Kevin Durant is a phenomenal basketball player, has been for the last decade-plus but his leadership abilities have been tested time and time again, resulting in some lackluster results. Being the number one on any team brings with it a lot of expectations and responsibility, something that not everyone can handle including Durant.

Seattle/Oklahoma City

It's difficult to get up to speed in the NBA but Durant wasted no time after his lone college season at the University of Texas, averaging over 20 points in the league in 2007-08 for the Seattle Supersonics. In the succeeding two seasons, the team moved to Oklahoma City and drafted Russell Westbrook and James Harden to complement their franchise player in Durant.

• 2009-10, Durant led the league with 30.1 points per game but the team was bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Understandable for a young team, absolutely.

• Lost next season in Western Conference Finals, NBA finals the year after.

The trio of Durant, Westbrook, and Harden was broken up when Harden left for Houston but OKC was still a great team on paper. In reality, the team underachieved in the ensuing years when it really mattered, losing in the Conference Finals twice and Semis once, always being captained by Durant who seemed to have trouble being the main attraction, galvanizing the team and making it happen in the playoffs.

Golden State

He then jumped ship and went to Golden State to play with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. There it all opened up for Durant because all pressure was off. He was always a scoring machine, never a doubt about that, but couldn't cope with the pressure.

• Playing second fiddle to Curry, he kept up his great production and won two NBA championships, snagging a couple of finals MVP awards in the process.

• Something that can't be ignored was his grit and determination to come back in the 2019 Finals after injuring his achilles, only to tear it in that game and lose a season recovering.

He got his rings, more feathers in the cap, then set out to do it himself as the main guy again.

Brooklyn

Durant, together with Kyrie Irving, James Harden and good role players, looked unstoppable on paper for the 2020-21 season. They were. Durant in his comeback season played really well, averaging nearly 27 points and was the strongest member of the Brooklyn Nets big three. However, that resulted in a game seven, overtime loss in which Durant went 0-7 from the field in the overtime period.

This past season, Brooklyn had its share of issues surrounding Kyrie Irving and James Harden but showed up and showed out in the regular season, averaging 29.9 points but Brooklyn was beaten in the first round of the playoffs.

Leadership is Not For Everyone

There's a lot that goes into winning an NBA Championship. Many things have to go right and there's a decent amount of luck involved. However, some people just seem to be able to will it to happen. To refuse to lose and not sound off on Twitter to any random person that has an insult to throw. To take the clutch shots and make them nearly every time. Does this sound like Durant? Don't think so.

Mound Visit

Saints Sports Network is a Christian group that brings you interesting sports coverage. Our name comes from Ephesians 2:18-21 where it notes that all Christians are saints in God's eyes. Therefore we are saints who write about sports but also want to make sure to share the Gospel. That's where Mound Visit comes into play because we all need a visit to the mound from God in good times and bad to recenter our lives and trust in him. We'll do that by highlighting a Bible verse for you to think and pray about in each newsletter that you receive from us.

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