The underlying conundrum with KD isn't so much of what he hasn't accomplished post-GS, it's that his career overall is somewhat underwhelming...
He's been on contenders every year of his career since Y4--->He's approaching Y16 for those of you bad at math. And aside from GS, he has one Finals appearance, one MVP, and a 1-3 WCF record to show for it...
The problem with Durant is the Warrior years made some people elevate him to a stature he hadn't quite earned, both in real time and historically. What we're seeing now is a gradual regression to where he properly belongs...
Here's a snapshot of the 12 completed seasons of Durant's career without GS, and for the record 12 years is Zeke's entire career so it's a full career:
'14 MVP, '12 AMVP, '08 ROY, 7x All-NBA (5x 1st), 9x All-Star, 4x scoring champ, '13 50-40-90
0-1 Finals, 1-3 WCF
Today we universally hold Durant as a Top 15 GOAT. His resume sans GS isn't that of a Top 20 player. The sentiment of the IG post as well as those of many is the beginning of a gradual regression to his level...
He's going to eventually be held accountable for the OKC run with Russ, it just hasn't happened yet. After Malone/Stockton and West/Baylor, KD/Russ is somewhere up there with greatest underachieving duos, they had 8 years together (just like Shaq/Kobe) and underachieved...
We're gonna eventually hold him accountable for playing most of his career (currently 11/15 seasons) on championship favorites and delivering nothing outside The Bay...
Injuries ain't nobody else's fault and eventually we're gonna stop saying, "man if KD wasn't hurt, ____________________". Because it isn't just '22 we can say that about. Or '21. Or '20. There have been more durable superstars and his injury history is what it is and it's part of his story and overall legacy. He's been hurt. Alot. And in due time that will be weighed properly when comparing him to more durable superstars...
The Durant sentiment is just properly weighing his career...
The only thing I'll say is this. There are people out there tirelessly reworking the narrative that KD was the best player on his Warriors, to say that he wasn't. I'm not for changing what the real time sentiment was, and in real time it was agreed upon by consensus that Durant was their best player, period. We all understood in real time that Steph was the reason that machine clicked, so this isn't a new recognizance that Steph needs applause for...
The widely-held opinion of the time was that KD was their best player abd we don't get to change that because their career arcs in Steph's favor in the years they've been apart. I definitely think Steph could leap him historically but I'm not reimagining what the sentiments were when they played together...
But KD was never the degree of historical greatness he was said to be at since his GS years. The real GOATs of the GOATs would have won a title with Westbrook or a Westbrook-caliber player. The GOAT actually DID when a title with Kyrie (or a Kyrie-caliber player). He never belonged in the conversation as LeBron-level from a historical perspective but he's on the level or two below those guys...