Giannis vs KD: who do you rank higher all time now?

[Infinite Llamas]

Giannis did what KD couldn’t do with Harden, Westbrook me Ebaka
Giannis did it with Holiday, Middleton and Lopez

Westbrook is capable of winning a MVP, Holiday is not
Harden is capable of winning a MVP, Middleton is not
Ebaka is capable of winning a championship with Kawhi, but he didn’t win with KD

KD took the easy way out. And KD trolls social media with his personality disorder while Giannis is busy putting in the max amount of work and letting his game and winning speak for itself. They both are amazing players. But Giannis approach to the game makes him the better player. And his ability to slash. KD is obviously the better shooter. But Giannis is more dominate and is like a hybrid of Shaq and Kobe slashing game. He’s just amazing. Coach Kerr told KD what separated him from the other greats was his obsession with burner accounts and social media. When he was using a burner to say he’s one of the top 5 ever. That the other guys in the top 5 would do something on the court to prove it and let their fans talk them up instead. That’s the difference between Giannis and KD. Giannis is like if KD won with the Thunder. And he did it while beating KD with less talent than the Thunder had.

So these Bucks beat Lebron, Wade and Bosh? Because that’s who KD ran into. It’s easy to say player A won and player B lost if no context is taken into account. It’s more than just “this guy got the job done”. Sure Giannis won but when you look at who KD lost to, it becomes something you really can’t hold against him. Much like no one should hold Lebron losing against the Warriors against him or the Pistons losing against the Spurs.

Context is our friend.

[Doranku]

Giannis did what KD couldn’t do with Harden, Westbrook me Ebaka
Giannis did it with Holiday, Middleton and Lopez

Westbrook is capable of winning a MVP, Holiday is not
Harden is capable of winning a MVP, Middleton is not
Ebaka is capable of winning a championship with Kawhi, but he didn’t win with KD

KD took the easy way out. And KD trolls social media with his personality disorder while Giannis is busy putting in the max amount of work and letting his game and winning speak for itself. They both are amazing players. But Giannis approach to the game makes him the better player. And his ability to slash. KD is obviously the better shooter. But Giannis is more dominate and is like a hybrid of Shaq and Kobe slashing game. He’s just amazing. Coach Kerr told KD what separated him from the other greats was his obsession with burner accounts and social media. When he was using a burner to say he’s one of the top 5 ever. That the other guys in the top 5 would do something on the court to prove it and let their fans talk them up instead. That’s the difference between Giannis and KD. Giannis is like if KD won with the Thunder. And he did it while beating KD with less talent than the Thunder had.

So these Bucks beat Lebron, Wade and Bosh? Because that’s who KD ran into. It’s easy to say player A won and player B lost if no context is taken into account. It’s more than just “this guy got the job done”. Sure Giannis won but when you look at who KD lost to, it becomes something you really can’t hold against him. Much like no one should hold Lebron losing against the Warriors against him or the Pistons losing against the Spurs.

Context is our friend.

It's not like that Heat team was unbeatable. They lost the year before to past-prime Dirk and Jason Terry, and would lose two years later to past-prime Duncan and young Kawhi. Not to mention it took the Heat a herculean effort from Bron in game 6 against the Celtics to even make the finals.. meanwhile KD and the Thunder coasted to the finals going 12-3 against the West and had HCA.

KD got his scoring numbers in that finals series, but did next to nothing else. Below average defense, almost twice as many turnovers as assists (only 11 assists in 5 games), outrebounded by his PG as a near 7 footer. The Thunder were Vegas favorites in this series for a reason.

[Statlanta]

The amount of Giannis threads that popped up within the last 48 hours is clear example of winning bias.

[Danny1616]

With Giannis winning a chip it's actually pretty close.

Giannis 2 MVPs > Durant 1 MVP

Giannis FMVP with the team he was drafted on = Durant's 2 FMVP's for joining a super team.

Giannis has DPOY and Durant does not.

Durant has more scoring titles and longevity so he gets the edge for now.

[EArl]

For now its KD. We will have to see how Giannis looks as he gets older and his athleticism declines. KD has shown to be very effective and basically not reliant on his athleticism even after that injury.

[Danny1616]

Any All Star isn't beating the Cavs in 2017 or the 65 win Rockets. Sorry.

You put KD on the Bucks and they win more easily. No way does Giannis get them to OT of Game 7.

They literally won a ring without KD, and lopst6 the next one due to a suspension and razor close margins down the stretch to Lebron. Any upgrade over Harrison Barns is an instant ring.

Ok make all the excuses you want. They begged him to come for a reason. They needed him to beat LeBron.

Giannis only won after half the league got injured. How does that make his title more legitimate than KD who outplayed LeBron twice and beat a 65 win Rockets team?

Giannis beat two injured teams and a mediocre Suns team.

Its by far the easiest path to a ring in NBA history. He didn't beat a single good team.

Bucks beat a healthy dangerous Heat team which was actually a relatively tough 1st round match up.

Bucks beat an Atlanta team that beat a healthy Philly team (Atlanta had one of the best records to finish the season finishing 27-8 in their last 35) .

Bucks beat a healthy Suns team (with 3 all-star caliber players and the 2nd best record in the West).

They beat who they had in front of them. The Nets series was the only one where they really benefitted from injuries.


We can play the same game with KD.

KD benefitted from Chris Paul getting hurt when Rockets were up 3-2 and missing the rest of the series in 2018.

KD benefitted from Kawhi getting hurt in game 1 of the 2017 series.

So both KD's championships were also a result of beneficial injuries to opposing superstars in the conference finals.


Durant "outplayed" Lebron because he had another MVP caliber player with him in Curry, one of the best shooters ever in Klay, and one of the best all around players in Draymond.

Are you trying to tell me that Middleton and Jrue are a better cast than Curry, Klay and Draymond?

Giannis did not have near the talent around him that KD had with Gstate.

Don't be disrespectful.

[LastNameEver]

I struggle to care about KDs rings, it was just single cover abuse.

But i guess he’s higher than Giannis based on all the other hardware

[skones]

For now its KD. We will have to see how Giannis looks as he gets older and his athleticism declines. KD has shown to be very effective and basically not reliant on his athleticism even after that injury.

KD is incredibly reliant on his athleticism even now. His ability to move with fluidity at that size is literally the thing that makes him so special. Without it, he's relegated to spot up shooting. Giannis will always be one of the longest, strongest, and bounciest dudes on the block even as he ages and it's pretty clear he takes painstaking measures to take care of his body at this point.

You just saw what Giannis looked like as a roll man and largely off ball player in the NBA finals and he was absolutely dominant. Those skills will undergo more refinement as he ages, and that's the player he'll be.

[Noodlesoop]

It’s embarrassing this is even a topic

[SecondTake]

Giannis did what KD couldn’t do with Harden, Westbrook me Ebaka
Giannis did it with Holiday, Middleton and Lopez

Westbrook is capable of winning a MVP, Holiday is not
Harden is capable of winning a MVP, Middleton is not
Ebaka is capable of winning a championship with Kawhi, but he didn’t win with KD

KD took the easy way out. And KD trolls social media with his personality disorder while Giannis is busy putting in the max amount of work and letting his game and winning speak for itself. They both are amazing players. But Giannis approach to the game makes him the better player. And his ability to slash. KD is obviously the better shooter. But Giannis is more dominate and is like a hybrid of Shaq and Kobe slashing game. He’s just amazing. Coach Kerr told KD what separated him from the other greats was his obsession with burner accounts and social media. When he was using a burner to say he’s one of the top 5 ever. That the other guys in the top 5 would do something on the court to prove it and let their fans talk them up instead. That’s the difference between Giannis and KD. Giannis is like if KD won with the Thunder. And he did it while beating KD with less talent than the Thunder had.

So these Bucks beat Lebron, Wade and Bosh? Because that’s who KD ran into. It’s easy to say player A won and player B lost if no context is taken into account. It’s more than just “this guy got the job done”. Sure Giannis won but when you look at who KD lost to, it becomes something you really can’t hold against him. Much like no one should hold Lebron losing against the Warriors against him or the Pistons losing against the Spurs.

Context is our friend.

Durant had Westbrook who at his peak was every bit as good as Durant, and Harden as well as Ibaka. He had way more help, more than enough to matchup against the Heat.

[SecondTake]

I struggle to care about KDs rings, it was just single cover abuse.

But i guess he’s higher than Giannis based on all the other hardware

What hardware does KD have that Giannis does not? Giannis has an extra DPOY and MVP.

[LastNameEver]

I struggle to care about KDs rings, it was just single cover abuse.

But i guess he’s higher than Giannis based on all the other hardware

What hardware does KD have that Giannis does not? Giannis has an extra DPOY and MVP.

Scoring titles, ASG,

[SecondTake]

I struggle to care about KDs rings, it was just single cover abuse.

But i guess he’s higher than Giannis based on all the other hardware

What hardware does KD have that Giannis does not? Giannis has an extra DPOY and MVP.

Scoring titles, ASG,

I dont think anybody puts much value on those. Clearly one extra MVP and DPOY is worth a lot more than those.

[Drygon]

I struggle to care about KDs rings, it was just single cover abuse.

But i guess he’s higher than Giannis based on all the other hardware

What hardware does KD have that Giannis does not? Giannis has an extra DPOY and MVP.

Scoring titles, ASG,

Giannis has multiple All-Defensive teams. KD has none.

[Gabe Ball]

Bit of a hot take, KD as of right now still ranks higher and likely will for a while. Way too early to be putting Giannis on an ATG list, though if he manages to keep going down his current trajectory he'll no doubt be in the conversation.

[GeorgeMarcus]

KD now but Giannis is on a trajectory to pass him

[SecondTake]

Bit of a hot take, KD as of right now still ranks higher and likely will for a while. Way too early to be putting Giannis on an ATG list, though if he manages to keep going down his current trajectory he'll no doubt be in the conversation.

Too early to put Giannis on ATG lists? He has 2 MVP's, FVMP and DPOY. How many players have that?

[Infinite Llamas]

For all the humility that Giannis exudes, you think some of it would rub off on his fans. Guess his wisdom was all for naught. Braggarts will braggart I guess.

[Winsome Gerbil]

What hardware does KD have that Giannis does not? Giannis has an extra DPOY and MVP.

Scoring titles, ASG,

I dont think anybody puts much value on those. Clearly one extra MVP and DPOY is worth a lot more than those.

Er, not so clearly.

KD basically has twice of everything Giannis does except that extra MVP. 11 All Stars, 9 All NBAs, 2 Championships, 4 Scoring Titles more than offsetting the 1 DPOY.

Giannis will have an argument once he has a full career. As a player who has 12,000pts and 5,000 rebs he's not even in serious conversation for a Top 30 spot right now. Would be an interesting test what to actually do with him if for instance that knee injury had been career ending -- like Webber, Mourning, Hill etc. he would have made the HOF for injured stars, but how to rank the guy would present similar problems as how to rank Walton or Sabonis.

In any case, KD's making a run at the Top 20 and Giannis isn't close there yet, and this board's recency bias can't hump him up that much on one single ring. If his game sustains -- and there might be some problem there given its nature, but maybe he'll add some old man to it as he ages -- he'll have a shot. KD's 32, and critically for his numbers he missed 2 whole seasons with major injuries. But he's still a major threat to score 30,000pts in his career and be among the Top 8 scorers of all time.

[JShuttlesworth]

I still rank KD higher. More rings, more FMVPs -- he has also just been doing it at a high level for longer.

Ask me again in 5 years though, Giannis is just 26.