Kevin Durant views Michael Jordan as ‘inspiration.’ It has him positioned for history

HOUSTON — Watching Kevin Durant play the game of basketball is like breaking down a puzzle. Creating variety in his offensive attack and keeping defenses guessing is a crucial part of the mind games.

Like most great scorers, Durant has mastered the craft over time. And for nearly two decades in the NBA, he has frustrated countless defenders with that craft.

Entering the weekend, the unsolved riddle that is Durant has resulted in 32,242 points scored for his NBA career. Fifty-one more, and the Houston Rockets star will surpass Michael Jordan, a player he has repeatedly considered the greatest of all time, for fifth place on the league’s career scoring list.

The Rockets host the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, then the Miami Heat on Saturday. Houston then travels to Chicago for a game Monday against the Bulls. The 16-time All-Star and 2014 NBA MVP accomplishing a milestone so revered at the United Center — “The House That Jordan Built” — would make for a new core memory.

“Jordan has always been my inspiration. There’s a reason why I wanted to be able to knock down those shots,” Durant said in a one-on-one interview with The Athletic. “He was always unstoppable, but when he became a midrange maestro, you never knew how he would attack you. You never knew what MJ was going to do.

“He scared defenders every night, and I wanted to put that same kind of fear in the defender who’s guarding me.”

Earlier this season, Durant passed Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points) and Dirk Nowitzki (31,560) on the NBA scoring list. While those moments were special, passing Jordan brings a different level of reverence, given how firmly he’s been etched into basketball lore as perhaps the most unstoppable scorer the game has seen.

Jordan’s combination of explosive athleticism, refined skill and ferocious competitiveness is what separates him, in many people’s eyes, as the greatest to ever play the game. In Durant, the game had never seen a 6-foot-11 player blend those similar guard-like perimeter skills, a killer instinct in the clutch and elite shot making from every level of the floor.

If there were ever a prototype for a player with the complete offensive package, Durant, to many, is it.

“There aren’t any real weaknesses in his game,” Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams said.

And soon, Durant will be able to say he ranks above the player he feels did it best.

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As talk around Durant’s next major milestone started to heat up, one question needed an answer.

It wasn’t about him passing Jordan or his legacy as one of the top bucket-getters the league has seen. He was asked to make a simple choice: hesi pull-up or one-dribble pull-up?

“Man, that’s a tough one,” Durant said, then paused.

As Durant continues his ascension up the league’s scoring list, it was only natural to consider the signature shots that defined the legends he now stands beside. Dirk had his one-legged fadeaway. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had his patented sky hook. Kobe Bryant — fourth on the all-time scoring list with 33,643 points — and Jordan had their iconic fadeaway jumpers.

What separates Durant, though, is that his brilliance as a scorer can’t be captured by a single move. Those indelible images could be pull-up jumpers after freezing defenders with his hesitation move, or they could come off one-dribble drives as he carves into open spaces below the 3-point line.

The entire offensive menu is available when Durant is on the floor.

“He’s willing to shoot from pretty much anywhere,” Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday said of Durant, “and he can hit all of those shots at a high rate.”

Moving past Jordan will further cement Durant’s place as one of the most gifted scorers the game has seen. He’s shown himself to be one of the more efficient shooters in the history of the game, whether he’s in the midrange, at the free-throw line or beyond the 3-point line. His release on his jumper is so high that it’s almost impossible to contest.

Parts of Durant’s legacy will be complicated to some because he’s played with five different teams, and his two championship rings — and two NBA Finals MVPs — came as a member of Golden State Warriors teams that started four likely Hall of Famers.

Still, it’s obvious how much respect Durant’s peers have for him as an all-time great and an example of the hard work that’s required to reach the incredible heights he’s eclipsed. For many, he represents what the ideal “pure scorer” looks like. He doesn’t look for ways to manipulate officials. He doesn’t rely solely on his size or athleticism to create shots at the rim. He doesn’t jack up a bunch of 3-pointers.

Since entering the league in 2007, Durant’s jumper has been considered a thing of beauty, a weapon that’s helped him defeat all of the complex defensive schemes teams try to throw at him. There’s no better way to simplify the game than creating space and shooting over the person in front of you, and Durant has been one of the best at doing it. Some of the most difficult shots in the game — shots that others are taught to avoid — are those he can make in his sleep.

“I think the midrange is one of those things where they never know when it’s coming,” Durant said. “Even though I’m a midrange shooter, it still feels like they don’t know when I’m going to pull up. The unpredictable nature of the shot drew me to it, and I wanted to make it a primary part of my game.”

Per Stathead, Durant is among the 214 players to attempt at least 5,000 jump shots during the NBA’s play-by-play era, which began in 1996-97. Durant ranks No. 4 among that group, shooting 44.6 percent on his jumpers. During that same span, Durant has made 1,244 jumpers in the playoffs, which trails only Bryant (1,365) and LeBron James (1,332). It should also be noted that James has played in 292 playoff games in his career, while Bryant appeared in 220 playoff games. Durant has only 170 playoff appearances.

When Durant gets to his spot and rises for a jumper, there’s no more helpless feeling for defenders. In most cases, the best they can do is contest and hope for the best.

“You can play the best defense possible against him, feel like you did everything right, then he just rises up and swishes it,” Miami Heat forward Norman Powell said. “All you can do is shake your head.”

Durant credits the long hours he’s spent in the gym and the attention to detail put into his craft for the confidence he’s developed in the most crucial part of his game.

“It’s a tedious process to master your touch. I’m not saying I’ve mastered shooting in general, but (the shots) that work for me, I feel like I’ve mastered,” Durant said. “I learned how to be more patient, to be more decisive with my movements and with my decisions. Just having confidence that, if I don’t have anything, I can rise up and shoot the middy. I can shoot over my guy. I can shoot over two or three guys. When you’re confident in getting to those shots, you can try different things.”

One of the greatest joys Durant quietly experiences during a game is seeing the look of dejection on a defender’s face who has tried everything possible to stop him from scoring. He calls it a “demoralizing feeling.”

“I love it,” Durant said. “It just takes the soul out of people sometimes.”

It’s been that way since 2007.

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So … hesi pull-up or one-dribble pull-up?

“I’m going with the hesi pull,” Durant said.

His answer shouldn’t have been a surprise, considering the two most iconic shots of his career featured this exact move.

The first came in Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals when he drained a long 3-pointer over James that all but sealed Durant’s first NBA championship with the Warriors. A year later, he hit the same shot from nearly the same spot in Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals, putting the Warriors in prime position to win back-to-back titles.

As he further discussed his answer, Durant started mimicking his movements on the floor and explaining how he could create space with his hesitation, how he could use it to freeze defenders. In demonstrating his stepback, he moved so far away that he could barely be heard. He then explained that he first learned the move in 2004 from Keith Williams, a well-known trainer in Washington D.C., who has worked with prominent names like DeMarcus Cousins, Gilbert Arenas and Steve Francis.

“It became my favorite shot,” Durant said.

As Durant talked, another piece of his legacy stood out: a maniacal love for the game and the minute details required to master his craft. As much as Durant’s physical gifts jump off the page, his peers tend to highlight his reputation as a relentless worker and his obsessive attention to the fundamentals.

And, as much as his star has grown, he still jumps at the opportunity to share his knowledge and passion for the game.

“I’ve spent a lot of time around KD, and guys tend to gravitate to him because of the way he works and his love for the game,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Guys respect him because he’s always willing to share knowledge, and he’s always looking for ways to get better. He’s never satisfied.”

Knowing this, it should be no surprise that he’s still playing as well as ever during his 18th NBA season. (Durant’s been in the league 19 years but missed the 2019-20 season after suffering a ruptured Achilles.) While currently leading a Rockets team with aspirations to make a deep playoff run, Durant is averaging 25.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists while putting up staggering 51.6/40.2/88.5 shooting splits. He’s on pace to join James, the league’s all-time scoring leader, as the only players in NBA history to average 25-plus points while shooting at least 50 percent from the floor after turning 37 years old.

As if it wasn’t remarkable enough that he’s still dominating at this stage of his career, it almost feels miraculous that he’s still at this level nearly seven years after his Achilles injury during the 2019 NBA Finals. Many wondered if Durant would ever be the same, but he has somehow managed to put up even better individual numbers after his Achilles surgery.

As Durant worked his way back, he left no stone unturned. He convened with numerous medical experts. He locked himself in practice gyms with the mission of regaining everything he lost while spending a year rehabbing. That year away from competition, he said, felt like torture, but it also gave Durant a long runway to recalibrate mentally and re-emphasize the importance of all the movements that went into mastering his jumper.

Once he finally came back, he felt as strong as ever.

“I still needed to elevate on my jump shot. I worked to build up my legs. I worked on taking game shots no matter what,” Durant said. “I tried to stay with it. Through that process, I knew I needed to stay sharp. Everything had to be right once I came back.”

Since recovering from such a devastating injury, Durant’s legacy has only grown, and he’s turned into a symbol of hope for players who still want to perform at their peak after recovering from injuries once seen as career-altering, if not career-ending.

In January 2022, as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, Durant was warming up before a game at Barclays Center against the New Orleans Pelicans. As he went through shooting drills, Pelicans forward Trey Murphy, then a rookie, quietly observed.

“Let’s act like we’re talking about something,” he said. “I don’t want people to know I’m out here watching KD.”

Durant’s pregame warm-up routine has become appointment viewing for many — his NBA peers included — because he puts such a great emphasis on precision and intensity. In his first year as a pro, Murphy needed to see it with his own eyes.

Moments like that serve as a reminder of just how much Durant means to the generations that have followed him. His production on the court is undeniable, but his impact on the game may be even greater because he’s shown so many who look up to him what it takes to be among the elite.

In a matter of days, Durant will be able to respectfully say he’s passed one of his favorites because of everything he’s brought to the game.

“I’m constantly telling myself to go game speed every time I’m out there,” he said.

With Durant, his pursuit of greatness and his love for the game are very similar. They never end.