The 2016-17 Warriors might be the greatest team of all time, but Kevin Durant believes the 2026-27 76ers are as good on paper. Durant implied that's what he thought during a USA Basketball event on Sunday, and he doubled down on Monday when replying to a fan on Instagram who said the two teams "ain't close." "Ain’t close lmao," Durant replied. "Joel, mvp recently. Jaylen brown, recent finals mvp, Tyrese Maxey, all star the last 3 years. We all know what bron does. Klay Thompson, never a mvp candidate in nothing, 22ppg. Draymond, 14ppg 7 rebounds 6 assist, Steph a mvp just like Joel was. I don’t get how the warriors team is better on paper."
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Westbrook teaming back up with Kevin Durant: “I’m taking that gamble because look, think about this. Even if Fred VanVleet, I’m sure he will start the season, but damn, he just come off of ACL surgery. Y’all going to run him in the ground for 82 game. And what he going to be able to get you in the postseason? Nothing. So, you got to have some depth at that point guard position. Guys who know how to play, guys who know and understand the game and who can make the game easy for guys around him. So, I always think, bro, and when you look at him because he up in age, he always in great damn shape. And for me, y’all know me, bro. I’m a guy who loves a guy in great shape. You’re in great shape. You can play with me any day.” (Via @NightcapShow_ ) — 8/3/2026 x.com
Heat Central: Bam Adebayo names his top 5 players of all time: Kobe Bryant Steph Curry Michael Jordan Kevin Durant Tim Duncan No LeBron James? — 8/3/2026 x.com
Durant and James won gold medals as teammates in the 2012 London and 2024 Paris Olympics. "It's really on [USA Basketball managing director] Grant Hill and what Team USA wants to do," Durant said. "I stay on top of my game and hopefully I get that call, but there's so many great players who deserve to be on the team." — 8/1/2026 ESPN
James, 41, announced on July 24 that he would join the 76ers rather than the Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers or Miami Heat after weighing his latest free agency move for more than three weeks. While Durant, 37, said he had no advance notice about the decision, he believes the growing buzz around the 76ers is "only going to help" grow interest in the NBA. "I didn't know at all," Durant said. "LeBron is stealth like that. I know there's a lot of noise around him, but you never know what's on his mind. I'm happy for him. It's a great decision for him to go to a team that has a good chance to win. Philly is a great fanbase, a great market, and it's great for the league. There were so many eyes that were tuned in to his decision." — 8/1/2026 ESPN
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant said Saturday that LeBron James and the new-look Philadelphia 76ers have the offensive firepower to compete for the 2027 NBA championship. What's more, Durant evoked his two Golden State Warriors championship teams, which also featured Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, when praising the combined scoring prowess of Philadelphia's James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. "The last time they put three 20-point scorers on a team, they said it was unfair, which was the [Warriors] team I was on," Durant said at a USA Basketball event Saturday. "[The 76ers] have got four 25-point scorers on this team. So, hell yeah, I think they're going to be a contender. They're going to be a fun team to watch. It's going to be League Pass-worthy." — 8/1/2026 ESPN
Jonathan Abrams: What if OKC had kept Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden? Excited to announce my next book, WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND FEARLESS, coming 11/3—a deep dive into the trio that reshaped the NBA. Pre-order link: harpercollins.com/products/when — 7/31/2026 x.com
During a conversation with Turkey’s Socrates Magazine, the 23-year-old was asked about some of the controversial narratives surrounding last season’s team. Regarding his pairing with Durant, Sengun said (via YouTube’s English transcript): A perception suddenly formed out of nowhere. I’ve never had an argument with KD, not even once. We’ve never raised our voices at each other. We always talk, and we always talk after games, too. We especially talked after games we lost. Like, “What are we doing wrong?” I specifically would ask him, “What do we need to do? Where do you think we made mistakes today? Why didn’t it work out?” I ask him, and he answers. These things always happen, but like I said, because we’re people who hate losing… you can see that on our faces during games. You can read it on KD’s face. You can read it on my face. You can read it on Ime’s face. KD also has a massive fanbase. I think about it like this. My fans will never view me negatively. I notice this. Like, there are areas where I perform poorly, and I see that myself. But, say, I’m talking to someone on the phone — they’ll always blame others. I’m not that kind of person, though. I always hold myself accountable. I don’t speak like that with anyone — whether it’s a friend or family member. When things like that are discussed, I always say, “That’s not how the situation actually is.” Do you get me? I can’t ease my conscience by shifting the blame to someone else. I don’t like those kinds of excuses, and you can’t get any better that way. — 7/28/2026 Clutch Fans
Maverick Carter: "I left Nike in '06 to work to be full-time with LeBron. LeBron had an agent at the time, fired his agent. The same one Kevin (Durant) fired soon after. And we started a company to manage LeBron. And frankly, I didn't know what the f*ck I was doing, the truth. I mean, I knew the only thing I knew is I had to get smart people. I knew the buckets, like we need some legal, we need accounting. I knew those things and I knew how to find people." — 7/27/2026 YouTube
Grant Hill: 'Contrary to popular belief, I do like Jaylen Brown. I love his game, and things got difficult there with that team. In putting the team together, just to give some context, we had Kawhi Leonard on that penciled in on that team, and he got hurt at the end of that season in 2024. He came to camp, he wasn't right, and so we had to pivot. A couple of things happened at that camp, and people want to believe what they want to believe, but at the end of the day, Kevin Durant showed up, he was hurt. He had a grade one calf strain, and I think we all have PTSD from the last time he had a calf strain, so we were very patient with him. Jayson Tatum had just had a baby, so he showed up late. Joel Embiid was, you know, we knew we were managing him, but we needed him for Nikola Jokic against Serbia, because that was the matchup. We didn't have our full roster, and then we started looking around and saying, oh man, like Jrue Holiday was so important for us in the FIBA game. A point guard who can play his role, ball pressure, the whole nine. If Jrue got hurt, our point guards were Jrue Holiday and Stephen Curry, and defense wasn't necessarily their strong point. It was like, okay, let's bring in insurance for Jrue Holiday and like Derrick White. So that was the thought process.' — 7/22/2026 YouTube
Former Warriors two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant had an awkward moment during Friday’s Fanatics Fest in New York. Durant appeared on stage for a Q&A session with the Argentina soccer team and walked past the entire squad, including superstar Lionel Messi, and former Patriots great Tom Brady. After Brady finished asking Messi his question, Durant was the next guest to appear on the stage. Durant came out on the stage with a smirk on his face. He walked behind the Argentina team and was handed the microphone by Brady. He then said hello to the other guests on the stage, including comedian Kevin Hart and Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente. Once Durant received the microphone, he said, “I got a question for [Emi Martínez] right here,” Durant said, leaving Martínez pointing at himself and appearing shocked. Durant went on to say, “Yes, you,” while looking toward Martínez. — 7/19/2026 New York Post
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Kevin Durant: I don't get how 2016-17 Warriors are better on paper than 2026-27 Sixers
