Kevin Durant names ‘Pure Hooper’ NBA starting 5, without Michael Jordan

The The Phoenix Suns had a rough first half 2024-25 NBA season, currently sitting below .500 after Tuesday night’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Despite that, Kevin Durant continued to put up elite numbers and is a virtual lock to secure another All-Star berth in a few weeks when the teams are announced.

Durant has long been known as one of the best players in NBA history, and the two-time Finals MVP recently announced his list of five players. whom he considers to be the cleanest players to ever play in the league, according to the Kyrie Center at Ks.

Starting at point guard for Durant’s team was his former Brooklyn Nets teammate Kyrie Irving. At shooting guard was the late great Kobe Bryant. Durant’s pick at small forward might raise some eyebrows, as he went for former All-Star Tracy McGrady. Unsurprisingly, Durant made a name for himself at the power forward position and decided to put former Boston Celtics great Kevin Garnett at center.

Two notable omissions from Durant’s list are his longtime rival LeBron James and NBA legend Michael Jordan, who are considered to be the frontrunners in the “greatest player of all time” discussion.

While there is no consensus definition of what constitutes a “pure hooper,” some general attributes commonly associated with the term include the ability to thrive in any system, as Durant has proven to be able to do time and again throughout his career, also as a willingness to create his own shot when the offense breaks down.

The names on Durant’s list certainly check those boxes. One could argue that another criterion used to distinguish “pure hoopers” is how impressive their highlight reels look, since highlights don’t get much more entertaining than those of Kyrie Irving or Kobe Bryant.

Either way, Durant may be looking to the Suns to add some more of their pure hoopers at this year’s trade deadline as the team wobbles in the standings.