We need to reeavaluate Kevin Durant

fifth column

Superstar
Joined
Mar 25, 2014
Messages
12,636
Reputation
-541
Daps
21,546
IMO what separates Durant from GOAT or Best in the League conversations is, he's not a floor raiser. Ive yet to see him be the sole point of success for a team and will them to a meaningful win.

Hes had the chance to prove that, twice, and in both instances he chose to be the nuclear option instead of carrying the troops. Which isnt a bad decision per se, but he cant be able to go to extremely cushy situations in GS and BKN and still be lauded like hes pulling some all world feat. He's going to situations where any top 15 scorer in the League would thrive.

Give some examples in your opinion of free agent superstars that joined a team as solo star and willed them to a meaningful chip.
 

King Theo

All Star
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
4,892
Reputation
360
Daps
7,522
Reppin
NULL
i swear you nikkas gotta be dumb as hell on this site. this is why i dont even post anymore. yall be wantin to make hot takes become reality instead of just appreciating and discussing the game.

We Need to reevaluate one of the best players in the world yall! i hate this era of sports talk.
 

ISO

Pass me the rock nikka
Joined
Mar 12, 2013
Messages
61,002
Reputation
8,207
Daps
194,432
Reppin
BX, NYC
The only players to win meaningful championships in the the last decade are Kobe, Dirk, Tim Duncan, Kawhi and Curry(first title)

Durant and Lebron will always have an asterisk next to their names respectfully because they couldn’t do it without another superstar or two or three or four to win it.
:mjlol:
 

ISO

Pass me the rock nikka
Joined
Mar 12, 2013
Messages
61,002
Reputation
8,207
Daps
194,432
Reppin
BX, NYC
How do you make this argument and then put Steph Curry ahead of him who was awful an entire finals versus Cleveland which was the biggest stage and then was party to a 3-1 come back the exact same playoffs in a series his team was supposed to win unlike KD’s team. Let alone having the game winning shot scored on him and then making a bone headed decision right after. The biggest games are the finals and Durant has always showed up. You guys keep pointing out that one game 6 because there isn’t much of a sample size outside of that. It’s a dishonest and perception based argument. If you’re holding Durant to the Jordan and LeBron tier then there’s no credible basis for putting Curry ahead of him.
Steph had a higher peak than Durant, that’s the basis for the placement. When they were on the same team Steph faced the brunt of the defensive attention. The Cavs threw the kitchen sink at him on and off ball all four years. I think the stat was for one of the Finals that KD faced two double teams to Steph’s 40+. KD was seeing single coverage in isos, he was walking up the floor and shooting threes, he was getting open runway dunks in transition because the Cavs was more worried about Steph.

Also, when KD and Steph faced off it was Steph who got the better of him. All I remember is the 40 foot game-winner in the regular season and the 3-1 comeback. Steph is a higher impact player he’s more of a floor raiser. The gap between them All-Time for me isn’t large. I had Durant over Steph for a long time. They are both unanimously top 15-20 at this point and can be argued higher.

Also, no it wasn’t just that game 6 that’s just the biggest example. These are the series that I’m referring to.
2010 NBA Western Conference First Round - Thunder vs. Lakers | Basketball-Reference.com

2011 NBA Western Conference Finals - Thunder vs. Mavericks | Basketball-Reference.com

2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals - Grizzlies vs. Thunder | Basketball-Reference.com

2014 NBA Western Conference Finals - Thunder vs. Spurs | Basketball-Reference.com

2016 NBA Western Conference Finals - Thunder vs. Warriors | Basketball-Reference.com

In these series he had mid-series shooting slumps (Kevin’s three ball dips to 35% in the playoffs for his career) this is what led to the Mr. Unreliable headline that angered him and added fuel to him leaving.

These are the series and moments I was talking about that were marked by my turn/your turn hero ball with Russy (lack of leadership), lost ball TO’s (high dribble, long sweeping crossover, some trouble navigating ball screens downhill), bad passes (overambitious in tight windows, soft limp wrist passes, trouble passing out hard traps), volume shooting (mid series shooting slumps, relying on the J instead of applying rim pressure). These are just tendencies I personally observed down the stretch of games and as series extended.

:hubie:

'Mr. Unreliable' Durant headline causes stir


The Oklahoman apologizes for calling Thunder's Kevin Durant 'Mr. Unreliable' | Sports Illustrated
nba_e_durantpaper_576x1165.jpg


I’m holding him to a standard of Jordan and LeBron who had more impact outside of scoring than Kevin. But who also elevated their scoring at pivotal moments and had signature All-Time performances. Even in losing efforts they were able to push series further than they should have.
 
Last edited:

Georgiamuscle

Superstar
Joined
Oct 14, 2015
Messages
7,117
Reputation
4,915
Daps
25,995
Reppin
Rise up!
I'm just attacking the bad man that dropped two finals losses on my daddy’s head :mjcry:
So Draymond didn’t beg him and KD ran to the Dubs? Is that the new narrative stanley? Outside of the Westbrick sabotage and Klay out of body experience game, the series would’ve been over but that’s another story. Cleveland gave the 73-9 Warriors the most embarrassing loss of their careers in the same season and they ran to get KD when he announced his plans to leave the Thunder. Foh :scust:
 

mikishere

#byrdgang
Supporter
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
10,973
Reputation
2,550
Daps
35,086
Reppin
NYC
The only players to win meaningful championships in the the last decade are Kobe, Dirk, Tim Duncan, Kawhi and Curry(first title)

Durant and Lebron will always have an asterisk next to their names respectfully because they couldn’t do it without another superstar or two or three or four to win it.

cosign, i rate those titles (minus the curry one) over ANY of those superteam titles from bron and KD. ill sit back with popcorn watching bron and kd stans argue semantics though :feedme:
 

Young Fab

Banned
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
4,434
Reputation
-725
Daps
10,378
You stupid ass nikkas and this take :mjlol:
Draymond was begging this nikka to come after getting bodied by the Cavs and their boogeyman and now it’s KD running to them?
And Kevin Durant was right there ready and willing to answer that call after gettin bodied by GS and went runnin to them nikkas wit open arms. Actin like that nikka couldn't have not answered or said "no thank you I'd rather beatchu nikkas than jump on y'all bandwagon." YOU stupid nikkas and Y'ALL KD cock-suckin takes.
 

Young Fab

Banned
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
4,434
Reputation
-725
Daps
10,378
Bro you’re an idiot. I told you that before but it’s worth repeating so that all the 14 year olds reading this don’t believe that this is how reading comprehension works. Let me talk slowly. Son said big games define you. I said that Durant has more of those games in big spots than Curry does so how does he rate him higher? No one said anything about that series not effecting KD’s legacy. I said by his same metric there is no basis to rate Steph like that. Steph Curry didn’t even lead that come back on the Thunder, Klay Thompson sparked that game 6 come back. Steph wasn’t doing shyt before that. But putting all that aside, why the fukk are you nikkas acting like Kevin Durant doesn’t have an extensive playoff body of work? Kevin Durant’s run to the finals in 2012 is a greater run than any Steph Curry run to the finals. He was beating injured or undermanned teams. Like, what the fukk are we talking about? Better yet, why are you on his dikk so much that literally no one knew who you were until you decided to be a resident KD hater?
Yea big games do define you and KD on his own team as the clear-cut leader never did anything near what Steph has done.

KD led a team to the Finals ONCE and won ONE GAME in that series.
Steph led his team to the Finals TWICE, won a chip one year and then went to 7 games the next year wit arguably the GOAT and he didn't need KD to do it either.

"Steph didn't lead that comeback in Game 6" Ok so you're sayin GS still woulda won that game without Steph's 30 points??? nikka stfu.

Kevin Durant doesn't have an extensive playoff body of work. Again he had that ONE year in 2012 and managed to win ONE game. Between 2013-2016 his playoff career was nothin to brag about.

So KD's run in 2012 where he lost the Finals, and again managed to win ONE game, was better than Steph actually winning a championship in 2015 and then next year leading his team to the Finals and being a Draymond Green suspension away from REPEATING???

:dead::dead::dead:

I swear why do I even bother talkin to nikkas who go out their way to NOT make ANY sense?
 
Top