Kevin Durant's Take Should Make Fans Pump Brakes on Sixers

Many people are sky high on the Sixers—including Kevin Durant.

“Joel, MVP recently," Durant said in an Instagram comment. “Jaylen, recent finals MVP, Tyrese Maxey, all-star the last 3 years. We all know what Bron does. Klay Thompson, never a MVP candidate in nothing, 22ppg. Draymond, 14ppg 7 rebounds 6 assist, Steph a MVP just like Joel was. I don't get how the Warriors team is better on paper.”

This is quite the compliment from Durant, but the praise isn’t warranted just yet. That is because we have witnessed the 2016-17 Warriors beyond paper and, they’re arguably the greatest team ever assembled.

The Sixers have yet to take the court, which makes it difficult to rank them higher than the Warriors at this time.

Here are deeper reasons why.

Let’s compare them

Philadelphia may possess a more well-rounded starting lineup in Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James and Joel Embiid than the 2016-17 Warriors. But Golden State has the edge individually if we’re comparing 2016-17 to 2026-27.

With all due respect to Maxey, Stephen Curry is far better than him. The same could be said about Klay Thompson in comparison to Edgecombe. At worst, Durant was the fourth-best player in basketball in 2016-17, which makes him superior to Brown.

VJ Edgecombe on the expectation for the Sixers this season:

"Championship or bust. You know how it is, especially with a team like this. It's either championship or 'they suck.'"pic.twitter.com/sbSqYBINUY
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) August 4, 2026

Where the head-to-head comparison gets interesting is Draymond Green against James. People forget that Green was a defensive savant who led the Warriors to have the second-best defensive rating in the league. He also shot 41% from 3-point range in their 2016-17 Finals run. James still gets the edge, although it's closer than it might seem on the surface.

And yes, Embiid is better than Zaza Pachulia.

So, Durant was right in saying the Sixers' starting five is more talented than the 2016-17 Warriors, but the Warriors’ stars were better, which holds weight when comparing these teams. However, Philadelphia’s depth is much better than Golden State’s, whose only legit reserves were Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.

The verdict

Individual comparisons aside, the dynastic Warriors are a more of a natural fit together. Durant’s three-level scoring complemented Curry and Thompson’s shooting, while Green was the connective tissue on both ends of the court. As a result, Golden State conjured arguably the most devastating offense in NBA history en route to a Finals run where it lost just one game.

That’s not to discredit the potential that Philadelphia has this season. The Sixers could very well win 55 or more games and enjoy their most postseason success since 2000-01.

Kevin Durant on LeBron James’s 76ers: “The last time they put three 20-point scorers on a team, they said it was unfair, which was the [Warriors] team I was on. They have got four 25-point scorers on this team. So, hell yeah, I think they’re going to be a contender.” pic.twitter.com/aFcSyDoEq1
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) August 1, 2026

If that’s the case, we’ll absolutely revisit this conversation. In the meantime, however, we need to see this team step on the court.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X and Bluesky for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google