If it’s LeBron James or Michael Jordan for the NBA, it’s undoubtedly Kevin Durant for the Olympics. At least, that’s what the legendary coach, Mike Krzyzewski a. k. a Coach K, stressed. In a recent interview, K praised KD’s “longevity” and hailed him as the greatest men’s basketball player in the Olympics. However, it wasn’t received well by the Fox Sports veteran, Rob Parker, as he went haywire and rubbished the legendary coach’s take, protecting Michael Jordan’s legacy.

Importantly, The Slim Reaper has every required ingredient to call him the ‘Greatest’. For starters, Durant is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic history and he has won more golds (3) than any other American except Carmelo Anthony. Apart from that, he also has the highest average of 19.7 ppg which is followed by Michael Jordan with 16 ppg. Above all, Coach K supervised the team ‘Redeem Team’ in which KD outshined LeBron James and the late Kobe Bryant.

Nevertheless, none of it mattered to Rob Parker, as he said, “Really, Coach K? Oh, my god! Kevin Durant is the greatest USA basketball player ever. He averaged 20 points against nobody, against mostly nobody’s, has been, never wases. It doesn’t rate. The Olympics basketball, they just said, they’ve been going for their fifth gold medal in a row or whatever it is, it doesn’t raid. Nobody cares about it from that standpoint. it doesn’t make you better in the eyes of the basketball world. It’s still about the NBA.”

Moreover, Parker didn’t stop at that. The 60-year-old spared a moment to speak about Kevin Durant‘s run in the Olympics. Parker continued, “I’m not taking anything away from (KD). He’s out there to play, he’s doing what he does. He’s one of the best scorers, we’ve ever seen. Hands down, all I’m saying is it just, it doesn’t move the needle to make people think any more of Kevin Durant other than what he’s done in the NBA, that’s my biggest point.”

Amid his Kevin Durant rant, Parker still waves the MJ flag

Despite Coach K’s valued statement, Parker disregarded it with ease. On the other hand, he fought hard to keep Michael Jordan’s legacy intact. Initially, he refused to consider Olympic performances as a scale to determine greatness. Parker stressed it with an MJ analogy, saying, “Nobody makes a big deal about Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. They’re beating teams by 45 points with that Dream Team, that’s not competition.” 

On the other hand, Chris Broussard, Parker’s partner, assisted him with yet another Air Jordan hype. Broussard said, “The way Coach K said it was very innocuous because of his (KD) longevity he ain’t better than Michael Jordan in the Olympics,” and hearing this statement, Parker sprung out of the chair and said, “Thank You.” Nevertheless, the duo continued to say they didn’t care about individual performances in the Olympics, considering the team’s overpowered roster.

Moreover, Kevin Durant has a chance to change the narrative by bringing his A-game against South Sudan. The team had already taken the US side by surprise during the exhibition game. But this time, KD is on the rotation, so he can change things around.

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