Knicks’ Julius Randle calls Nets’ Kevin Durant NBA’s ‘best player’

When asked Monday if Kevin Durant is the NBA’s most difficult player to guard, Julius Randle took things a step further.

“Yeah,” Randle said. “He’s the best player in the league, for sure.”

Ahead of a 7:30 p.m. game between the Knicks (11-9) and Nets (14-6) Tuesday at Barclays Center, Randle put Durant’s ability into perspective.

“You ever seen a 7-footer that skilled?” Randle said. “Do anything, everything on the court? No weakness? Yeah, that’s him. He’s tough. A great player, but I love competing against him.”

After missing the 2019-20 campaign in Brooklyn with a torn right Achilles, Durant did not miss a beat the following season. Durant has shown no signs of slowing down either — through 19 games in 2021-22, his 15th year as an NBA player — he averages 28.6 points, tied alongside the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry atop the league, on a 54.8% shooting clip.

“I mean, he’s just KD,” Randle said. “He’s skilled. I think it’s different with him because, I mean, he’s obviously an extremely explosive athlete. He’s fast and quick, but he’s been so skilled for so long that I think his game is way more relied on skill than athleticism and all that type of stuff — smart and skills. So he’s relying on that more than anything.

“And like the ACL injuries, the Achilles injuries — now, people come back from that and they’re fine and able to recover and play. It’s not a career-ending thing. So I never wish that on anybody, but even when it happened to him, I felt like he was going to be fine.”

Without Kyrie Irving (COVID-19 protocols), Durant has guided the Nets to an early Eastern Conference lead. Randle respects what Durant and Brooklyn have done while embracing a chance to compete with the best.

“Well, Kyrie’s another one that’s really, really good — like, probably haven’t seen a player like him in the league before,” Randle said of Durant during Irving’s absence. “So (Irving) offers like a whole other dynamic to their…