Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says the playoffs are the best time to compare Kevin Durant to Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan since “defenses are geared up and ready for everything.”

Kerr says Jordan's mentality every night, whether it was a regular season or postseason game, was to kill everyone. The Warriors coach believes Durant takes a different approach in the regular season since he's playing with three other Hall of Famers in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

However, once the playoffs start and the game slows down, it becomes tougher to score. That's when Durant begins to show his “Jordan side,” according to Kerr.

Article Continues Below

“During the regular season, Kevin routinely took a backseat for our guys,” Kerr told Joe Morgan of Sporting News. “And it speaks to the kind of person and player he is. He doesn't mind going 6-for-8 and scoring 16 points. But he has a different mentality. Michael's mentality every game was, ‘I'm going to crush the world.' Kevin takes a different approach.

“But what this five-game run tells you is this is what we need to win games. That's one of the best reasons to compare Kevin to Michael. Come playoff time, defenses are geared up and ready for everything. That's when they become the most lethal. When it's necessary in order for the team to win because there is no scheme that's going to work, they're going to find a way to get their shots.”

Durant is averaging 34.3 points in the 2019 playoffs. He leads the postseason in scoring and has been the best player on the Warriors.

For his career, Durant averages 29.1 points in the playoffs. Jordan, the greatest player of all-time, averaged 33.4 points in the playoffs. The Warriors and Kerr are very fortunate to have Durant on their side.