Is Kevin Durant Right? Breaking Down His Viral Warriors vs. 76ers Take

Aarav Sharma
August 8, 2026
4 min read

Kevin Durant is back on Twitter, and as usual, everyone is in complete shambles.

KD set the basketball internet on fire this week after hopping into Instagram to argue that the new-look Philadelphia 76ers—boasting a core of Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, and Tyrese Maxey—are actually better on paper than the legendary 2016–17 Golden State Warriors superteam he won his first ring with.

KD’s primary defense hinges purely on individual accolades and raw paper talent:

Naturally, media pundits gasped, fans accused KD of trying to rewrite his own legacy, and Klay Thompson even weighed in with a classic: “Aye man, u good? What u using my full government [name] for?”

I’m pretty confident Kevin Durant forgot he wasn’t on his burner. So anyway, let’s put emotion aside. Is KD actually making a valid point, or is this classic Twitter KD spinning a narrative?

Before anything, I’ll tell you, I think this take is a load of crap, and he’s completely wrong. But I’ll at least try to understand what he was getting at. The only reason KD may have a point is that they definitely have a starting lineup where any of them could hand out a 30-ball. No matter how old LeBron James gets he can still drop 30 on your head, Embiid can certainly do that—we saw that in his MVP season in 2023. Maxey proved last year that he can throw up 30 for fun, Jaylen Brown did too! Even VJ Edgecombe, who I hope will not get developmentally hindered by Jaylen Brown and LeBron James’s arrival.

But besides that, KD has no defense for this take, and we all know why. Ever since he left Golden State things have been downhill for him. The Nets superteam with Harden and Kyrie Irving didn’t work out, the Suns superteam with Bradley Beal and Devin Booker didn’t work out, and the Rockets got gentlemen swept by a 41-year-old man. I still think he’s top 15 in the league for his unmatched scoring ability and defense, but he’s not winning a ring for the rest of his career. He’s simply downplaying his three years with the Warriors so it seems like it wasn’t some spectacle, to defend his ring-chasing move.

But I just can’t understand what he’s trying to say. He’s just digging himself a deeper hole. If you compare the starting five’s this way, the Warriors are objectively ten times better.

Head-to-Head Position Breakdown:

🏀 Center: Embiid, when healthy, outplays Zaza Pachulia and most of the Warriors centers. That’s fair enough.
🏀 Power Forward: Draymond Green in his prime outplays a 42-year-old LeBron James. People forget how instrumental Green was to not only Steph Curry, but the entire team’s success. He was the anchor and the glue to the team, whether it was on offense or defense.
🏀 Small Forward: Kevin Durant, as much as we have disdain for him, is better than Jaylen Brown is right now with no debate.
🏀 Shooting Guard: Klay Thompson’s shooting and intense defense outplays sophomore VJ Edgecombe for now. Even though VJ has that athleticism, Klay has the experience.
🏀 Point Guard: And yes, coming off his unanimous MVP, Steph Curry is better than Tyrese Maxey.

It’s outrageous to even say that Embiid and Curry were “on the same level” as MVPs. Embiid hasn’t played over 68 games in his career! The Sixers have never made it to the Eastern Conference Finals! To compare that to arguably a top ten player of all time is just wild.

Even though that Warriors team had its obvious flaws, with their lack of an athletic big man, and lack of interior size, they were still, in my opinion, the greatest team of all time. Pairing two of the top fifteen players of all time (in their prime), a 3 and D demon, and one of the smartest defenders of all time, is a recipe for success.

To help my case even more, this Sixers team still has major red flags. Their bench is weak, and considerably old for one thing. For example, a glaring issue is their center depth. We know that Embiid isn’t playing all 82 games and playing 48 minutes a night, so who’s the backup five? Adem Bona? When you play Karl Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks in the playoffs, is Adem Bona gonna stop him? Another problem is that their starting five is a very ball-dominant team. It does look nice on paper, but the chemistry issues and the “who will be the best player” trope will kill ‘em.

So, Kevin Durant, stick to helping your own struggling team win.