As ESPN slowly rolls out its NBA player rankings in advance of the 2022-23 season, last year’s top player has taken a tumble down the list. Kevin Durant dropped from No. 1 all the way to No. 8 after a disappointing season with the Brooklyn Nets.
The 33-year-old lit it up with 29.9 points per game last year, but he saw a drop in his efficiency. His three-point shooting dropped to 38%, his effective field goal percentage was down from 61% to 57% and KD missed 27 games with injury. This after playing less than half of Brooklyn’s games in the shortened 2020-21 season. Meanwhile his team, decimated by injuries, James Harden’s trade demand and Kyrie Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated, dropped to 7th place in the East and got swept by Boston in the first round.
Durant also demanded a trade from Brooklyn, although he is entering the first year of a four-year contract extension he signed a little more than a year ago. He also demanded the Nets fire GM Sean Marks and Steve Nash, something they also declined to do. KD seems as unstoppable as ever on the offensive end, but as he gets older, the headache of having him as a teammate starts to outweigh his still-impressive skills, especially as he seems to enter a period of decline.
In an even bigger upset than Durant dropping seven spots, he hasn’t mentioned the rankings on social media! Yet.