Former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson asked a hypothetical question on FS1’s Undisputed on Thursday that yielded a response from Phoenix Suns’ supserstar Kevin Durant.
Johnson asked: “If I put Paul Pierce on the Golden State Warriors with Klay Thompson and Draymond and Steph Curry, you don’t think he could do the same?”
“If I put Paul Pierce on the Golden State Warriors with Klay Thompson and Draymond and Steph Curry, you don’t think he could do the same sh*t?”
– Keyshawn Johnson on Kevin Durant
(h/t @awfulannouncing )
pic.twitter.com/ivxdlpAVUL
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 29, 2024
Pierce was on the set with Johnson, as was Skip Bayless. Bayless continued to nod his head in agreement with Johnson. Bayless repeatedly mentioned that Pierce “was really good,” and remarked that Pierce won an NBA Finals MVP in 2008.
Durant, who won two NBA Finals MVPs with Golden State after joining the team in the 2016-17 season, made it clear on X later that day that he hates hypotheticals:
If the jets would’ve took Jonathan Ogden, Marvin Harrison, ray lewis or Eddie George number 1 they would’ve been better off……I hate hypotheticals https://t.co/3N6ngC1C3H
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) July 29, 2024
“If the jets would’ve took Jonathan Ogden, Marvin Harrison, ray lewis or Eddie George number 1 they would’ve been better off……I hate hypotheticals,” Durant responded on X, to the video of Johnson posing his hypothetical.
Pierce did not appear to respond either way in the video. Durant did not appear to be trying to take a shot at Pierce.
In 1996, the New York Jets selected Johnson with the No. 1 overall pick of the NFL Draft. Johnson went on to play four seasons with the Jets, recording two 1,000-plus yard receiving seasons and being selected to two Pro Bowls with the team. Ogden went fourth overall to the Baltimore Ravens, and was selected to 11 Pro Bowls in 12 seasons, all with the Ravens.
He was selected to four first-team All-Pro teams, and the 14th pick of the 1996 NFL Draft joined him on the first-team All-Pro roster in 2000. That would be running back George, who played eight seasons with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and one more after with the Dallas Cowboys. A four-time Pro Bowler, he enjoyed an 1,000+ rushing yard season in all but two years of his career, and in one of those two years he still had over 1,200 all-purpose yards.
Five selections after George was taken in the 1996 NFL Draft, Harrison was selected 19th by the Indianapolis Colts. Harrison played 13 years in the NFL (all with the Colts), and posted 1,000+ receiving yards in eight seasons.
In each of those campaigns, he caught at least 10 touchdowns. Johnson did so just once in his career. Unlike Johnson, both Harrison and Ogden are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
So is Lewis, who Baltimore drafted at No. 26 in the 1996 NFL Draft. Lewis played 17 years in his NFL career (all with the Ravens), and made 12 Pro Bowls. Also making seven first-team All-Pro rosters, he won two Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Not to mention, Lewis was Super Bowl XXXV MVP in his first of two Super Bowl wins in his career. Lewis posted triple-digit tackles in 13 different seasons.
After New York passed on Ogden, George, Harrison and Lewis for Johnson; they went 30-34 with Johnson and made one postseason.
As for Pierce; he won the NBA Finals in 2008, compared to Durant winning two NBA Finals in Golden State. Durant has been named as a first-team All-NBA selection six times in his career, and one of those selections did come in one of his three seasons in Golden State.
Even just that one first-team All-NBA selection in Durant’s three-year tenure in Golden State is more than the amount of first-team All-NBA selections that Pierce had in his entire career. Durant’s three NBA Finals appearances with the Warriors also top Pierce’s two NBA Finals appearances in his career.
Durant averaged 25.8 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game, 5.4 assists per game and 2.3 stocks per game (steals plus blocks) with the Warriors. Pierce averaged 19.7 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game and 1.9 stocks per game. Durant’s shooting splits in Golden State were 52.4/38.4/88.3, compared to Pierce’s shooting splits of 44.5/36.8/80.6.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns star Kevin Durant blasts Keyshawn Johnson on X after comments
