I have a great respect for Kevin Durant..

He's not like your normal sip... He has a great attitude about the game and composes himself well when things don't go his way.

I don't know how he is off the court but he seems like a great individual..


(mavs fan)

I don't really associate one and done guys to their school.

Maybe he just wasn't there long enough to get what tu is all about

[This message has been edited by Tincup12 (edited 5/23/2011 11:20p).]

I moved to Austin in 2010 and I've spent three times as much time here As Durant did.

First of all, even if Durant wasn't a dirty sip, he's still a little *****. But, he is a sip, which makes him even worse.

As happy as I am that the Mavs miraculously pulled this one out, watching Durant in the post game presser was gut wrenching. Really feel bad for the guy...

I didn't see the post-game. Was Durant wearing the dewshy backpack?

Love Durant. His best days are ahead of him. He might need a new PG but the Thunder will be a factor in the western conference for many years to come.

Love Kevin Durant but the more and more I watch the Thunder, the more and more I can't stand watching WestBRICK double the air out the ball to take a horrible shot! Not sure if he and KD can coexist on the same team.

I think that's an easy one for Thunder management: I'll take Durant for 500, Alex.

Durant has a lot to learn and a lot to work on. I think he can do it - he seems to have a good work ethic and a desire to be great.

It's interesting though how Durant can finish the game 0-6 with 2 TOs and get all this praise and sympathy. If the roles were reversed and the Mavs blew this game with Dirk having similar numbers all we would hear is how Dirk choked, he'll never be a superstar, he'll never win a title, etc. Dirk has endured all these meltdowns throughout the years and continues to improve. Mavs fans have been putting up with the criticism from the media for 10+ years. What's the difference?

[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 5/24/2011 12:14a).]

maybe because we can understand Durant when he talks?

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urant has a lot to learn and a lot to work on. I think he can do it - he seems to have a good work ethic and a desire to be great.

It's interesting though how Durant can finish the game 0-6 with 2 TOs and get all this praise and sympathy. If the roles were reversed and the Mavs blew this game with Dirk having similar numbers all we would hear is how Dirk choked, he'll never be a superstar, he'll never win a title, etc. Dirk has endured all these meltdowns throughout the years and continues to improve. Mavs fans have been putting up with the criticism from this board and the media for 10+ years. What's the difference?

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Well, according to you, Dirk is the third best player in this series. That might make him more liable for criticism somehow.

But really, Durant is 22 years old.

[This message has been edited by Ags2012 (edited 5/24/2011 12:16a).]

Lebron was facing adversity from the media and fans when he was younger than Durant. How old does Durant have to be before he gets to face adversity? It's something else about his personality that has him on this pedestal of greatness but without any expectations.

And Dirk takes more criticism because he's not as talented? What?

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Lebron was facing adversity from the media and fans when he was younger than Durant. How old does Durant have to be before he gets to face adversity? It's something else about his personality that has him on this pedestal of greatness but without any expectations.

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Probably has to do with being humble and likable rather than being an enormous egotistical ******.

Durant has expectations, trust me. Did he live up to them tonight, hell no. But compare his reactions to that of a Lebron or other guys, and you just get the feeling he really cares and it kills him that he failed. You don't always get that from superstars.

Maybe he's good at putting up a front, I don't know, but he seems genuine, so that's what he has going for him.

Humble yes but he can't be too humble. No one is more humble than Dirk and that fuels people saying that he'll never be a leader of a championship team. It's a combination of all these things.

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Lebron was facing adversity from the media and fans when he was younger than Durant.

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Are you sure about this? In Lebron's 4th season, he made it to the finals, where they were swept by the spurs. I don't seem to remember him catching much flak.

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How old does Durant have to be before he gets to face adversity? It's something else about his personality that has him on this pedestal of greatness but without any expectations.

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KD has not played flawless by any means, but he is a far 3rd to the issues with Brooks and then Russell.

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Humble yes but he can't be too humble. No one is more humble than Dirk and that fuels people saying that he'll never be a leader of a championship team. It's a combination of all these things.

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So because Dirk was unfairly criticized, you think Durant should be unfairly criticized as well? I'm not sure what you are getting at.

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Are you sure about this? In Lebron's 4th season, he made it to the finals, where they were swept by the spurs. I don't seem to remember him catching much flak.

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I remember when the Cavs didn't make the playoffs his 2nd season there was lots of talk about how Lebron failed to make the playoffs. Part of it though was Cleveland already was making panic moves to get an instant winning team. Durant really benefited from Presti's long term plan.

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So because Dirk was unfairly criticized, you think Durant should be unfairly criticized as well? I'm not sure what you are getting at.

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No I'm recognizing that Durant is not getting unfairly criticized and want to explore how he is able to do it. It's a part of his overall superstar brand.

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No I'm recognizing that Durant is not getting unfairly criticized and want to explore how he is able to do it. It's a part of his overall superstar brand.

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he's 22. guys that are like-able don't get criticized at that age for playing hard and falling short.

he's not facing whatever dirk faced because he's much younger at this point than when dirk fell flat in 2006, plus he's not a foreigner, as it's already been pointed out.

Dirk was taking the "can't win it all" criticism all the way back to 2003 when the Mavs blew the #1 seed in the regular season, or even back to 2002 when they were humiliated by the much better Kings and Danny Ainge was mocking him on the TNT broadcast. When he finally broke through in the 2006 semifinals it was like a redemption for his career. The redemption period obviously only lasted about 3 weeks.

Dirk did have obvious flaws in his game that he worked on every off-season. That's a big part of it. It's easy to find flaws in the one with the unconventional game.