Kevin Durant Suggested The Most Appalling Idea to Improve College Basketball: Make It More Like The NBA

We’ve seen less than three full weeks go by in 2024, and Kevin Durant already won the “Worst Idea of 2024” award.

The Phoenix Suns superstar had nothing better to do on this fine Saturday afternoon than think out loud on X. Usually, that’s not a good idea for most people, and Durant was no different.

He spent some time writing about something he’s quite familiar with: basketball. However, he simultaneously proved that he doesn’t know what’s good for the future of the sport at the collegiate level.

Durant suggested that college basketball should implement some big rule changes. Specifically, he wants the sport to implement a rule that would prevent defenders from standing for more than three seconds in the paint. He added that games should be played in four quarters, not two halves.

Now I’m willing to let the second point slide. While I am a fan of playing that format in my rec league, I do think the game viewing experience would improve if the format switched to quarters.

But in no way, shape, or form, should the collegiate level prohibit defenders from standing in the paint.

Durant Proposed An Idea That Would Ruin College Basketball

The most obvious reason is this would negatively affect defensive - and offensive - strategy.

If you begin to penalize defenders from standing in the paint, you will essentially place an unnecessarily heavier burden on the defense. Standing in the paint allows off-ball defenders to quickly help teammates who get beat on dribble-drives. This forces the offense to get more creative in how they’ll rack up points.

Are you starting to think I’m a curmudgeon who can't get with the times? Just look at how the NBA works to prove my point.

The NBA has become an unwatchable re-run of players trying to iso-ball their way to wins. It works, because defenders are at a significant disadvantage. Why? They can’t stand in the paint ready to help their teammates who get beat. As such, the NBA has crumbled into a game of three-pointers and dribble-drives from ball hogging guards, while largely discouraging the use of a big man in the post.

It’s boring, predictable, and uninspiring. And it’s one of the reasons why the college game is so much better.

At this level, teams with big men can use them in the traditional way - dominating around the rim. I mean, how fun is it watching Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner work his magic in the post in the old-fashioned way?

In the NBA, teams would chuck his post prowess out the window and force him to shoot threes like a guard. I vomit every time I think of that.

But in college, his talent creates balance in his team’s offensive approach. As teams adjust to the 7’1” center, that opens up more looks for the guards, and creates a dynamic system defenders have to approach with. 

Other schools rely on a more balanced attack as well, like Purdue, North Carolina, and UConn. The intricate defense-offense chess match we see on a nightly basis makes this sport so much fun to watch. 

But if we follow Durant’s approach, we lose all of that, just so he’s less bored by the few times he can actually watch a college basketball game. With all due respect to one of the best players on the planet, this is a terrible idea.