Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns are not where they thought they would be at this point in the season. 29-34, 11th place in the West, what was supposed to be a title contender is fighting to make the play-in.
As far as that is concerned, their 125-116 win over the Mavericks Sunday afternoon does put them in decent position, 1.5 games back of a 10th-place Dallas team that is a gutted shell of itself.
Whatever you think about the Suns’ struggles this season, Durant, who is having another All-NBA level campaign at age 36, has not been the problem. Depth, defense, size coaching and underperformance from key players this season have all contributed. Phoenix is fundamentally flawed.
But since when have talking heads in the media provided level-headed discourse? That isn’t their job. Their job is to stir up drama. True to form, Skip Bayless delivered some particularly clownish comments recently on his show. Notorious for his social media presence, KD found them worthy of a tongue-in-cheek response.
“Semi-Mentally Retired”: Bayless Blasts KD on Show
Here’s what Skip said:
The more I watch him at age 36 the more he looks mentally semi-retired to me. He’s participating in a documentary that’s being made about his life and times, and it just feels to me like he’s winding down his basketball [career], and it’s reflecting in the Suns’ won-lost record because they started off eight and one this year. Since then they’ve gone 20 and 31.
They’re 28 and 33 overall as we speak. That’s four games out of the play-in even though Kevin is putting up tremendous numbers, Kevin Durant-style numbers.
As of Sunday evening, Phoenix has made up some ground in the play-in race, chipping 2.5 games from the Mavs’ lead, but that’s beside the point. Making the play-in, even claiming the 8-seed, would do little to recoup what has been a lost season in the desert. Many would be surprised in the projected 1-seed Thunder didn’t sweep Phoenix in the first round.
What’s absurd about the argument is, well, everything else. “Mentally semi-retired” belongs in some kind of “phrases of the year” list. Does ranking 7th in the league in scoring, with a true shooting percentage top 5 among non-centers, qualify as “mentally semi-retired”?
Kevin Durant Isn’t Free From Blame, But Is He Primary Culprit for Phoenix Suns’ Catastrophe?
In his 17th NBA season, Durant is putting up 26.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He is shooting 52.9% on field goals and 39.8% from deep. Despite the flack he takes on the opposite end of the floor, most nights he has been playing some of the best defense in his career by using his length to contest or block shots in the paint.
As of February 15, he ranked 6th in opponent field goal percentage as the closest defender (41.2%), featured among the likes of DPOY candidates Lu Dort and Jaren Jackson.
This is not to say that the Suns haven’t been a complete and utter bust in 2024-25. It is not to say that Durant deserves no blame. The entire Suns team has seemingly taken nights off on the court this season, failing to demonstrate adequate effort and suffering lapses on defense.
But pinning Phoenix’ disaster on its most productive player overlooks the roster’s basic issues. Apparently, loading up on scoring talent without defenders or quality bigs is not a winning formula. Shocker. Media pundits criticizing stars on underachieving teams is nothing new, and it’s only natural. Bayless’ attack, though, is not just a reach, it’s ridiculous.
Bayless’ Absurdity Prompts Reply from Future Hall of Famer
Bayless went on:
But they just don’t guard because they don’t seem to care. They look lifeless to me. They are the the flip side of the team at the top of the west standings, the team Kevin started with. That team is motivated to go places. The Phoenix Suns just look like they’re done to me because Kevin looks like he’s on his last mental legs.
Not his last physical legs, just mental legs. He’s not really into it the way he used to be into it when he went to Golden State and now, to me, gifted as he still is, Kevin’s just going through the motions, and the Suns have set in the West.
There is some truth to this. The Suns own the 27th-ranked defensive net rating in the NBA, a level of poor play that is simply hard to overcome. Even their 9th-ranked offense hasn’t quite up to par. Devin Booker is posting his lowest shooting efficiency numbers in several years. Bradley Beal is a shell of himself.
Aimed at the team as whole, blame doled out fairly among the culprits, Bayless’ critique might make some sense. Making it about Durant himself is some certified hating.
What else could fans expect from a show that gets its clicks by rage-baiting? Ever-prepared to fire off online, KD trolled the rant on a repost of the show’s video clip on twitter. “Fuck it,” Durant wrote, “we’re both washed. It was a great run.”
Commenters joined him poking fun at Bayless. To put it simply, many agreed that the argument was, well, of a “mentally semi-retired” quality.
Of course, there were some who sided with the aging media personality and tried to start some banter with Durant. Happy scrolling.
Perhaps one thing both parties can agree on is that neither man is washed when it comes to starting or engaging in social media drama. One commenter jokingly suggested a Durant and Bayless collab–“lol” and “eyes emoji” to that.
Would Durant pursue a media career once his playing days are over? That seems unlikely, but it probably isn’t necessary either, given his active internet presence as it is. See you soon in the twitter feed, KD,
For More Great Hardwood Heroics Content
Follow ezsniper14 on X for more great content. To read more articles and keep up to date on the latest in NBA and College Basketball, click here!
