An omission can be louder than an admission in sports. Especially when it comes from your own (ex) teammate. Kevin Durant once again had one of his nonchalant off-the-cuff moments where he didn’t even have to take the names of certain teammates to stir the pot. He arrived on the Unguarded podcast to stay on the titular theme. Even if it was putting himself in a club that most wouldn’t dare to.

Fred VanVleet brought up an interesting context that’s taken the Internet by storm. He wanted to know if KD compared himself to the greats.

He told his Rockets teammate he’s inspired by the greats, i.e., Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and even his Team USA teammate, LeBron James. Note the other Olympics teammate missing in the list.

But he also says, “I feel like what I’ve done over these last 19 years—like MJ, Kobe, LeBron—you can’t talk down on me as if I’m not around. And they know that.”

That is true to an extent. Despite Charles Barkley and critics’ best efforts, it’s hard to diminish Kevin Durant’s legacy in the NBA and in the Olympics. But a few would stop short of putting him in the same conversation as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

Shaquille O’Neal has been campaigning for a year to include Stephen Curry in that conversation without any success. But most would say that Curry would be talked about in that stratosphere before Durant.

While it’s all a fun parlor game, KD’s opinions about his former Warriors teammates were overshadowed by a bigger revelation on the side.

Kevin Durant shakes up the all-time rankings

After Durant inserted his name in the same list as MJ, Bryant, and Bron, Fred VanVleet dropped a bombshell. According to the former Raptors player, Kawhi Leonard claimed he was better than Kobe after winning the 2019 title. The Internet is debating this endlessly but does KD feel the same as Kawhi after winning the ’17 and ’18 titles?

KD claims, “It’s not a bad thing to feel that way,” as in you’re as great as Bean and the likes. But he defended Kawhi’s legacy, going as far as to claim that Leonard would be able to take on even Jordan.

He has the liberty to feel that way even though most wouldn’t agree. Same as when Draymond Green and analysts in 2022 hailed Steph Curry higher in the all-time rankings when he won a fourth chip and Finals MVP without Durant.

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Obviously, Durant took the Unguarded assignment very seriously. Because the one time he does talk at length about Curry, it’s to blame him for ruining the All-Star Game. The rest of his opinion is up for debate. That is, if the Internet can move on from VanVleet’s Kawhi exposé.