Even though Kevin Durant has continued to play at a very high level over the last few years, some feel he made a big mistake by leaving the Golden State Warriors in 2019.
In three seasons there, he had made three trips to the NBA Finals while winning two world championships and two Finals MVP awards.
But since then, it has been a struggle for the future Hall of Famer.
StatMuse posted a sobering stat about what Durant has dealt with since departing from Golden State: He has won only two playoff series but has had a whopping six different head coaches.
Kevin Durant since leaving Golden State:
6 — Head coaches
2 — Playoff series wins pic.twitter.com/q7kf2O0BEV— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 9, 2024
Durant sat out the 2019-20 season while recovering from the torn Achilles he suffered in the previous June’s championship series, and that year, head coach Kenny Atkinson quit late in the season and was replaced by Jacque Vaughn.
With Durant set to return the following season, they hired Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash to replace Vaughn, even though Nash had zero coaching experience.
But perhaps Nash never had the full respect of his players, particularly Durant’s co-star Kyrie Irving, and Nash left early last season.
Durant was traded to the Phoenix Suns a few months later, who were coached by Monty Williams, but Williams was replaced by Frank Vogel a year ago after they lost in the second round of the playoffs.
Vogel was fired on Thursday, and thus Durant is set to have yet another head coach next season.
The Suns have as much star power as any other team in the NBA, but their roster deficiencies will make it hard for any head coach to get them over the hump anytime soon.
Meanwhile, even though the Warriors have been in steady decline lately, Steve Kerr has remained their head coach and is set to enter his 11th season at their helm this fall.
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