Rockets star Kevin Durant takes shot at Dorian Finney-Smith and former teammate
The 15-time All-Star recently appeared on the "Mind the Game" podcast with LeBron James and Steve Nash. Durant inadvertently took a shot at Finney-Smith and former teammate Royce O'Neale.
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"The best players on a team, you can't turn them into robots," Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant stated. "The mid-range, I believe, if you can't find a good shot -- we should look for the good shots early, the threes, attack the paint, try to get layups, try to get threes -- but when it's five or six seconds on the clock, give the ball to the best player. And if he shoots a mid-range at that point then he shoot a mid-range."
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"But we're not going to waste the clock trying to look for a three," Durant continued. "Two seconds on the clock and we're giving it to, no disrespect, Dorian Finney-Smith with two seconds on the clock to make a three. Or Royce O'Neale. I mean, they could hit them for sure, but that's not sustainable offense for us going forward."
It is unclear why Durant chose to use Finney-Smith and O'Neale as his examples as both players are relatively good three-point shooters who shot over 40.0% in 2024-25. Still, it is difficult to disagree with his overall point that teams should feel more comfortable with their star players attempting shots in the mid-range than forcing role players into bad threes late in the shot clock.
More NBA: Rockets star Kevin Durant looks back on Thunder trading James Harden
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