Texas basketball-ex Kevin Durant has his NBA Finals pick in

Former Texas star forward Kevin Durant gave his thoughts on who would be facing each other in the NBA Finals this year, as well as who would take the crown.

The NBA season restart was up and running for more than a week now, and the playoff picture in both conferences is really starting to take shape. And there’s a number of former players out of the Texas basketball program that are taking part in the NBA’s 22-team restart in the “bubble plan” at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL. Games started back on July 30, but one of the players that is sitting out with his team in Disney World is Texas Ex superstar forward Kevin Durant, who is currently rostered with the Brooklyn Nets.

KD is currently still recovering and rehabbing the torn achilles injury that he suffered in last year’s NBA playoffs run, when he was a member of the Golden State Warriors. He has yet to make his debut in game action in a Nets uniform.

We’ll likely have to wait until next season until we see KD make his debut alongside star point guard Kyrie Irving with the Nets. Once that time arrives, the Nets should join the likes of the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and Milwaukee Bucks, as one of the top contenders out of the Eastern Conference.

While KD is sidelined in game action for the Nets right now, his opinion remains very much in play in the media spotlight. KD recently gave his take on who he thinks will win the NBA Championship this season, and which teams will represent each conference. In a piece that was published by Royce Young of ESPN on Aug. 6 (and more specifically a recent podcast KD spoke on), he stated that he thought the Bucks would represent the East against the Los Angeles Clippers representing the Western Conference.

Here’s more on what that piece from ESPN had to say on the matter.

"“If I had to choose — and I hate doing that s— because you never know what could happen, you seen that with us last year — but if I had to choose, I’ll go with Clippers and Bucks for the championship,” Durant said on the “Play For Keeps” podcast. “And I’ll go with the Clippers.”"

He wound up picking the Clippers to reign supreme over the Bucks in the NBA Finals. This piece didn’t give a specific number of games that KD felt like the Clippers would beat the Bucks in. Nonetheless, his pick is in.

KD referred to their depth and overall talent in terms of star power as the main reasons why they would be able to take the title this season. The Clippers currently sit in second place in the West standings, with a record of 45-2. And the Bucks hold the top seed in the East with a record of 54-15.

There’s still a handful of regular season games remaining for both the Bucks and Clippers in the bubble before the NBA playoffs officially begin.