Kevin Durant Won't Be In NBA's Top 5 Next Year, Kellerman Says

Golden State Warriors small forward Kevin Durant will not be a top-five player in the NBA during the 2018-19 season, according to television commentator Max Kellerman.

It is a claim that has raised eyebrows and one that is certainly not going to be accepted by most experts and NBA fans owing to Durant’s achievements in recent seasons. He has been one of the most consistent performers in the last couple of seasons for the Warriors.

Durant may have received wide spread hate after joining Stephen Curry’s bandwagon from the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he has more than held his own in the last two seasons. The forward has won two championship rings and was named the NBA Finals MVP on both occasions.

The 30-year-old is rated as one of the best players in the league alongside LeBron James and is odds on favorite to pick up his third straight NBA title with the Warriors in 2019.

But Kellerman has gone against the tide and insisted there were at least four players that will be better than Durant during the 2019-19 campaign. He feels James, New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors and Giannis Antetokounmpo are ahead of him in the pecking order.

Moreover, the sports television personality believes he could fall lower in the pecking order if last season’s Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons and Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid start performing at a higher level once the new campaign gets underway later this month.

"I don't know for how much longer Kevin Durant will be a top-5 player, and it's not even about his age. LeBron James is better than Kevin Durant by a whole lot. I think AD (Anthony Davis) is the second-best player in the world, unless Kawhi is healthy, and then I don't know,” Kellerman said on ESPN’s “Get Up.”

"And then you have Giannis, who already is on that level, God forbid his jumper starts to fall. That puts KD at No. 5 maybe — like, right now, the fifth-best player in the world,” he added. “That means if Ben Simmons gets a jump shot or if Joel Embiid starts moving his feet a little bit more on defense in the playoffs, he might not be in the top 5. It's possible."

It’s a bold claim especially since the list of players mentioned by Kellerman does not include Curry, who is rated as the best point guard in the league at the moment, while there is also no mention of James’ former teammates Kyrie Irving, who is also regarded amongst the best.

Jalen Rose, who was also a guest on the show alongside Kellerman, was so surprised he got off his chair and needed a minute to proves the television commentator’s statements.

Durant, however, is not one to shy away from criticism and it remains to be seen if the Warriors forward will have a comeback to Kellerman’s comments about him not being among the top-five players in the NBA going into the new season.