PHOENIX — Billy Donovan had only 10 months with Kevin Durant.

That was the length of the relationship between coach and player after Donovan left the college ranks for the NBA and became the coach of the Thunder in 2015.

He didn’t need 10 months to figure out what Durant was about, however. That happened very quickly.

‘‘He’s a student of the game,’’ Donovan said before the Bulls faced Durant and the Suns on Monday. ‘‘He puts the work in. He’s very serious; there’s no messing around with him. He’s incredibly detail-oriented.

‘‘The other thing I loved about him — and I don’t think he gets enough credit about this — he is not afraid in the moment. He leans into that. He wants every bit of that. You look at some of the shots he’s made throughout his career in the playoffs and big moments, you look at the knockdown shots he’s made, he leans into those moments. I’ve always respected guys like that — guys that lean into it and want it.’’

The Bulls got a full taste of that as Durant scored 30 of his 43 points in the second half, including what proved to be the game-winning jumper with 1.1 seconds left, to carry the Suns to a 115-113 victory.

Coby White led six players in double figures for the Bulls, who led 79-56 four minutes into the third quarter before Durant led the Suns’ comeback.

Since winning his second title with the Warriors in the 2017-18 season, Durant has been chasing his own legend. He endured a bad breakup with the Warriors after the 2018-19 season and a bunch of weirdness in two-plus seasons with the Nets. Now he is part of a highly touted ‘‘superteam’’ again with the Suns, but they have been more hype than substance so far this season.

‘‘Whatever team he’s on, you have to consider that team is going to have a legitimate shot to compete for it all,’’ Donovan said of Durant. ‘‘Yes, I think he’s that good.’’

But in watching Durant with the Suns — along with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal — it’s also a reminder to Donovan that there are now different paths to the final journey.

The Nuggets showed that last season, and the hope is the Bulls can try to follow suit in building a team rather than being top-heavy with star power.

‘‘I think the league is changing in this perspective: It was always like you need to have these three stars, and if you don’t have these three stars, you can’t win,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘I don’t know if that’s the case anymore. I think it’s the whole entire team because you’ve got to play 48 minutes.’’

But the question for the Bulls, especially with the trade deadline Feb. 8 approaching, is whether executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas can build that total team.

The Bulls had the makings of one at the start of the 2021-22 season before Lonzo Ball went down, but the sample size was too small to assume they had a deep run in them.

This group? There is some depth there when the Bulls are completely healthy, but because of a 5-14 start and uncertainty about what Karnisovas will do at the deadline, it’s a product that’s hard to take too seriously.

The Suns and Durant don’t have that problem.

‘‘The three of them on the floor together are, like, head and shoulders the best offense in the league,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘So I would think this group would continue to get better and be in position to do that.’’