Kevin Durant could cement his legacy with one key Rockets accomplishment

As Kevin Durant joined the Houston Rockets this offseason, both him and the organization had one thing on their mind: winning a championship.

As Durant nears the end of his career, and appears increasingly likely to sign an extension with the organization that will take him through his twilight years, elevating this young core to a championship level, and bringing home the organization's first title since 1995, will cement him as one of the best and most winning players in basketball history.

Although Durant has certainly already gone down as one of the most effective scorers of all time, the controversial manner in which he joined the Golden State Warriors in 2016, and the resultant titles that he won with the organization, remain a point of contention in his legacy. If he is able to lead the upstart Rockets to a title. however, there will be no denying his resume.

Kevin Durant must win a championship with the Rockets in order to cement his legacy

Durant, throughout his time with the Seattle Supersonics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns, has consistently been one of the best scorers in the game even through the injuries he has fought.

Through 1,123 career games, Durant has averaged 27.2 points, seven rebounds and 4.4 assists, shooting 50.2% from the field and 39% from 3-point range. Not only are these all-time numbers as far as his effectiveness goes, the two Finals MVPs he won with Golden State in 2017 and 2018 are a testament to just how dominant he was at his peak.

Yet, those Warriors teams were absolutely stacked, and, since that time, financial restrictions have been put in place at a league-wide level to make it much more difficult for a team of that caliber to be built.

The Rockets, however, have one key factor going for them: their youth. Even before Durant's arrival, they possessed one of the most exciting young cores in the league, with Tari Eason being their oldest emerging star at the age of 24.

Yet, despite (or because of) this fact, Houston struggled to look like real championship contenders last season, and their lack of organization on offense and sub-par performance in clutch minutes ultimately resulted in their first-round defeat to the veteran Warriors.

Therefore, Durant represents much more than an additional scorer to Houston's offense. He is a veteran with bona-fide championship experience, and, if the Rockets even sniff a title this year, it will be because Durant will have been able to elevate the roster to a historic extent.

While Durant will go down as one of the best players in NBA history no matter what, he now has the unique opportunity to disarm some of his detractors' biggest weaponry by taking this Houston team to a championship.