Change! Durant will no longer join forces with super giants this time. Will KD s historical status be re-written?

Recently, CBS columnist Brad Botkin expressed his views on Durant's joining the Rockets. In his opinion, the difference between Durant's team change this time is that he no longer joins with superstars, and his historical status is also expected to be re-written. Here are some of Botkin's views -

This is the latest chapter of Durant's "Champion Journey"! On the surface, it is indeed the case. Durant is one of the iconic figures in the NBA's "mercenary era". Since leaving Oklahoma City, he never really seems to have built a sense of belonging with any team. He is like a loan superstar, playing on a team for several seasons until the championship window is closed and then jumping to the next stop.

He's not just him, but he's the top player besides James - and James is almost the designer of the Super Team model, while Durant is trying to replicate it in Golden State, Brooklyn and Phoenix. The difference is that James won the championship in all three teams, and after Durant left the Warriors, he lost a crushing defeat on the championship despite not being a personal reason.

Of course, he did win two championships at the Warriors, but in public opinion, many people even regard these achievements as his "stain". The 73-win Warriors who just eliminated their Thunder team in 2016 was Durant's "original sin", and many people have changed their views on him forever.

Durant can be said to not care what others think, maybe he really doesn't care. He shouldn't care, either, because he is one of the greatest players in history, and neither Brooklyn nor Phoenix's failures should be attributed to him - unless "a high salary leads to insufficient depth in the team" is to be a charge of all super giants. The Nets' chaos originated from Irving and Harden being injured at the most critical moment, which is that simple. Durant performed well in every stop.

But Durant is also a man, he is extremely proud and competitive. If you think there is no thought in his basketball mind that he wants to prove that "you can win without Curry", then IMHO, you are crazy. From this perspective, the Rockets provide all the necessary elements that make it possible for him to rewrite—or at least substantially modify—the so-called “historical status.”

1. He no longer joins the team where the superstar is located. This is the key. In Golden State, he took over the dynasty created by Curry; in Brooklyn, he joined forces with Irving and then welcomed Harden; in the Suns, he partnered with Booker and then joined by Bill. And in Houston, he is the only superstar. Therefore, if the Rockets win the championship - in an era of the most competitive and balanced pattern in NBA history, this is an extremely high goal - he will gain the majority of public recognition.

2. The Rockets are ready to take off

Although there were no superstars before Durant's arrival, the Rockets are full of talent: first of all-star Shin Kyung, and Amen Thompson, who is talented and perhaps the best defender in the league except Wenban Yama. The team has top coaches and top defense, and now there are top scorers.

To win the championship, you must join a team that has the ability to compete for the championship, but it cannot be a team that has the ability to compete for the championship before you arrive - this is the root cause of the damage to Durant's historical status.

joined the Rockets, Durant joined a team that was eliminated in the first round but on the verge of rising. As a history-level single player, he can fill the gap on the Rockets' offensive end: the Rockets ranked 9th in singles last season, but only ranked 27th in each leg. This is the perfect script to rewrite historical status.

3. He stayed in the West

This is a subtle key point in Durant's promotion of historic status. If he goes to the East, those who will never let him go will have ready-made excuses to continue criticizing him for "taking shortcuts." But in the West, he is still in the "Devil Division".

Any top player, regardless of the team's environment, will have a significant improvement in his historical status as long as he can win the Western Conference. Even James, who has locked in a GOAT discussion seat, will take a step further if he can break out from the West. If Durant does it, even those who have been hacking him since he joined the Warriors, he has to admit that he is not only a great player at the history level, but also the undisputed number one core of the champion team.

Of course, it's all just discussion. Durant is an all-time superstar. From a competitive perspective, I don't like him joining the Warriors back then, but he always said that the decision was not to "win the championship firmly", but to seize the opportunity in one lifetime - to achieve growth with a completely different basketball experience.

He was only 27 years old when he made that decision. We forget that these players are also humans - how many young people do you know who are 27 years old and have endless wealth and resources that will refuse the opportunity to try new things and live in a new city? Change is terrible for people who don’t have much choice in life, but when the real risks in life are removed, it’s like attending a new party every place? Come on, to be honest, who has never been tossed when we were in our 20s?

So don't hold the airs. Durant has always been great and will continue to be great in the Rockets. There is an added bonus: If he really cares about the opinions of the average fan, it is a great opportunity to change their minds – and this may be the last stop of his legendary career.