Kevin Durant responded to comments from Greg Oden, who said he will be remembered as the biggest bust in NBA history.

"Nonsense. That's nonsense," Durant adamantly told ESPN on Sunday night. "In order for you to be a bust, you have to actually play and show people that you progressed as a player. He didn't get a chance to."

Oden was first overall in 2007 to the Portland Trail Blazers while Durant was picked second by the Seattle SuperSonics.

Oden had previously told Sports Illustrated that he was "one of the biggest busts in NBA history" and that "it would only get worse as Kevin Durant continues doing big things."

Durant defended his draft classmate.

"He didn't want to get hurt. That was the last thing he wanted to do was to get hurt," Durant told ESPN. "That wasn't even in the cards, and he got injured and that was unfortunate. But when he did play, he was a force. Protecting the paint. They were so good with him and LaMarcus down low, with Brandon Roy [and] Andre Miller at the time. They had a nice team. So he was a big part of that.

"He's not a bust. He just didn't play a long time because of injuries, and that's just what it is."

Durant said he desired to play for the Trail Blazers.

"I definitely wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but I landed in a great situation," he said. "I couldn't ask for anything better. I would love to play with LaMarcus and Brandon Roy, but when I was the second pick, I was very excited to get to Seattle. We had traded Ray Allen, like, two picks later, and I was like, 'Wow. They're really opening it up for me and really allowing me to grow as a player.' So I didn't even worry about being the No. 1 pick after that. Once we traded Ray Allen, I was like, 'This is my team.' They're going to allow me to grow and make my mistakes. So I was looking forward to it."