicans <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23446505/stars-carry-golden-state-warriors-eliminate-new-orleans-pelicans-game-5-nba" rel="noopener">played gallantly against</a> the heavily favored Golden State Warriors led by Kevin Durant. However, Durant and the Warriors took care of business in five games. Nevertheless, Davis was still a handful after averaging 27.8 points, 14.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game.</p><h2><b>Chris Paul (Future HOF)</b></h2><p>Before becoming brief teammates in Phoenix, Durant actually eliminated CP3 in the playoffs first in the 2014 Western Conference Semifinals. Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder finished off Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers in six games.</p><p>Years later, Durant would join the Golden State Warriors while Paul joined the Houston Rockets. Unfortunately, it was the same story. Durant and the Warriors swept Paul and the Rockets for two-straight postseasons.</p><h2><b>Russell Westbrook (Future HOF)</b></h2><p>Despite being teammates in Oklahoma for several years, Durant and Russell Westbrook eventually went their separate ways. Their first playoff matchup <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2-reasons-suns-beat-clippers-in-2023-nba-playoffs">came in the 2023 Playoffs</a> when Westbrook had just joined the Los Angeles Clippers while Durant with the Phoenix Suns.</p><p>Durant and the Suns outlasted the former in five games. Westbrook averaged 23.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game in the series.</p><h2><b>Damian Lillard (Future HOF)</b></h2><p>Durant and the Warriors met Damian Lillard’s Portland Trail Blazers in the 2017 and 2019 Playoffs, both of which saw Durant’s Warriors emerge victorious. The Warriors swept Lillard and the Blazers in 2017. Two years later, the Blazers pushed the series to six games in the Western Conference Finals.</p><h2><b>James Harden (Future HOF)</b></h2><p>James Harden and Durant have been teammates twice, once in Oklahoma and the second in Brooklyn with the Nets. However, these two former teammates have clashed in the postseason.</p><p>Durant and the Thunder emerged victorious in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs after dismantling Harden’s Rockets in five games. Years later, Durant joined the Warriors, paving the way for more two more playoff clashes leading to sweeps in favor of Durant and the Warriors.</p><h2><b>LeBron James (Future HOF)</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>After LeBron James and the Miami Heat gave Durant a rude welcome in his first NBA Finals appearance, Durant and the Warriors did get two-straight NBA championships at the expense of James and the Cavaliers in 2017 and 2018.</p><h2><b>Kawhi Leonard (Future HOF)</b></h2><p>Despite being one of the best wing defenders in the NBA, Durant has pretty much dominated Kawhi Leonard in the postseason. While Leonard was still with the San Antonio Spurs, Durant has beaten him in the 2012 Western Conference Finals and 2016 Western Conference Semifinals as part of the Thunder.</p><p>When Durant joined the Warriors, Leonard’s Spurs lost in the 2017 Western Conference Finals and in the first round of the 2018 Playoffs. Five years later, in the 2023 Playoffs, Durant’s Suns also eliminated Leonard’s Clippers in five games.</p><h2><b>Jason Kidd</b></h2><p>In his final season with the Dallas Mavericks, Kidd was part of the defending champions that suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Durant’s Thunder in 2012. Despite the sweep, Kidd did average 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per outing.</p><h2><b>Dirk Nowitzki</b></h2><p>Dirk Nowitzki also played for the Mavericks in the first round of the 2012 Playoffs. Nowitzki proved to be the brightest spot in the Mavericks’ failed title defense. He led the Mavs in scoring with 26.8 points per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.</p><h2><b>Manu Ginobili</b></h2><p>The Spurs and the Thunder were Western Conference rivals for quite some time in the postseason.</p><p>Although the Spurs prevailed in their 2014 meeting, which saw them win the NBA championship, Durant’s Thunder actually defeated the Spurs in 2012 and 2016, eliminating both teams that had Manu Ginobili on it. As a Warrior, Durant continued to torment the Spurs in the 2017 and 2018 Playoffs.</p><h2><b>Tony Parker</b></h2><p>Not only was Ginobili on the 2012, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Spurs teams, but the Spurs also paraded their resident point guard Tony Parker.</p><h2><b>Tim Duncan</b></h2><p>Like Ginobili and Parker, Tim Duncan was the main big man of the 2012, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Spurs teams that failed to advance in the playoffs because of Durant’s teams.</p><h2><b>Pau Gasol</b></h2><p>Although Pau Gasol and the Los Angeles Lakers gave Durant’s Thunder a rude playoff debut, Durant’s teams have tormented Gasol’s postseason runs since then. In the 2012 Playoffs, Durant’s Thunder dispatched Gasol and the Lakers in six games.</p><p>A few years later, Durant led the Warriors past the San Antonio Spurs in their 2017 and 2018 Playoff run-ins. It’s worth noting that these two appearances were Gasol’s final playoff runs.</p><h2><b>Kobe Bryant</b></h2><p>Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant only met twice in the postseason. Although Bryant won the first one, Durant made sure to exact vengeance in their 2012 playoff matchup in the Western Conference Semifinals.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

14 Hall of Famers Kevin Durant eliminated in the playoffs

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-kevin-durant-identifies-issue-must-address');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kevin Durant identifies issue the Suns must address');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kevin-Durant-identifies-issue-Phoenix-needs-to-put-focus-on.jpg"></figure><h1>Kevin Durant identifies issue the Suns must address</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-03T20:45:31-07:00">October 3rd, 8:45pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-03T20:45:31-07:00">October 3rd, 8:45pm</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the Phoenix Suns wrapped up their final day of training camp, forward Kevin Durant echoed a sentiment around the Verizon 5G Performance Center. Shades of high turnovers reminisced from the previous season. Durant spoke with reporters about turnovers needing to be addressed.</p><p>“I think turnovers are the emphasis,” Durant said. “I think that with a year to get on the same, it’s been an emphasis since our first meeting with Coach Bud (Budenholzer), it’s just nipping that in the bud. Making sure that we make the correct play and not try to hit home runs all the time. Sometimes you can try to make the right play and end up turning the ball over. So, you want to try to find that balance.”</p><p>Luckily for the Suns, they brought in two of the premier ball-handlers at the point guard position. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-mike-budenholzer-grayson-allen-tyus-jones-free-agency">Suns signed Tyus Jones,</a> after some convincing from Budenholzer and Grayson Allen. They also landed Monte Morris, another elite backup point guard with one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios across the entire league.</p><p>Jones had <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40654461/suns-signing-tyus-jones-fill-point-guard-vacancy" rel="noopener">a 7.35 assist-to-turnover ratio last season</a>, the highest of any player in a season since individual turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78. Throughout that time, he has the three highest marks in a season with 7.04 in 2021-22 and 6.96 in 2018-19. On the flip side, Morris has an impressive ratio of his own.</p><p>The Suns’ backup point guard landed in the top 5 of that category and 2022-23, <a href="https://gophnx.com/monte-morris-breakdown-suns-expectations-backup-guard/#:~:text=Monte%20Morris%20has%20285%20turnovers,a%205.04%20AST%2FTOV%20ratio.&amp;text=One%20of%20his%20nicknames%20on,incredible%2C%20but%20it's%20also%20fitting." rel="noopener">he was first in that category</a> with a 5.43 ratio. Before last season’s injury-riddled campaign, he proved to be efficient and careful with the ball. Meanwhile, he was setting up teammates with easy opportunities to score.</p><p>Statistically speaking, Phoenix had <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=AST_TO" rel="noopener">one of the worst assist-to-turnover ratios</a> across the entire league. They were 24th in the metric, the worst of any NBA Playoff team. To make things worse, they were 25th in the league for turnovers allowed per game. Once again, they had the highest of any playoff team.</p><p>Regardless of the turnover discrepancies from the season prior, the Suns are looking to flip the script. Signing two true point guards can help open the offense and spread the ball more efficiently. As Devin Booker says, limiting turnovers starts with an everyday task.</p><p>“We know how talented we are offensively but the quicker we can tell, the quicker the communication is open between everybody and holding each other accountable,” Booker said. We’re doing a pretty good job.”</p><h2><b>How can Kevin Durant and the Suns fix their turnover issue?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kevin-Durant-identifies-key-issue-for-the-Suns.jpg"><figcaption>© Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-phoenix-hiring-mike-budenholzer-to-8-figure-annual-contract-right-after-firing-frank-vogel">Budenholzer signed with the Suns</a>, it already looked like a positive step. He brings in an offensive identity that loves the three-point shot and spacing. However, Budenholzer also has one of the most disciplined offenses. As a <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/budenmi99c.html" rel="noopener">two-time Coach of the Year</a>, Budenholzer went to the playoffs for nine seasons. He eventually won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks against his current team, the Suns.</p><p>He brings a philosophy that requires energy and precision. With the athleticism and star power on the roster, Budenholzer doesn’t want to change the way they play. Rather, he wants to add to what they already possess. As a result, training camp has been fast, energetic, and simply fun. Suns guard Bradley Beal talked about incorporating Bud’s system and seeing the vision.</p><p>“We just playing faster, so that’s what we want to do and that is the type of team we want to be,” Beal said. “We’re doing a lot of running, just making sure we’re in shape and we’re competing at our level. We want to defend at a high level too, but more than anything, it’s just a matter of playing faster.”</p><p>The fundamentals are essential even for the older veterans on the team. Beal, Booker, and Durant have made a plethora of all-star games, and All-NBA teams and have won championships. Despite this, the fundamentals are how the superstars stay at the pinnacle of their careers for so long. </p><p>As the Suns take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, the first game of preseason basketball will offer a variety of questions. How quickly will the offense adapt to Budenholzer’s system? Will the turnovers be reduced thanks to the system, as well as Jones and Morris handling the rock? Finally, can the Suns play to their true potential offensively? That remains a mystery but fans might get some answers before the NBA season officially tip off.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kevin Durant identifies issue the Suns must address

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-kevin-durant-transcendent-goat-admission-lou-williams');   ga('set', 'title', 'Suns’ Kevin Durant draws ‘transcendent’ GOAT admission from Lou Williams');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kevin-Durant-draws-transcendent-GOAT-admission-from-Lou-Williams.jpg"></figure><h1>Suns’ Kevin Durant draws ‘transcendent’ GOAT admission from Lou Williams</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-03T11:08:49-07:00">October 3rd, 11:08am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-03T11:08:50-07:00">October 3rd, 11:08am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-owner-mat-ishbia-drops-delusional-rant-on-phoenixs-roster">The Phoenix Suns feel like</a> they have one of the best rosters in the NBA heading into the 2024-25 season despite their best player <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-magic-johnson-special-birthday-message-kevin-durant">Kevin Durant recently turning 36 years old</a>. Durant proved during the Olympics in Paris this summer that he still has a lot left in the tank, but it’s unclear how the Suns have made any significant progress since their first round sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves last spring.</p><p>Still, there’s no disputing the greatness that Durant has displayed throughout his career. One person who had an up close look at Durant’s talents during the 2019 playoffs was then Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams, who recently took to the Big Podcast with Shaq to discuss <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1841888047161340103" rel="noopener">why he thinks</a> Durant belongs in the GOAT discussion.</p><p>“I think so, Kevin Durant is a transcendent talent bro, we’ve never seen anybody like KD,” said Williams.</p><p>Williams then went on to explain why he felt that Durant’s decision to join the Golden State Warriors in 2016 may have tainted his basketball legacy.</p><p>“The timing was bad when he went to Golden State,” said Williams. “I think any other year in his career, he goes there, it’s not looked at as that particular thing.”</p><p>Durant’s move to the Warriors was indeed a highly controversial decision that many fans felt ruined the competitive balance in the NBA for the ensuing three years.</p><h2><b>Can the Suns compete in 2024?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Durant-at-practice.jpg"><figcaption>Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While there weren’t a whole lot of changes to the roster, the Suns did scapegoat head coach Frank Vogel for their struggles this offseason and brought in new head coach Mike Budenholzer, who won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 season.</p><p>Theoretically, guard Devin Booker should be in the heart of his prime currently as he enters year ten in the league, and Bradley Beal, when he’s healthy, can still put the ball in the basket at an elite level.</p><p>However, the Suns’ supporting cast still objectively leaves quite a bit to be desired. While Tyus Jones is a solid point guard, it’s unclear whether he could be the starting guard on a championship level team, which the Suns consider themselves to be.</p><p>Meanwhile, Jusif Nurkic did not have a great time trying to content with the Timberwolves’ big men in the playoffs last year.</p><p>In any case, Phoenix is set to get its season underway vs the Los Angeles Clippers on October 23 on the road.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Suns’ Kevin Durant draws ‘transcendent’ GOAT admission from Lou Williams

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-magic-johnson-special-birthday-message-kevin-durant');   ga('set', 'title', 'Magic Johnson sends special birthday message for Suns’ Kevin Durant');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Suns-news-Magic-Johnson-sends-special-birthday-message-for-Kevin-Durant.jpg"></figure><h1>Magic Johnson sends special birthday message for Suns’ Kevin Durant</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-29T18:18:07-07:00">September 29th, 6:18pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-29T18:18:07-07:00">September 29th, 6:18pm</time><address><a>Michael Aaron Gomez</a>Michael Aaron Gomez is a creative writer and longtime NBA fan. He has been a fan of the Lakers since the three-peat but believes LeBron James is the greatest player of all time.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant celebrated his birthday on Sunday, and the 36-year-old forward received a special greeting from Lakers legend Magic Johnson, out of many other members of the NBA brotherhood. Magic sent his birthday message to Durant on X, formerly Twitter, with a photo of two cakes with “Happy Birthday” on them.</p><p>“Happy birthday to Kevin Durant!” Johnson’s <a href="https://x.com/MagicJohnson/status/1840516018701324612" rel="noopener">post said</a>. “KD is one of my favorite players and people and his mother Wanda, is truly a special lady. He’s one of the best athlete entrepreneurs out there and he, along with his business partner Rich Kleiman, are currently building a business empire.”</p><h2><b>The Suns with Durant</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Kevin-Durant-celebrating-Olympic-gold.jpg"><figcaption>© Rob Schumacher-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As Magic Johnson said, Kevin Durant is building <a href="https://35v.tv/" rel="noopener">a business empire</a> through Boardroom (a sports, media, and entertainment brand) and 35 Ventures (a “family office” with various investments), preparing perhaps for life after basketball.</p><p>Still, Durant’s basketball career remains in great shape. After sustaining injuries that could have ended other players’ careers, the two-time NBA champion and four-time gold medalist <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-kevin-durant-secures-olympics-first-gold-medal-win-vs-france">KD has won the most gold medals</a> of any male basketball player at the 2024 Paris Olympics.</p><p>After his Big 3 in Brooklyn failed to result in rings, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-kevin-durant-traded-by-brooklyn-to-suns">Durant went to the Suns via trade</a>, pairing him with another dynamite scorer in Devin Booker. Their partnership became an offense in itself, as the two players learned to coexist quickly, even as at first it involved simply taking turns shooting the ball from mid-range.</p><p>However, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-phoenix-blockbuster-bradley-beal-trade-wizards">Suns traded for Bradley Beal</a> after their playoff defeat to the eventual champions Denver Nuggets in 2023. This new Big 3 can put up a ton of points on the board, but outscoring opponents really doesn’t work in the postseason. Even the loaded Golden State Warriors roster paid attention to defense.</p><p>So, the Minnesota Timberwolves swept the Suns, smothering the Big 3 with excellent team defense. All but one of the Wolves’ wins were in double-digits.</p><p>The experience resulted in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-frank-vogel-fired-disappointing-playoff-exit-vs-timberwolves">firing of coach Frank Vogel</a>, whose defensive coaching philosophies were a mismatch for an offense-heavy team in the first place.</p><p>After the loss, the Suns signed Tyus Jones to help set the table for the Big 3, whose offense at times defaulted to Booker and Durant shooting the leather off the ball in isolation plays especially when they’re trying to climb out of big holes.</p><h2><b>Outlook</b></h2><p>However, the Suns’ success relies on Beal to break the defense open to relieve the defensive pressure on the two main guys. As constructed, the team is far from a title contender, but if Beal doesn’t play to his contract then Kevin Durant and the Suns might consider shaking up their roster again.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Magic Johnson sends special birthday message for Suns’ Kevin Durant

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-kevin-durant-devin-booker-new-teammate-named-starter-2024-25-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kevin Durant, Devin Booker’s new Suns teammate named starter for 2024-25 season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Suns-news-Kevin-Durant-Devin-Bookers-new-teammate-named-starter-for-2024-25-season.jpg"></figure><h1>Kevin Durant, Devin Booker’s new Suns teammate named starter for 2024-25 season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-27T13:03:40-07:00">September 27th, 1:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-27T13:03:40-07:00">September 27th, 1:03pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When the Phoenix Suns signed <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-tyus-jones-agrees-to-3-3-million-contract">Tyrus Jones to a one-year, $3.3 million contract</a> during the offseason, they envisioned high expectations for the 10-year point guard. Jones took on his first full-time role during his lone season with the Washington Wizards in 2023-24. Proving himself as a starting point guard, Jones averaged career bests in points (12.0) and assists (7.3), and 1.1 steals per game while starting in every one of his 66 games last season. It was enough to convince Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer to name Jones his starting point guard ahead of training camp during a Q&amp;A, per NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner.</p><p>Budenholzer <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/the-qa-mike-budenholzer-ready-to-lead-suns" rel="noopener">spoke to his confidence</a> in Tyrus’ point-guard abilities.</p><p>“Certainly, we feel like Tyus has established himself as a great starting point guard in our league, and he <i>will</i> be our starter,” Budenholzer confirmed. “When you put him out there with Kevin, Brad, Book, and Nurk [Jusuf Nurkic], we feel like we’ve got a strong starting five. And a really strong bench behind them.”</p><h2><b>Mike Budenholzer believes Tyrus Jones is an ideal fit for the Suns’</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Suns-head-coach-Mike-Budenholzer.jpg"><figcaption>Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK</figcaption></figure><p>After the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-frank-vogel-fired-disappointing-playoff-exit-vs-timberwolves">Suns fired former head coach Frank Vogel</a> following their disappointing first-round sweep against All-Star Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix named Mike Budenholzer its new head coach in May. After taking a season off following the Milwaukee Bucks relieving the five-year head coach (2018-23) of its duties at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, Budenholzer steps into a new chapter of his coaching career.</p><p>He also believes that Jones’ style of play is ideal for leading the Suns’ offense.</p><p>“Tyus can help us play faster. He’s great with the kick-aheads, he’s great with getting teammates involved in-transition,” Budenholzer added. “But then also in the halfcourt. He’s a guy who has always been a high assists guy, low turnovers. He can get us organized. Everyone talks about how much talent we have. Hopefully he can put them in positions to be their best.”</p><p>Budenholzer guided the Milwaukee Bucks to their first championship in 50 years in 2021.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kevin Durant, Devin Booker’s new Suns teammate named starter for 2024-25 season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/what-happened-to-player-first-dubbed-next-version-kevin-durant-emoni-bates');   ga('set', 'title', 'What happened to the player 1st dubbed the next version of Kevin Durant');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/0What-happened-to-the-player-first-dubbed-the-next-version-of-Kevin-Durant0.jpg"></figure><h1>What happened to the player 1st dubbed the next version of Kevin Durant</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-26T09:43:43-07:00">September 26th, 9:43am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-26T09:43:43-07:00">September 26th, 9:43am</time><address><a>Derick Quinanola</a>With a proficient background in basketball, NFL, and football, Derick Quinanola uses his knowledge to write blogs for readers that are both entertaining and informative. He has been writing with ClutchPoints for years and has developed an understanding of the type of content fans resonate with.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Evergreen</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Social media can make anyone look like a superstar these days. Thanks to a viral mixtape that was made when he was in 7th grade, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-draft-news-emoni-bates-reveals-reason-why-he-could-be-one-of-the-best-players-ever">Emoni Bates became a household name</a>. By the time he was 15 years old, scouts and analysts were already calling him <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/emoni-bates-high-school-class-of-2022-one-and-done-nba-033906552.html" rel="noopener">one of the best high school basketball prospects</a> since LeBron James.</p><p>Bates’ potential seemed limitless, and a spot on an NBA All-Star team appeared to be a foregone conclusion. But as time wore on, his path to an NBA career was more than a straight line.</p><h2><b>Why Emoni Bates was dubbed the next Kevin Durant</b></h2><p>There’s a reason Bates’ 7th-grade high school mixtape went viral. He averaged 28.5 points and 10.2 rebounds en route to Lincoln’s first-ever state title. Bates then ended that year by becoming the only underclassman in history to win the prestigious Gatorade National Player of the Year award. Standing 6’10” with a slender frame and a similar offensive game to Kevin Durant, it was hard for scouts and fans not to compare him to the future Hall of Famer. Even Durant himself endorsed the comparisons when he was <a href="https://x.com/boardroom/status/1217193971593682945?s=20" rel="noopener">asked in an interview</a> which high school hoopers impressed him the most.</p><p>At the peak of his high school career, Bates was the top-ranked player in his class, even after skipping his senior year. He initially committed to play for Tom Izzo at Michigan State, but de-committed a few months later. This decision led his basketball journey to take an unexpected twist.</p><h2><b>Bates struggled to find a role on the Memphis Tigers</b></h2><p>Bates decommitted from Michigan State and instead chose to play for Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers. Expectations remained the same for Bates, but once he made the move, he struggled to meet them. In his freshman season at Memphis, he averaged a modest 9.7 points per game. Not horrible, but it is a far cry from the scoring numbers fans were used to. Outside his struggles on offense, scouts were also beginning to question his capabilities on defense.</p><p>Following his underwhelming freshman season, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/memphis-news-tigers-star-emoni-bates-makes-big-decision-on-future">Bates transferred to Eastern Michigan</a> to try and regain his form. However, before the season even began, Bates was <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/34624247/former-high-school-star-emoni-bates-arrested-having-gun-car-was-driving" rel="noopener">arrested on two gun charges.</a> One was for carrying a concealed weapon and the other was altering identification marks on a firearm. Bates was eventually able to work on a plea deal and put up impressive numbers his sophomore year, averaging close to 20 points per game.</p><h2><b>He was eventually drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Emoni-Bates.jpg"><figcaption>David Richard-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Though his draft stock had fallen considerably, Bates declared for the 2023 NBA draft. He was eventually selected 49th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. As a rookie, Bates primarily spent time in the G-League, developing his game and proving that he belongs in the NBA. In 10 games, Bates <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/gleague/players/b/batesem01d.html" rel="noopener">averaged 24.8 points</a>, 5.1 rebounds, and shot 45.7% from the field. Though he hasn’t made an immediate impact in the NBA just yet, it’s also <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cavs-emoni-bates-wraps-up-nba-all-star-2024-journey-nba-g-league-up-next-game">too early to count Emoni Bates out</a>.</p><p>At just 20 years old, he has plenty of time to develop into the player many believed he could be. The comparisons to Kevin Durant may have been premature, but Bates still has the potential to have a long career in the NBA.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

What happened to the player 1st dubbed the next version of Kevin Durant

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-kevin-durant-perfect-lineup-includes-lebron-james-luka-doncic');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kevin Durant’s perfect lineup includes LeBron James, Luka Doncic');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Suns-Kevin-Durant-Luka-Doncic-LeBron-James.jpg"></figure><h1>Kevin Durant’s perfect lineup includes LeBron James, Luka Doncic</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-13T07:03:45-07:00">September 13th, 7:03am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-13T07:03:45-07:00">September 13th, 7:03am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>If Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant could put together a lineup of any current NBA players, who would he pick?</p><p>On an episode of Boardroom Talks where he played a game of NBA 2K25 against New York Jets superstar Sauce Gardner, Durant was asked by host Gabe Oshin who his <a href="https://youtu.be/A0-7J15ISNM?si=cNNcsPMrxRsal6S-" rel="noopener">perfect starting lineup</a> is. With all the best basketball players to choose from, he wasted no time listing his lineup while playing against Gardner.</p><p>Durant immediately named himself, Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Joel Embiid and then pondered some three-point marksmen, landing on Klay Thompson. It’s not hard to put together an imposing lineup out of every NBA player and Durant indeed cleared the bar.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kevin Durant names his perfect starting 5 👀</p><p>🪄 Luka Doncic<br>🎯 Klay Thompson<br>🏀 Himself<br>👑 LeBron James<br>💪 Joel Embiid</p><p>Thoughts? 🤔</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/boardroom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@boardroom</a>)<a href="https://t.co/U30rwSsKpZ">pic.twitter.com/U30rwSsKpZ</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1834464527280210266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Kevin Durant picks perfect starting lineup among current NBA stars</b></h2><p>As much fun as it is to see who a player picks, it’s also a little interesting to see who they don’t — after all, if they don’t pick one of their most notable teammates, current or former, that means they hate their guts and always have.</p><p>Durant chose not to name Stephen Curry or Devin Booker to the team despite both of them slotting in nicely into the need for shooting that Thompson was called on for. He was seemingly looking for more of a wing after picking Doncic to run the point. It’s also somewhat interesting that he picked <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-devin-booker-doesnt-hold-back-on-phoenix-after-getting-torched-by-luka-doncic-in-latest-loss">an all-time Suns killer</a>.</p><p>Thompson makes perfect sense as a shooting threat to space the floor for the rest of the superstars even if his best days are behind him. The other four can create a great shot each and every time, especially after Durant, James and Embiid played together for Team USA in the Olympics.</p><p>Durant can create his custom team in NBA 2K and see how it fares, though he may not be too included to play the game after he was given <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-kevin-durant-not-happy-nba-2k25-rating">a player rating he dislikes</a>.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
27.1	6.6	5.0	1.2	0.9

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
27.1	6.6	5.0	1.2	0.9

Kevin Durant news

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