Kevin Durant Believes He Belongs In GOAT Conversation With Jordan, LeBron

Who is the greatest basketball player of all time — Michael Jordan, LeBron James or ...Kevin Durant?

The Phoenix Suns star believes the battle for the league's all time best is not a two-person race.

"Why shouldn't I be in that? That's the question you should ask," Durant told the Arizona Republic. "Why not? What haven't I done?"

But then he answered his own question: "Because I went to the Warriors."

(Getty Images)

It's true. Joining the Golden State Warriors in 2016 after nine years with the Oklahoma City Thunder certainly tainted Durant's legacy in the eyes of many fans.

Golden State won a staggering 73 regular-season games in the 2015-16 campaign — a league record. But the Warriors fell to James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. So the Warriors responded by adding Durant during the offseason. They reached three-straight Finals in the years following and won two of them, with Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson leading the way.

Of course, you could argue he's not the only one who had help.

Jordan had Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. LeBron had Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. But that feels a little different than latching onto a 73-win team that had already won a championship.

Kevin Durant played a role in getting weed removed from the NBA banned substance list. (Getty Images)

There's also that issue: championships. Durant has two. LeBron has four. MJ has six.

But when it comes to the GOAT, is the ring count all that matters? Or should we also consider a guy with two NBA Finals MVPs, a league MVP, a Rookie of the Year, four scoring titles, 10 All-NBA selections and 13 All-Star nods?

You tell me.

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