Poll Reveals How NBA Fans Feel About Kevin Durant - It's Not Good

07/05/2024 22:10

Longtime statistician/analyst Nate Silver's recent study, while unscientific, is not great news for Kevin Durant.

Silver conducted a survey of his Twitter followers, assessing 27 all-time NBA legends on the metric of "vibes."

"This is deliberately subjective. Use whatever criteria you want, including: leadership, iconicness, historical importance, being a winner, charisma and likability," Silver said.

Silver tallied the votes, and then averaged them out, with "great vibes" being worth 100 points, "good vibes" 67, "mediocre vibes" 33, and "bad vibes" registering 0.

Durant came in at No. 25, ahead of only Chris Paul, who seemingly has a way of cultivating enemies, and Karl Malone, who is an all-time great but also an accused sexual predator.

Silver says he thinks that Durant not being given enough credit for the two titles he won with the Golden State Warriors might play a role here, but adds that the current Phoenix star's decline in the public eye is probably more recent due to his tenures with the Nets and Suns.

"Both Brooklyn and Phoenix have consistently been regarded as championship contenders during KD's tenure there," Silver explained. "And they've consistently found new ways to disappoint and infuriate those who believed in them — or bet on them — from KD's foot-on-the-line against the Bucks, to Kyrie Irving's refusal to be vaccinated, to the Suns not owning their own first round pick until 2031 and yet still not making it out of the first round. Not all of that is KD's fault exactly — but he's got a bit of the Chris Paul Raincloud Syndrome."

For what it's worth, Bill Russell has the "best" overall vibes, followed by Shaquille O'Neal, Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson and Dirk Nowitzki.

Durant has the 3rd worst vibes out of any player in the Twitter poll I conducted. Nearly in Karl Malone territory. Not good. pic.twitter.com/t4ZrIaKujc

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) May 7, 2024

Michael Jordan only checks in at No. 11, while LeBron is ranked 20th and Kobe Bryant 22nd. Obviously, if one were ranking these guys by pure basketball ability, all three--and KD--would be much higher.

Durant and the Suns were recently swept out of the Western Conference Playoffs in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves.