NBA: Kevin Durant might never be satisfied

With recent rants on social media featuring Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant, it begs the question, what is the superstar really angry about and what will it take for him to be satisfied? Durant had an amazing one-year stint at Texas and was drafted #2 overall by the Seattle Supersonics. In his first season in the NBA, he averaged 20 points and became one of the most prominent rookies in the game. The following year, with the #4 pick, Seattle drafted Russell Westbrook out of UCLA. This quickly become one of the most entertaining duos in the league. In 2009, the Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City, and selected Arizona State's James Harden, as their first player drafted in the new franchise.

With three upcoming superstars, the Thunder was in the process of building a very formidable championship powerhouse. Durant was becoming the best player on the team, while Westbrook was becoming a leader, and Harden was the sixth man off the bench. This team was destined to win several championships. They had their first shot at a championship in 2012 when Oklahoma City faced the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. OKC ended up losing in a quick 5-game series, which was the beginning of the end for this core. The Finals were dominated by Westbrook's unwillingness to play second fiddle to Durant. Westbrook believed he was the best player on the team, and played like it.

He wanted to take the game over, to take the last shot, and to have his own spotlight. The following year, the organization decided to trade Harden from OKC to Houston, in exchange for Kevin Martin, bench pieces, and a draft pick that led to Steven Adams. The move at the time was very controversial but the combination of Durant and Westbrook still led to another Western Conference Finals berth in 2016. After getting up 3-1 against the Golden State Warriors, it seemed like OKC was on a collision course to face LeBron James again, but this time it would be in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform. The Thunder ended up blowing that 3-1 lead over MVP Stephen Curry and Golden State, which led to the departure of Durant the following offseason.

Durant preceded to join a stacked Warriors team that defeated him just a month prior. KD teamed up with Curry and went onto win back-to-back Finals MVPs and was considered the best player on the team. However, Durant was never universally recognized as the best player in the world or the most beloved player in Golden State. It was never going to be his team, and that had to drive him crazy. So KD tried to reverse engineer his greatness. He was not satisfied with the rings or accolades. He wanted more, to be seen as the best player in the world, and that has never been the case despite years of dominance. Durant has never overtaken LeBron, even after defeating him in two consecutive Finals, hitting multiple dagger 3-pointers in Cleveland.

Some people even believe that LeBron should have been Finals MVP in a losing effort. Nevertheless, the consensus has always been that LeBron, and Curry at times, is better than Durant. He wanted the praise and recognition that the two best players of his generation received. Now that he decided to sign with the Brooklyn Nets, KD has a chance to prove all the haters and doubters wrong, by winning a ring as the face of the Nets franchise. Durant returned from a hamstring injury on Wednesday night, scoring 17 points on a perfect 5/5 shooting. With less than six weeks until the end of the regular season, the Nets (+250) are favorites to win it all, according to Vegas Insider. If that becomes a reality, will Durant finally be satisfied?

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