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LeBron’s former teammate declares Kevin Durant the best player in the world
- Updated: June 15, 2021
Brooklyn Nets big man Jeff Green had some high praise for current teammate Kevin Durant after the Nets’ pivotal Game 5 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night.
In doing so, Green may have inadvertently thrown some shade at LeBron James.
Jeff Green, in part, on Kevin Durant: "The world is witnessing, once again, who the best player in the world is."
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) June 16, 2021
The comment came after Durant had a historic night in Brooklyn. He scored 49 points on 16-for-23 shooting and added 17 rebounds and 10 assists.
Green and James played together as teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2017-18 season. That year, Green got to experience James’ greatness firsthand, as James averaged 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game.
Green and Durant are in their first season as teammates on the Nets. Durant had an incredible regular season despite only appearing in 35 games. He averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists while shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from deep.
Of course, recency bias may be a factor at play in Green’s comment. Players do also tend to side with their current teammates when it comes to dishing out respect.
Regardless, there is no denying that Durant and James are two of the best to ever do it.