Kevin Durant departs Phoenix, leaving behind brilliance and baggage

The end of the Durant era brings relief, regret, and reflection.

The deed is done. The era is over. Kevin Durant, who arrived in Phoenix to thunderous fanfare and championship dreams, departs just as he came: through a blockbuster trade. He leaves behind one of the purest shooting strokes the game has ever seen, and a legacy that will forever be dissected, debated, and defined differently depending on who you ask.

Legacy. It’s the word that sparks barbershop arguments and floods group chats. Pull up Durant’s Basketball Reference page, and it reads like a Hall of Fame formality: two titles, two Finals MVPs, a league MVP, countless All-NBA and All-Star honors.

But legacies are measured in more than accolades.

In Phoenix, as in Brooklyn before, Durant failed to meet the expectations of the fanbase that welcomed him with open arms. His individual brilliance was undeniable, but the bigger question — the one that shadows him — is whether he made the players around him better. Since his run with Steph Curry and the Warriors, he hasn’t returned to the mountaintop.

And so, the conversation lingers. The résumé is elite. The numbers speak for themselves. But the legacy? That’s still up for interpretation.

The Phoenix Suns have long been home to greatness, to Hall of Famers whose talent lit up the desert, even if a title never came. Charles Barkley. Steve Nash. Walter Davis. Connie Hawkins. Legends who, despite falling short of a championship, defined eras and elevated the franchise. Barkley took the Suns to the NBA Finals. Nash engineered three trips to the Western Conference Finals and revolutionized the game along the way. Davis was a steady force, and Hawkins was a dominant one.

And then there’s Kevin Durant, arguably the most gifted player to ever don the purple and orange.

History won’t remember his time in Phoenix as transformative. For all his skill, for all the hope his arrival inspired, Durant’s tenure produced just one second-round appearance, followed by a first-round sweep, and eventually, a season that ended without a playoff berth. No signature run. No deep push. Just flashes of brilliance that never fully ignited.

And so, as we step back and try to place the Durant era in context, the feeling is hard to shake. Disappointment. That’s the word. It lingered at the start. It defined the middle. And now, in the end, it’s how this chapter will be remembered.

I’ve always been a Kevin Durant fan. There’s something about the way he scores. Effortless, smooth, inevitable. He’s the kind of player who can get you a bucket from anywhere, against anyone, at any moment. For years, I admired him from afar, especially during the Olympics, when I could finally cheer for him without hesitation. When he was our guy, even if only for a few weeks. And when he came to Phoenix? That felt surreal.

I remember vividly when the Woj bomb hit at 11:05 PM on February 8, 2023. My phone lit up, and I started to shake. I went live immediately on the Suns JAM Session Podcast. Matthew Lissy and I scrambled to process it in real time, riding the adrenaline of the moment. It was thrilling. It was bold. It was the Suns taking a swing, one of the biggest in franchise history. For a fanbase long-starved for a title, Durant’s arrival represented something new: belief. And for a while, we let ourselves dream.

Kevin Durant arrived in Phoenix in February 2023, in a trade that sent shockwaves through the franchise and the league.

Just days after Mat Ishbia officially took over as owner, he made an emphatic statement by acquiring the 34-year-old future Hall of Famer in a blockbuster deal that sent Jae Crowder, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, four unprotected first-round picks, and a pick swap to the Brooklyn Nets. The message was clear: the Suns were all in, ready to chase a championship by pairing Durant with Devin Booker.

At the time, the move was met with widespread praise, viewed as the type of bold swing title-hungry teams make when they see a window.

But the vision never fully materialized.

It started when Durant sprained his ankle during warm-ups before what was supposed to be his home debut, delaying his arrival on the court. When he finally suited up on March 1 against the Charlotte Hornets, he looked every bit the superstar Phoenix had hoped for. Just days later, he dropped 37 points and hit the game-winner in a marquee matchup against the Mavericks.

And yet, injuries continued to haunt the timeline. Acquired with 25 games remaining in the 2022-23 regular season, Durant played in only eight of them, but the Suns went a perfect 8–0 in those appearances, teasing the dominance that never fully came to be.

Durant’s first postseason run with the Suns came just weeks after his arrival. Phoenix dispatched the Los Angeles Clippers in five games, setting up a high-stakes showdown with the eventual NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets.

Despite injuries to Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, the Suns managed to push the series to six games before falling short. Durant, in his first playoff stretch in a Suns uniform, was nothing short of electric, averaging 29 points per game on efficient 48/33/92 shooting splits. It was a reminder of his postseason pedigree, even as the team around him struggled to stay intact.

In his first full season in the Valley during 2023–24, Durant became the Suns’ most consistent force. Concerns about his durability followed him to Phoenix, but he answered them emphatically by playing in 75 games, his highest total in five years. He nearly broke Tom Chambers’ single-season scoring record for the franchise, finishing just 10 points shy while averaging 27.1 points per game on an elite 52–40–86 shooting line.

His efforts earned him another All-Star selection, a spot on the All-NBA Second Team, and a ninth-place finish in MVP voting. But despite Durant’s brilliance, the Suns collapsed in the postseason, getting swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in four games, a stunning and abrupt end to a season that once held so much promise.

In his final season in Phoenix, Kevin Durant continued to produce at an elite level, averaging 26.6 points per game on incredibly efficient 53/43/84 shooting splits. He earned yet another All-Star nod, a testament to his sustained brilliance even in his mid-30s.

But the numbers couldn’t mask what was unraveling beneath the surface. The Suns were on their third head coach in three years, and the constant upheaval took its toll. Despite Durant’s steady output, the team ranked 27th in overall defense and failed to qualify for the Play-In Tournament, an unceremonious end to a season that once carried championship expectations.

Now, as Durant departs for the fifth franchise of his Hall of Fame career, he leaves behind a statistical legacy that will be difficult to replicate. In 145 games with the Suns, he averaged 26.8 points on 53/40/85 shooting. Replacing that kind of production isn’t a matter of finding the next scorer; it’s a near-impossible ask. Durant’s time in Phoenix may not have delivered the ultimate prize, but his impact, however fleeting, was undeniable.

Time will ultimately decide what Kevin Durant’s tenure in Phoenix meant. But for now, it’s a chapter defined by unmet expectations.

Durant was never meant to be just another piece. He was the piece. The elite scorer, the proven champion, the player who was supposed to push the Suns over the top. And while his individual résumé in the Valley sparkled with All-Star nods, All-NBA recognition, and elite statistical output, the team results told a different story.

Over three seasons, Phoenix managed just six postseason wins with Durant. They never advanced past the second round. This past season, they didn’t even make the playoffs. For all the hope, hype, and headline trades, the end arrived not with a bang, but with a shrug.

However you choose to remember the Durant era — whether you admired the player, questioned the fit, or simply hoped for more — one word will linger above it all. It’s the word that followed him from the day he arrived. The one we kept trying to shake but never could.

“Disappointing”.

I’ve now lived through the Kevin Durant experience for the past two-plus seasons. And while I’ve consistently tried to appreciate the sheer artistry of his game — the way he makes the impossible look routine — I’ve also been a deeply frustrated fan. Game after game slipped away, not because Durant wasn’t producing, but because the roster around him lacked the very things championship teams are built on: cohesion, competitiveness, grit, and above all, connectivity. And depth. It wasn’t all on Durant. But it was on what he symbolized.

Durant represented a philosophical shift for the Phoenix Suns. The franchise, under new ownership, went big-game hunting, pushing all their chips in, mortgaging the future to chase a title in the now. And at the time, we applauded it. We were tired of playing it safe. We welcomed ambition.

But as the losses piled up this past season, and the roster proved too flawed, too top-heavy, and too inflexible to contend, that initial excitement began to curdle into something else: regret. The Durant trade wasn’t just a misstep; it was the moment the margins started to disappear. And while Durant himself wasn’t the root cause of the Suns’ unraveling, what he represented — the win-now gamble at the expense of balance and sustainability — absolutely was.

So as Durant hops on a plane and departs for Houston, I genuinely wish him well. I’ll always carry a level of respect for his game. The precision, the poise, the way he approaches basketball with the mind of a surgeon and the touch of an artist. But as the years peel off the calendar, I know I’ll look back on this chapter as another missed opportunity in the long history of a franchise still chasing its first ring.

The Suns took a swing, one of the biggest in team history. For a moment, it felt like a home run. But the ball tailed foul, and in the end, we struck out. It’s another bitter entry in the book of almosts.

Will I miss the smooth jumper? Absolutely. Will I miss knowing that, in crunch time, we had a guy who could deliver a dagger in silence? Of course. But what I won’t miss — the part I’m relieved to leave behind — are the blind idolaters. The Durant Stans. The ones who worshipped him like he could do no wrong, who hijacked conversations and flooded timelines with delusion. Criticism wasn’t allowed. Nuance was unwelcome. If Durant dropped 30, he was a god. If the team lost, it was never on him. And if you dared to suggest otherwise, you became the target of vitriol from a keyboard brigade unwilling to see the full picture.

Every star has their loyalists, sure. Even Booker. But at least those fans have grown with him, through highs and lows, within one uniform. The Durant fandom? It felt rented. Loud, fleeting, and, at times, toxic. So goodbye to the Stans. Enjoy Houston. Take your one-way takes with you.

We’ll be over here, trying to piece together what’s next.

The Durant era is over. And truthfully, I’m not sure how to feel. It was an experience. Complex, charged, unforgettable in both good and bad ways. There were real expectations, real excitement, and undeniably great moments. But as I sit with it now, unpacking everything we lived through these past two seasons, all I’m left holding are empty promises and a few DMs from a 15-time All-Star who lashed out at me for being part of the media machine he despises.

And so, as KD heads off to Houston, I feel something unexpected: relief. Not joy. Not anger. Just relief. The weight of expectation, the drama, the noise? It lifts a little. I’m not exactly thrilled about what comes next for the Suns. There’s uncertainty, a step into the unknown. But there’s also clarity. A sense that this chapter is closed, finally. And that maybe we can begin again.

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