RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesKevin Durant gets rare all-time nod from ex-teammate Devin Booker with Michael Jordan left out originally appeared on The Sporting News .
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Every era of the NBA produces its own version of the all-time best debate. Sometimes stars also make their own all-time best picks, as Devin Booker did recently. And as expected, his answer is already making the rounds, mostly because of who he included and who he didn't.
Kevin Durant's resume needs little introduction at this point. The 16-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion sits fifth on the league's all-time scoring list, having passed Michael Jordan's 32,293 points in March 2026.
He's a six-time All-NBA First Teamer with two Finals MVPs and a career scoring average of 27.1 points that puts him in the conversation for any all-time lineup, let alone one built by a former teammate.
That's exactly the spot Booker put him in. Asked to name his all-time starting five, the Phoenix Suns guard chose Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Durant and Shaquille O'Neal.
Devin Booker lists his All-Time NBA Starting 5: Steph Curry Kobe Bryant LeBron James Kevin Durant Shaquille O’Neal (h/t @CGBBURNER ) pic.twitter.com/XtO2586KGh
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) August 3, 2026 KD and Booker have spent parts of four seasons together in Phoenix, and Booker has long credited Durant's scoring package as one of the toughest covers in the league.
The surprise came in what was missing. Jordan, the player most fans label as the GOAT by default, didn't make Booker's cut. Neither did Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Instead, Booker paired Curry’s insane shooting gravity with three elite, unguardable shot-creators in Kobe, LeBron, and KD, before anchoring the whole thing with Shaq’s raw dominance in the paint.
Booker and Durant's on-court partnership in Phoenix produced two playoff runs but no deep postseason breakthrough before Durant was sent to the Houston Rockets in a historic seven-team blockbuster last summer.
It ended Durant's run in the desert and sent him back to the state of Texas, but based on Booker's list, it didn't cost him a spot among the players his old backcourt mate considers the best to ever do it.
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