Durant will have a chance to be the greatest ...22 and already 3 scoring titles in a row ... they are going to win many titles ... I'd take him over lebron any day ... unbelievable talent ...

My BIL got to meet KD after their game in San Antonio last week, said he was a really cool guy and took some pics with him. Hate that he's a sip but he's a class guy, I love the story about him going to play flag football with some OK State students in the offseason.

Durant is an incredible player. But dont forget that he is a one dimensional player. Durant isnt as good as Lebron is and will never be a Jordan.

Durant is an INCREDIBLE scorer with a great attitude. He isnt a distributor and doesnt play much defense.

Lebron does it all

GO HEAT

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Durant is an incredible player. But dont forget that he is a one dimensional player. Durant isnt as good as Lebron is and will never be a Jordan.

Durant is an INCREDIBLE scorer with a great attitude. He isnt a distributor and doesnt play much defense.

Lebron does it all

GO HEAT

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Durant needs to learn what a weight room is. Guy is long and too lean. Needs to put on some muscle. Really don't like watching him play. Can't say that I like to watch anyone in particular.

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This may be the dumbest single comment I've read all year on this board. And considering the quality of comments/posts on Texags Basketball Other during playoff time, this is simply and incredible, incredible feat.

I hate the Heat, but Lebron is a better all-around player than Durant. If Lebron would pull his head out he could be just as effective a scorer, but he's a little too focused on developing his jump shot right now.

Durant's greatness isn't just in his jump shot (which is impressive), it's his unpredictability. Lebron has particular shots he wants to take, while Durant is comfortable taking whatever the defense gives him.

[This message has been edited by Ulrich (edited 6/7/2012 9:39a).]

LeBron is better than Durant, and any average basketball fan should be able to see that. Don't get me wrong, Durant is an amazing player, and if he keeps adding to his game well it will be fun to see what he ends up as. And in regards to the people saying that Harden is a big flopper, look in the mirror at your own team and Manu Ginobli. Seriously.

I can't remember the last time where there was a clearer number one and number two player in a league.

1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant

The drop-off after two is wide and the league's 3rd best player is debateable. Howard probably? Chris Paul?

[This message has been edited by Head Ninja In Charge (edited 6/7/2012 9:51a).]

if they ejected players for flopping the Spurs wouldn't have anyone playing

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I can't remember the last time where there was a clearer number one and number two player in a league.

1. LeBron James
2. Kevin Durant

The drop-off after two is wide and the league's 3rd best player is debateable. Howard probably? Chris Paul?

[This message has been edited by Head Ninja In Charge (edited 6/7/2012 9:51a).]

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um...Kobe?

They don't eject players for flopping and the Mavs still didn't have anyone playing.

I prefer Durants game over Lebron. Lebron is the better athlete and probably a better passer, but if I had to chose who to have on my team, I'd take Durant. Easy. Not even a question. 6'9 with long ass arms, who plays pretty good defense and one of the purest shooters to ever play. And he's clutch. If Lebron loses tonight.. that is 9 seasons and 0 rings. Not impressive for the most freakish athlete to ever play basketball.

27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.4 turnovers, 1.8 a/t ratio, 1.8 steals, .8 blocks, .531/ .362/ .771 in 37.5 mpg.

28 points, 8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.8 turnovers, .92 a/t ratio, 1.3 steals, 1.2 blocks, .496/ .387/ .860 in 38.6 mpg.

The main differences are in assists (ad Lebron), a/t ratio (huge ad Lebron), steals (ad Lebron), blocks (ad Durant), FG% (big ad Lebron), 3PT% (ad Durant), and FG% (big ad Durant).

Statistically, Lebron is the better player. He also plays outstanding defense, whereas Durant seems to spend most of his time assigned to the weakest opposing player.

Durant's defense has improved greatly. He's currently an average defender. He's good when completely locked in. If he ever exerts maximum effort and technique, there's no reason to believe that with his length, he can't be Tayshaun Princesque on defense.

I think he's made huge strides defensively. I'd consider him above average.

The difference between Durant and BronBron is that Durant is improving certain areas of his game (defense) while everything else is still at a high level (beating the teams I adore, since college).

TheBron started out very good at everything, but his game is the same game it was when he started, imo.

Is Durant's defense really getting better or does it appear better with Perkins and Ibaka behind him to clean up?

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Manu has always been the NBA's #1 flopper

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Absolutely true if you don't watch any basketball or have much understanding about it.

Lebron has gone from 21 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6 assists to 27/8/7. FG% is up 12% from his rookie year and 6% from his sophomore year. 3PT% up 7% from his rookie year, and this year's 3PT% is 3% better than any year in his career except for his soph year. Turnovers and free throws haven't shown any real trend.

7 of his 8 years in the league, Lebron's FG% has improved over the previous season.


Lebron is also a good defender against the other team's best offensive player 1-4 without a defensive post presence, while Durant has improved to average against the other team's worst offensive wing player with Ibaka/Perkins/Collison backing him up.

[This message has been edited by Ulrich (edited 6/7/2012 11:35a).]

I'd argue his assist percentage has gone up because the people he's passing to have gotten better, so I guess the same is true of Durant's defense.

Lebron's best assist numbers were actually better in Cleveland. He had 5 seasons in Cleveland with more assists than he had this year in Miami.

If anything, the Heat's tic-tac-toe-playing coach and reliance on ISO plays have limited his ceiling for assists.

[This message has been edited by Ulrich (edited 6/7/2012 11:38a).]

Both are incredible players and any team would be lucky to have one of these two guys.

However I have to give the advantage to LeBron. There is nothing on the basketball court that he can't do. Score, rebound, distribute/run the offense, play D on any player or position on the court (heck he is guarding everyone from Rondo to Garnett in this series). Durant is an elite offensive player (better than LeBron from a pure scoring perspective) and also has a much better all around team built around him.

Swap LeBron and Durant this year, and the Thunder might not lose a game. Do you really think Durant could take this Heat team further than LeBron? Durant has a great attitude, great team, and great young coach. If the OKC core sticks together, they could put together an impressive run..... unless LeBron gets some weapons. This might be the first of many OKC-Miami NBA finals, which is a good thing if you are a general NBA fan (not so much for the SA/Dallas/Houston fans).

I think the Lebron's biggest problem is actually having a coach who knows wtf he is doing. I don't particularly care for Bron, but he is clearly the class of the league in terms of physically gifted, basketball IQ, and talent.

I just think he doesn't have the coaching that could take him from being one of the greatest to THE greatest.

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Silky smooth

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Excellent point, which is why people bashing on LeBron are idiots. What do you think the playoffs look like if you swap Brooks and Spoelstra? We are probably getting ready for a Spurs-Heat finals to start Game 1 this weekend.

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unless LeBron gets some weapons.

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yeah if only we could find him an all-NBA wing man and a legit big man...then he'll be ready to take over the league

Wade has been AWOL for half the games, and Bosh has been hurt since Game 1 of the playoffs. The rest of the Heat roster sucks.

After the OKC big 3, you have Ibaka (who is becoming a stud) plus a lot of solid role players (Sefalosha, Perkins, Collison, Fisher) that have all stepped up in the playoffs. The Heat are trotting out Joel Anthony or a washed up Ronny Turiaf at center, and Mike Miller looks like his back is going to give out on his next 3-pt attempt. They have been so bad, that they have been forced to play 6-8 Haslem at Center with LeBron at PF, which has let KG, Bass and the Celtics dominate in the frontcourt.

Besides crappy coaching, it's the major flaw in the "Big 3" model. There isn't enough money to get solid players around 3 max-contract players. Once Harden comes off his rookie deal and Ibaka is ready to re-sign, we'll see what OKC is willing to spend to keep this core team together.

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Besides crappy coaching, it's the major flaw in the "Big 3" model. There isn't enough money to get solid players around 3 max-contract players. Once Harden comes off his rookie deal and Ibaka is ready to re-sign, we'll see what OKC is willing to spend to keep this core team together.

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Westbrook and Durant are maxes. Ibaka is probably a 8-10mm/year player. Thabo has 2 more years at 3.5 and 4mm, then is probably a MLE or slightly lower player. Harden is probably a 12mm/year player. KPerk has 3years left at about 8mm/year.

Winning a title or two in the next two years is going to make it a lot easier for OKC to keep them together. The only guy in the rotation coming off the books next year is Derek Fisher. The following year, you have Ibaka and Harden as RFAs. Summer of 2013 will be interesting if they can't lock those two up early.

Lebron doing work tonight. 45/15/5 in a blowout game 6 win on the road.

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Durant needs to learn what a weight room is. Guy is long and too lean. Needs to put on some muscle. Really don't like watching him play.

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Reggie Miller would like a word with you.