Magic Johnson sends special birthday message for Suns' Kevin Durant
09/29/2024 09:18 PM
Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant celebrated his birthday on Sunday, and the 36-year-old forward received a special greeting from Lakers legend Magic Johnson, out of many other members of the NBA brotherhood. Magic sent his birthday message to Durant on X, formerly Twitter, with a photo of two cakes with “Happy Birthday” on them.
“Happy birthday to Kevin Durant!” Johnson’s post said. “KD is one of my favorite players and people and his mother Wanda, is truly a special lady. He’s one of the best athlete entrepreneurs out there and he, along with his business partner Rich Kleiman, are currently building a business empire.”
The Suns with Durant
As Magic Johnson said, Kevin Durant is building a business empire through Boardroom (a sports, media, and entertainment brand) and 35 Ventures (a “family office” with various investments), preparing perhaps for life after basketball.
Still, Durant’s basketball career remains in great shape. After sustaining injuries that could have ended other players’ careers, the two-time NBA champion and four-time gold medalist KD has won the most gold medals of any male basketball player at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After his Big 3 in Brooklyn failed to result in rings, Durant went to the Suns via trade, pairing him with another dynamite scorer in Devin Booker. Their partnership became an offense in itself, as the two players learned to coexist quickly, even as at first it involved simply taking turns shooting the ball from mid-range.
However, the Suns traded for Bradley Beal after their playoff defeat to the eventual champions Denver Nuggets in 2023. This new Big 3 can put up a ton of points on the board, but outscoring opponents really doesn’t work in the postseason. Even the loaded Golden State Warriors roster paid attention to defense.
So, the Minnesota Timberwolves swept the Suns, smothering the Big 3 with excellent team defense. All but one of the Wolves’ wins were in double-digits.
The experience resulted in the firing of coach Frank Vogel, whose defensive coaching philosophies were a mismatch for an offense-heavy team in the first place.
After the loss, the Suns signed Tyus Jones to help set the table for the Big 3, whose offense at times defaulted to Booker and Durant shooting the leather off the ball in isolation plays especially when they’re trying to climb out of big holes.
Outlook
However, the Suns’ success relies on Beal to break the defense open to relieve the defensive pressure on the two main guys. As constructed, the team is far from a title contender, but if Beal doesn’t play to his contract then Kevin Durant and the Suns might consider shaking up their roster again.
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