Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns suffered a severely disappointing defeat in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, losing in a 4-0 sweep to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. Minutes after the final clock whistle blew in the 122-116 Wolves victory, Durant’s former teammate Enes Freedom took to X to express his belief that Durant should retire from the NBA.
KD just needs to retire.
He is becoming irrelevant at this point.— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) April 29, 2024
Freedom, formerly known as Enes Kanter, is widely known for making controversial basketball statements, and this one is no exception. Though Durant and the Suns struggled mightily against the Wolves and never really managed to make the series much of a competition, Durant is likely far from becoming an irrelevant player in the league.
In the series, Durant put up 26.8 points, 6.5 rebounds. 3.3 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. His best game arguably came in the final game of the series, posting 33 points, nine bounds, five assists and four blocks.
He left it all out on the court, but unfortunately for him and the city of Phoenix, it was not enough.
Basketball is a team sport, and every player on the court for the Suns holds some of the blame for their embarrassing exit from the playoffs. However, some may point to Bradley Beal being the biggest culprit for the team’s Game 4 loss.
Beal was virtually a nonfactor in Game 4, finishing with just nine points, two assists and a single rebound. He committed six turnovers in the game as well.
As for Freedom, he surely would be considered the least relevant out of any of the players mentioned. He hasn’t played in the NBA since 2022, and while he has often claimed that the reason for that fact is based on his political outspokenness, many consider that to be pure deflection. The truth is that by the end of his NBA career, a lot of NBA fans thought Freedom was virtually unplayable in today’s style of play.
In fact, one could argue that his social media post following Sunday’s game was simply his attempt to be relevant once again, if only for a few moments.
As for Durant, he’ll likely enjoy a much-deserved rest from the grueling 2023-24 NBA season before gearing back up to continue his Hall-of-Fame career.
