KD reflects on Jordan’s evolution, from early scoring dominance to championship success, after passing him on the all-time list.
Late in his career, with the game slowed to a rhythm only a select few ever truly master, Kevin Durant found himself reflecting not on his own scoring milestones, but on the blueprint laid long before him by Michael Jordan.
It started with a kind of disbelief — the kind that only comes when greatness begins to feel mythological.
“I mean, for somebody to come in as a rookie to average 28 points a night, I don’t think we’ll ever see that again,” Durant said in a special edition of Boardroom Talks after passing MJ on the NBA’s all-time scoring list on Saturday night. “That’s unheard of. So the talent and greatness was there from day one.”
In Durant’s mind, Jordan wasn’t just a scorer. He was a force that revealed itself immediately, fully formed, before the league could even adjust. But what fascinated Durant more wasn’t just the numbers; it was the evolution.
“MJ is MJ because of the dominance on the championship level,” he said, before pausing to consider how different the game once looked. “But his game was different. It was a bit slower. He was on the block the whole time.”
That version of Jordan — methodical and deliberate — wasn’t how he began. Durant pointed back to the early days under Doug Collins, when Jordan attacked relentlessly, “just taking everybody off the dribble from the top of the key, just playing a lot of solo ball.”
Then came the shift. Phil Jackson arrived, and with him, a system that would reshape not just Jordan’s career, but basketball itself.
“Once Phil came in, implementing the system, everybody moving, triangle,” Durant said. “Not slowing down, but he pick and choose his spots a little differently than he did before.”
The triangle offense wasn’t just a strategy. To Durant, it was innovation that unlocked another layer of Jordan’s dominance.
“Yeah, because I think the triangle was just an innovative system. I don’t think a lot of teams ran that type of offense in the league before that.”
The details mattered: “A floppy action, a little double pin down and get some movement, and then you score from there… Elbow jumper, bring it up, get screening roll, post-ups.”
Jordan still scored, often at absurd levels. But something subtle had changed: “I think he scored more efficiently with Phil maybe… But I think his teammates had more opportunities to score too, which loosen the game up for him and help him win more.”
And that, ultimately, is where Durant drew the line between greatness and legacy.
“Knowing that, all right, I can get 50, but y’all can make shots too to help us win the game,” he said. “And that just took him to another level when you win six championships.”
Be sure to catch the full conversation on Boardroom’s YouTube page here.
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