Former Rockets guard makes strange claim about Kevin Durant

The Houston Rockets landed one of the most efficient scorers in NBA history in Kevin Durant. Former Rockets guard Austin Rivers seems to think there's disagreement on that fact.

Rivers was discussing the analytics movement in basketball. He's talking about how the emphasis we now put on efficiency impacts the way we watch the sport. Specifically, he's responding to critics who claim Durant favors the mid-range shot too often in 2025. On his "Off Guard with Austin Rivers" podcast, he had plenty to say about the issue.

“My only problem with that is that the evolution of the game has brought up the importance of analytics and percentages. Our whole game now is predicated off numbers. Whereas before, it was an eye test thing.”

- Austin Rivers

There's nothing inherently wrong with what Rivers is saying. The issue is that he's wasting his time by attacking a bad argument:

If you think Durant is inefficient, you do not know ball.

Rockets' Kevin Durant is an elite scorer

Most analytics fans would agree that True Shooting % (TS%) is a better measure of efficiency than raw Field Goal % (FG%). In layman's terms, TS% is a composite measure of a player's FG% that weighs three-pointers and free throws more heavily. A missed three counts against a player's TS% less than it does their FG%.

In 2024-25, Durant had a 64.2 TS%. That's in line with his 62.0% career mark. Those are elite numbers for a player with his scoring volume.

There's no argument against Durant's efficiency. If you wanted to argue that he should take more threes, you might be able to make that case:

Is it a credible argument?

Rockets' Kevin Durant has great scoring profile

Part of the analytics movement has been the three-point revolution. It's generally understood that hitting 33% of your threes is roughly equivalent to hitting half of your twos. So, the long two has fallen out of fashion.

It doesn't take a basketball genius to understand. A three is worth three. A dunk or a layup is a high percentage chance to get two. So, the midrange is the worst shot:

But that doesn't mean nobody should be taking them.

If the midrange is a good shot for a specific player, that's fine. Such is the case with Durant. He shoots a high percentage from every area on the court. Anyone who thinks his propensity for midrange shooting makes him a problematic player has a problematic view of the game of basketball.

He may need to increase his three-point volume on the Rockets by virtue of roster construction. This team is a bit light on snipers. That said, Durant doesn't need to overhaul his game. He's one of the most efficient scorers in NBA history:

Who could disagree?