Kevin Durant Is the Best Show in Basketball Right Now

We’ve spent Kevin Durant’s entire career in disbelief. In disbelief of what he is, definitely — a 6-foot-9 shooting guard with unlimited range, who led the league in scoring three years in a row before he turned 24. But that’s only part of it. For most of his career we’ve been in disbelief over what he might do one day.

Even when he was dropping 30 every night and going to the Finals, I couldn’t help wonder how much more impossible he could get. His jumper’s as deadly as anyone on earth … he can get his shot off over anyone … he’s the most efficient scorer in basketball … his handle’s gotten better every year … he might be better at drawing contact than anyone in the league. So what happens when he takes every unfair skill he has and maxes out on everything?

I’m pretty sure that’s what’s happening right now. He’s been amazing the last few years, but now he’s hitting that next level we’ve been wondering about. Russell Westbrook’s hurt, Durant’s better than ever, and the combination of those two things means we get to watch him go scorched earth pretty much every night.

Look at Friday.

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Or what he did to Portland last night.

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He makes it look so effortless, and that makes it all twice as ruthless.

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Chris Ryan mentioned Durant earlier this week, but we’re doubling up here because he’s just that incredible right now. He added another 46 last night, including 11 in the final three and a half minutes to turn a five-point Blazers lead into an eight-point Thunder win. He’s averaging 37 points per game in January on 52.2 percent shooting. It’s out of control.

You watch him like this, and you don’t even know what to text your friends or tweet, because you can only say “HOLY SHIT KEVIN DURANT” so many times. So you just keep watching and root for it to get crazier.

You get pissed off when Reggie Jackson doesn’t pass him the ball on two consecutive possessions, and then you lose your mind all over again when KD finally gets it back at midcourt, and calmy walks into a pull-up 3 over two defenders, just to demoralize Portland a little more.

Then you check the schedule to see when OKC plays again, because for the next few weeks, it’s probably a good idea to just not miss Thunder games.  So … Durant vs. the Spurs on Wednesday?

KD’s in god mode, so Pop and the godless Spurs on a back-to-back should be a fun way to level the playing field. But, really, I don’t even care if he’s got enough left to take down the Spurs by himself; it’ll just be awesome to watch him try. The disbelief with Durant isn’t about “what he might do” anymore, it’s about everything he does every night.

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Enjoy the show, because it’s only getting more ridiculous.

Filed Under: NBA, Kevin Durant, God Mode, Thunder

Andrew Sharp is a staff editor at Grantland.

Archive @ andrewsharp