So who is better? lebron james I would say but it is getting closer. Lebron james is more effection score but it is close because yes he is about 7% better form the field but KD is a much much better ft shooter then james is so that closing the gap some of the scoring effectionsy and is a better 3 point shooter. James is a better passer but KD is getting better now up over 5 assest a game this year james is a better defender then KD. At this point I would say all that really seperats them is james is a better defender and passer.
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31kevin durnat0%9lebron james0%22 -
Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
ima just enjoy this time
Last edited by OkayC; 01-30-2014, 01:38 AM.Lakers
Trojans
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
We don't need all these player vs. player threads.. We already have a LeBron thread, basically a Durant thread we've all been talking in the past few days, and we have an off topic thread.. Plus you just created another OKC thread.. Just keep this stuff in those other threads.Comment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
My post on this would probably be a book long lol.. If this isn't locked by tomorrow I'll consider typing my input.Comment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
I voted for "kevin durnat"Twitter: @TyroneisMaximus
PSN: JazzMan_OS
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Dibs: AJ LeeComment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
That's you Charara25?#1 Laker fan
First Team Defense !!!Comment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
I normally don't like to judge until a players' career is done because, after all, we are comparing a LeBron James, in his prime years, to a Kevin Durant, who is starting to enter his prime.
With that said, at the time of this post, I would say LeBron is the better player in all aspects of basketball apart from shooting and perhaps ball handling skills.Comment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
KD will be entering his prime in 2-3 yrsComment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
Well I said if this thread was still open today I would give my input and that it would take a book to write it.. So here we go, chapters 1-23 lol..
First I want to say that this scoring run Durant is currently on has been amazing, and very exciting to watch. It's the best scoring stretch we as fans have saw in awhile. But at the same time, as does a lot of things in today's sports world, it's becoming a little overblown in terms of how great of a feat it actually is and how great of a player it makes KD.
For starters, it's not that this is the first time players have had huge scoring stretches like this. And it's not at all the most impressive. Jordan averaged 37+ and 35+ for ENTIRE seasons.. That's 82 games each.. Hell he's averaged 33+ during his entire playoff career, that's 179 games of going against the best in the world every night playing at their hardest. Kobe has averaged 35+ for an ENTIRE season, that's 80 games. LeBron had a 14 game playoff run averaging 35+ per game on shooting 51%.. Again that's playoffs, against the best teams every night.. That's just to name a few instances.
And while what Durant is doing is very impressive is it really that big of a surprise to everyone? Amazing indeed that's he's stayed so consistent during the run but we've all known he's an elite scorer, we know he's among the best at efficiency.. But look at it this way. Prior to this Heat game he was on his 11 game run, during the stretch averaging about 23 field goal attempts nearly 7 of them being 3's and over 12 free throws per game. So enough total shot attempts to average 65 points per game during that span.. If somebody would have told you "hey Westbrook will be hurt for a few games and Durant will be getting up enough attempts to score 65 per game" before the season started wouldn't we all expect him to average 30-40 points during that time? Again impressive, but nothing out of the ordinary of what we could have expected from him anyways.
Again it's an amazing run, one of the more exciting stretches of games we've had in a few years, and I give the most respect to him where it's clearly due. And if he takes home the MVP this year I think he's highly deserving of it.. But just a couple months ago most everyone was convinced LeBron had basically separated any gap there was between him and the next guy in the league. Things were going normal then all of a sudden 12 games later and Durant has caught him or to some surpassed him? It's just all a little premature and I think the "in the moment" fans have extremely jumped the gun here.. Not that I needed to explain that to most of you on OS anyways..
Moving on.. The LeBron/Durant debate.. I'll say this about Durant, he's the better scorer, he can score in more ways, he's much better at creating his shot, and he's playing amazing right now... He's still improving into his "prime" and LeBron is slowly reaching the age where he should start to fall out of his. Durant should surpass him as "best in the league" in a few more seasons, unless someone else becomes the NBA's top dog.. But as of right now it's a definite no, and sorry to any OKC or Durant fans but I don't really even think it's that close.
First I'll say the "Durant can't play defense" or "Durant doesn't/can't pass well" or "LeBron isn't a scorer" arguments are all about as pathetic as they get, and I think they are all just wrong.
Starting with defensive.. Durant is constantly improving, his defensive footwork isn't really that bad at all not the way people make it out to be and his length is still a major factor.. He's probably as good or better than LeBron at just moving his feet defensively. But LeBron is still the most versatile defender we've had in the league probably since Rodman. He's the only guy who can cover all 5 positions and still be effective.. He's not shutting them all down, but he can defend anybody and not be a liability. Miami's team defense looks like trash so far the majority of this season and LeBron's steal numbers have taken a hit because of it.. But his ability to switch and guard anybody is the biggest part of what allows them to play the scrambling defense they've had the past 3 seasons. It's what allows them to use the small ball gimmick. You won't see that looking at a stat sheet. But he makes the defense.. He's not playing in front of great shot blockers and a full team of other great defenders to mask his mistakes make him look better.. Sorta like Paul George, and to an extent Durant.. (Though PG is a much better man defender than either of them). Rather than the great defense around him making him better defensively, he's basically the motor that makes Miami's defense work. Though when the rest of the defense is clicking and Wade is "fresh" it definitely makes LeBron look better and his job a lot easier.
Also can probably play all 5 spots offensively. Not sure anybody ever could do that at both ends of the court, defense and offense.
Durant also isn't a "bad passer" or whatever the negative assumption of his passing abilities is. But he's by no means a great playmaker.. He's a scorer, that's what he does.. Almost every assist he gets comes when he gets doubled or cut off from a hedge on defense. He's basically a 6'10 guys with SG skills. He has the height and vision to see who's open when help comes, and he's good at getting him the ball.. But that's not him being a great playmaker it's more him not being a ball hog and forcing contested shots over tough defense.. Basically he isn't Kobe or Iverson (no offense to their fans). I wouldn't care if Durant averaged 12 assists on the season and LeBron averaged 2.. It's clear that LeBron is one of the top play makers in the league. Often times he's looking to make the play first score second.. He raises the play of everyone around him, knows where they are on the court, and is an excellent passer to get them the ball.. It may not always be an assist, it could be a hockey assist, could result in a foul, could be a missed shot (like tonight) but the way he finds people in the offense is probably better than any non point guard in the league.
But honestly it's not even about defense to me or the playmaking, that's not even what separates LeBron from Durant through my eyes.. I don't think I've ever in my life time have saw a player who can control a game, and use his overall vision the way LeBron can.. Coming from a Jordan fan first, Jordan was more than my favorite player he was a role model, my idol, basically a superhero in my eyes. He could make players on the other team look inhuman compared to him and leave my jaw dropped to the floor with drool hanging out and my eyes popping out of my head.. That has nothing to do with this discussion, but I'm just expressing what being able to say something like that about someone other than Jordan is like for me. I didn't think I would ever say that. And I'll also add that I didn't watch all of Magic's career growing up, not quite old enough. So I can't say he wasn't that way.
(NOT SAYING HE'S BETTER THAN MJ!) or even as good.
But out of every player who's career I've been able to watch and dissect I haven't watched another player who's had total control over games the way LeBron can. And I saw it when he was 18 years old and in high school. I jumped on him then, and I wanted to see him turn into the player he's became now, and it's how I knew Andrew Wiggins didn't compare to him coming into college this season. (Irrelevant to the argument)...
I've saw games where they have needed rebounding and LeBron out rebounds everyone on the court the next game. They aren't getting enough open shots, he gets 13 assists and probably 10 more hockey assists.. They can't score he drops 30. They can't stop someone and he defends them.. He impacts a game in so many ways.. He could probably only score 20 points per game and still be a top MVP candidate.. How many players can you say that about?..
He can control the outcome of a game and take only 10 shots.. I've never saw anything like that from anybody. His vision is amazing, it's honestly like he sees things on the court before they happen at times.. And he's been that way since he was 18 years old. As a rookie a better playmaker than probably Durant is right now. I've seen in games where Bird and Magic seem to just have that special vision on the court.. And it seems to be a lost art with all the dunking, 3 point shooting, and highlight reels in today's game.. But I've seen it in LeBron. I've seen it in Tim Duncan. Not saying LBJ is anywhere near the passer Magic was or maybe even Bird was.. But he just seems to see things others don't, just as they did.
He just has that unique ability to where some games just appear to be in the palm of his hand.. He might only take 10 shots, and you won't need to look at the box score to see what he scored, or look to see his FG%, you just know that he had that game won and he played great. The way he can just read and pick apart a defense.. Not just to get his own shot but to find the best shot possible for whoever.. It's just special to watch.
Huge in big moments and big games.. All time leading scorer ppg in close out games, all time leading scorer ppg in game 7's. He's had his flaws along the way, and things he's had to go through and learn.. Just as most others did. But he's better for it now, and his first championship playoff run was as close to perfect basketball from one player as I've ever saw. Right up there with playoff runs I saw from MJ.
And while his team is playing down compared to the norm right now, he's still his king efficient self. He's quietly averaged 30 a game during this same 12 game stretch Durant is on, and tonight scored slightly more than him with a slightly higher percentage. Not that it mattered but just to show it's not that he as an individual has just dropped off.
And Durant is continually improving. He is going to be an all time great player.. But there are some things you can improve and some things you just have.. Through my eyes LeBron is just that once in a decade all around talent like Jordan, Magic, etc.. It will take Durant improving quite a bit from where he is now for me to say he caught LeBron at his best.
And a lot of things that are great about LeBron won't "wow" you the way a stretch of insanely hot shooting games will, they won't make your draw drop to the floor the way it did when Jordan took over a game, and they may not be quite as exciting as a VC highlight reel, or even always show up in the stat sheet... But when you've watched basketball for as long as I have and you can pinpoint the things like that on top of all the obvious areas he's already great in, you just realize you're watching something that's special. Something you only get to see once every 10 years.Comment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
Durant is netterComment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
as long as you have high effection and assests you can buy prime real estate.
Wait what the hell am I talking about.Comment
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Re: Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
But leborn can shoot. Oh wait wrong thread.Lakers
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