Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA

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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#161 » by YamaChan » Fri Apr 9, 2021 3:10 am

BoatsNZones wrote:Curry is the best player in the NBA. At the very least the best offensive player in the NBA. Has been for for the larger portion of 6 years outside of peak Lebron moments. I don't care who wins "Finals MVP" in sweeps when one team is focusing all of their attention on the most dangerous offensive weapon since MJ. We all saw who that team was ran by and how they faired with/without each player (definitely no shortage of sample size).

KD is incredible, but he's not a playmaker and has THRIVED with defenses not being able to double him. He has STRUGGLED in other key playoff series when his teammates have gone down. Why do we not mention this more often concerning his skill set? Curry has never known a playoff series where he is not doubled/tripled/box and 1'd, even with KD on the floor. Food for thought.


Huh?

Why do people make up these ridiculous narratives?

2010 Playoffs - KD was a baby and going up against the defending and eventual champion Lakers. He had to deal with Ron Artest, and KD's game, while elite, was far from the peak levels it would reach in the later years of his career.

2011 Playoffs - KD was phenomenal and still growing as a player. He put down an incredibly deep Denver team, rose to greatness against a tough, gritty Grizzlies team that had upset the Spurs and gave the Mavs all they could handle--Dirk was just on another level. However, Durant was still far better against the Mavs defense than LeBron was that year.

2012 Playoffs - KD was incredible the entire run. He hit a couple game winners, upset a seemingly unbeatable Spurs team and then went on to have one of the most efficient NBA Finals in the history of the sport, even in defeat.

2013 Playoffs - In a team that already lacked depth with the departure of Harden, he lost Westbrook in the first round. His best support on offense was Serge Ibaka. Serge freaking Ibaka. AND KD was going up against the best defense in the NBA in the 2013 Grizzlies.

I think we've seen what Curry this year and LeBron in 2019 managed with supporting casts FAR better than the one KD had in those 2013 Playoffs. Durant simply ran out of steam, and again, he still wasn't the player he is today. 2014 KD would've carried that team.

2014 Playoffs - I don't understand the criticism for Durant BEATING very, very tough first and second round opponents. He had to deal with the last great run of the Memphis Grizzlies and the peak LA Clippers, and even if he had one or two bad games, if you remember those series at all, he came through in a big way in the deciding games.

As for the Western Conference Finals, AGAIN, on a team that lacked depth, they lost Serge Ibaka for the first two games and spotted the Spurs a 2-0 lead, not to mention Westbrook was coming back from a knee injury. If the Thunder team stayed healthy, Durant isn't losing the to Spurs. In fact, the Thunder rarely ever lose to the Spurs. See: 2016 Playoffs.

2015 Playoffs - KD was hurt. Hard to thrive when you're not on the court.

2016 Playoffs - KD outplayed Kawhi and utterly demolished what many people were calling a historically great defense. The 3-1 choke was an unfortunate outcome, but it's not like Durant lost to a team he was expected to dominate like LeBron in 2009 or 2011. He lost to the damn Warriors, and it took Klay Thompson having one of the best elimination game performances ever.

The 2016 WCFs is really the only time Durant has truly struggled in the defining moments of a series; the shot simply wasn't falling.

Find me one all-time great player who has never had even one bad series. It definitely isn't Curry or LeBron.

By the way, the most dangerous weapon since MJ is Kevin Durant.

If people are going to interject, READ what's been posted. In the 2017 Finals, Durant's shots were mostly contested and he still averaged 70% TS for the series and 81% TS in the fourth quarter.

Read on Twitter


Put some respect on his name
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#162 » by BoatsNZones » Fri Apr 9, 2021 3:18 am

YamaChan wrote:
BoatsNZones wrote:Curry is the best player in the NBA. At the very least the best offensive player in the NBA. Has been for for the larger portion of 6 years outside of peak Lebron moments. I don't care who wins "Finals MVP" in sweeps when one team is focusing all of their attention on the most dangerous offensive weapon since MJ. We all saw who that team was ran by and how they faired with/without each player (definitely no shortage of sample size).

KD is incredible, but he's not a playmaker and has THRIVED with defenses not being able to double him. He has STRUGGLED in other key playoff series when his teammates have gone down. Why do we not mention this more often concerning his skill set? Curry has never known a playoff series where he is not doubled/tripled/box and 1'd, even with KD on the floor. Food for thought.


Huh?

Why do people make up these ridiculous narratives?

2010 Playoffs - KD was a baby and going up against the defending and eventual champion Lakers. He had to deal with Ron Artest, and KD's game, while elite, was far from the peak levels it would reach in the later years of his career.

2011 Playoffs - KD was phenomenal and still growing as a player. He put down an incredibly deep Denver team, rose to greatness against a tough, gritty Grizzlies team that had upset the Spurs and gave the Mavs all they could handle--Dirk was just on another level. However, Durant was still far better against the Mavs defense than LeBron was that year.

2012 Playoffs - KD was incredible the entire run. He hit a couple game winners, upset a seemingly unbeatable Spurs team and then went on to have one of the most efficient NBA Finals in the history of the sport, even in defeat.

2013 Playoffs - In a team that already lacked depth with the departure of Harden, he lost Westbrook in the first round. His best support on offense was Serge Ibaka. Serge freaking Ibaka. AND KD was going up against the best defense in the NBA in the 2013 Grizzlies.

I think we've seen what Curry this year and LeBron in 2019 managed with supporting casts FAR better than the one KD had in those 2013 Playoffs. Durant simply ran out of steam, and again, he still wasn't the player he is today. 2014 KD would've carried that team.

2014 Playoffs - I don't understand the criticism for Durant BEATING very, very tough first and second round opponents. He had to deal with the last great run of the Memphis Grizzlies and the peak LA Clippers, and even if he had one or two bad games, if you remember those series at all, he came through in a big way in the deciding games.

As for the Western Conference Finals, AGAIN, on a team that lacked depth, they lost Serge Ibaka for the first two games and spotted the Spurs a 2-0 lead, not to mention Westbrook was coming back from a knee injury. If the Thunder team stayed healthy, Durant isn't losing the to Spurs. In fact, the Thunder rarely ever lose to the Spurs. See: 2016 Playoffs.

2015 Playoffs - KD was hurt. Hard to thrive when you're not on the court.

2016 Playoffs - KD outplayed Kawhi and utterly demolished what many people were calling a historically great defense. The 3-1 choke was an unfortunate outcome, but it's not like Durant lost to a team he was expected to dominate like LeBron in 2009 or 2011. He lost to the damn Warriors, and it took Klay Thompson having one of the best elimination game performances ever.

The 2016 WCFs is really the only time Durant has truly struggled in the defining moments of a series; the shot simply wasn't falling.

Find me one all-time great player who has never had even one bad series. It definitely isn't Curry or LeBron.

By the way, the most dangerous weapon since MJ is Kevin Durant.

If people are going to interject, READ what's been posted. In the 2017 Finals, Durant's shots were mostly contested and he still averaged 70% TS for the series and 81% TS in the fourth quarter.

Read on Twitter


Put some respect on his name

Zero stats (I don't care about his congregate 5 game Finals stats in easy series where he was considered a #2 by the competition), all narrative builds. And all in favor of KD, other than in 2016 where you acknowledge "his shot was simply not falling" (hilarious framing). That's when Curry soundly outplayed him (and his absolutely stacked cast) in a comeback series and then he joined the Warriors the following season btw.

There's nothing worth delving into here other than you somehow ignoring all series where he failed to perform when OKC had some injuries and he did not step up. That's a real thing for KD.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#163 » by Doranku » Fri Apr 9, 2021 3:24 am

YamaChan wrote:
Doranku wrote:Bron and KD stans are wild. One dude says GSW KD is the best player since Jordan, another quotes him and says Wade was washed up coming off his 2010 season.

What's the point of arguing if you're both going to be so completely dishonest?


Excuse me?

I'll take a healthy Kevin Durant over any player not named Jordan. Without question.

He became the most efficient high volume scorer EVER while playing in the most inefficient offensive system EVER under the Scott Brooks Thunder.

By the 2019 Playoffs, Kevin Durant was toying with the game in a way I've only seen Jordan do. Except KD was doing something even Jordan hasn't.

He was the first player ever to average 30 ppg on 50/40/90 for an entire playoff run. He was having an absolutely historic run until his injury, once he woke up against the Clippers.

People are so in their feelings because Durant derailed any legitimate shot the LeBron train had at reaching GOAT status.

They know that people will always remember KD abusing and dominating LeBron on the biggest stages and usurping the throne from him.

The Achilles injury literally saved LeBron's legacy


Sorry, but no. You're not excused. You've been parading around this thread spewing absolute nonsense and someone's gotta call you out on it.

KD averaged 29 ppg on 45.5/33/85 splits in the playoffs under Scott Brooks Thunder. You think that is the most efficient high volume scorer ever? How delusional can you be?

You KD stans have to understand that the numbers he put up on GS are not indicative of the player that he truly is. He joined the most stacked team of all-time that perfectly fit his talents and covered up his weaknesses. KD has zero leadership ability. None whatsoever. Who needs that when you've got Draymond in the locker room and Curry on the court? KD as the main playmaker on your team is going to leave a lot to be desired. None of that mattered in GS where they already had one of the best offensive systems of all-time in place.

All KD was asked to do in GS is score. That's it. That's all he had to do. And then he lucks out and faces the 20th and 29th ranked defense in the league during the 2 finals he won. The circumstances are just so ridiculous and so unprecedented that I understand how casual fans get caught up in his pretty box scores. Luckily, we've got 6 seasons of KD in the playoffs as the man without the most stacked team of all-time and well...

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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#164 » by sashaturiaf » Fri Apr 9, 2021 3:35 am

Doranku wrote:
YamaChan wrote:
Doranku wrote:Bron and KD stans are wild. One dude says GSW KD is the best player since Jordan, another quotes him and says Wade was washed up coming off his 2010 season.

What's the point of arguing if you're both going to be so completely dishonest?


Excuse me?

I'll take a healthy Kevin Durant over any player not named Jordan. Without question.

He became the most efficient high volume scorer EVER while playing in the most inefficient offensive system EVER under the Scott Brooks Thunder.

By the 2019 Playoffs, Kevin Durant was toying with the game in a way I've only seen Jordan do. Except KD was doing something even Jordan hasn't.

He was the first player ever to average 30 ppg on 50/40/90 for an entire playoff run. He was having an absolutely historic run until his injury, once he woke up against the Clippers.

People are so in their feelings because Durant derailed any legitimate shot the LeBron train had at reaching GOAT status.

They know that people will always remember KD abusing and dominating LeBron on the biggest stages and usurping the throne from him.

The Achilles injury literally saved LeBron's legacy


Sorry, but no. You're not excused. You've been parading around this thread spewing absolute nonsense and someone's gotta call you out on it.

KD averaged 29 ppg on 45.5/33/85 splits in the playoffs under Scott Brooks Thunder. You think that is the most efficient high volume scorer ever? How delusional can you be?

You KD stans have to understand that the numbers he put up on GS are not indicative of the player that he truly is. He joined the most stacked team of all-time that perfectly fit his talents and covered up his weaknesses. KD has zero leadership ability. None whatsoever. Who needs that when you've got Draymond in the locker room and Curry on the court? KD as the main playmaker on your team is going to leave a lot to be desired. None of that mattered in GS where they already had one of the best offensive systems of all-time in place.

All KD was asked to do in GS is score. That's it. That's all he had to do. And then he lucks out and faces the 20th and 29th ranked defense in the league during the 2 finals he won. The circumstances are just so ridiculous and so unprecedented that I understand how casual fans get caught up in his pretty box scores. Luckily, we've got 6 seasons of KD in the playoffs as the man without the most stacked team of all-time and well...

Image


Dude KD was playing with Westbrook/Ibaka/Roberson/Perkins and coached by Scott Brooks. There is zero shooting in that lineup and not even a reliable guy who can dominate inside. There is a middle ground between the Warriors and what he had around him at the Thunder.

Still he took those OKC teams to top 2 offensive rating every single year other than the one he fracturedhks foot. They had no business being that good offensively other than that man Kevin Durant.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#165 » by Hello Brooklyn » Fri Apr 9, 2021 3:44 am

People really blaming KD for not winning a Championship with Russell Westbrick :lol:

That man ruined the Rockets and can't even get the Wizards to .500 in the East with Bradley Beal.

He also routinely took more shots than KD when they played together. Shocking that they couldn't win that way.

The minute he left him it was Championships.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#166 » by Hello Brooklyn » Fri Apr 9, 2021 3:49 am

Doranku wrote:
YamaChan wrote:
Doranku wrote:Bron and KD stans are wild. One dude says GSW KD is the best player since Jordan, another quotes him and says Wade was washed up coming off his 2010 season.

What's the point of arguing if you're both going to be so completely dishonest?


Excuse me?

I'll take a healthy Kevin Durant over any player not named Jordan. Without question.

He became the most efficient high volume scorer EVER while playing in the most inefficient offensive system EVER under the Scott Brooks Thunder.

By the 2019 Playoffs, Kevin Durant was toying with the game in a way I've only seen Jordan do. Except KD was doing something even Jordan hasn't.

He was the first player ever to average 30 ppg on 50/40/90 for an entire playoff run. He was having an absolutely historic run until his injury, once he woke up against the Clippers.

People are so in their feelings because Durant derailed any legitimate shot the LeBron train had at reaching GOAT status.

They know that people will always remember KD abusing and dominating LeBron on the biggest stages and usurping the throne from him.

The Achilles injury literally saved LeBron's legacy


Sorry, but no. You're not excused. You've been parading around this thread spewing absolute nonsense and someone's gotta call you out on it.

KD averaged 29 ppg on 45.5/33/85 splits in the playoffs under Scott Brooks Thunder. You think that is the most efficient high volume scorer ever? How delusional can you be?

You KD stans have to understand that the numbers he put up on GS are not indicative of the player that he truly is. He joined the most stacked team of all-time that perfectly fit his talents and covered up his weaknesses. KD has zero leadership ability. None whatsoever. Who needs that when you've got Draymond in the locker room and Curry on the court? KD as the main playmaker on your team is going to leave a lot to be desired. None of that mattered in GS where they already had one of the best offensive systems of all-time in place.

All KD was asked to do in GS is score. That's it. That's all he had to do. And then he lucks out and faces the 20th and 29th ranked defense in the league during the 2 finals he won. The circumstances are just so ridiculous and so unprecedented that I understand how casual fans get caught up in his pretty box scores. Luckily, we've got 6 seasons of KD in the playoffs as the man without the most stacked team of all-time and well...

Image


There is no series in KD's career that is even as closed to as bad as LeBron all time meltdown in 2011.

Maybe the biggest humiliation in professional sports history.

KD put up 29/10/7 and was short handed vs a better Grizzlies team who won 56 games. There is no comparison.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#167 » by a8bil » Fri Apr 9, 2021 4:04 am

All I know is that when KD and Steph played together, they doubled and triple teamed Steph, not KD. Steph, against single coverage, is a far more efficient scorer than KD is over a large enough sample size. Did KD skewer some teams who left him against single coverage? Absolutely, on occasion. But teams were willing to accept the possibility of that risk rather than the probability that Steph would torch them if not covered. I can't remember where I watched it, but there was a great video showing the gravity of Steph while KD was on the court, and the open looks KD got were just shocking.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#168 » by YamaChan » Fri Apr 9, 2021 4:05 am

Doranku wrote:
YamaChan wrote:
Doranku wrote:Bron and KD stans are wild. One dude says GSW KD is the best player since Jordan, another quotes him and says Wade was washed up coming off his 2010 season.

What's the point of arguing if you're both going to be so completely dishonest?


Excuse me?

I'll take a healthy Kevin Durant over any player not named Jordan. Without question.

He became the most efficient high volume scorer EVER while playing in the most inefficient offensive system EVER under the Scott Brooks Thunder.

By the 2019 Playoffs, Kevin Durant was toying with the game in a way I've only seen Jordan do. Except KD was doing something even Jordan hasn't.

He was the first player ever to average 30 ppg on 50/40/90 for an entire playoff run. He was having an absolutely historic run until his injury, once he woke up against the Clippers.

People are so in their feelings because Durant derailed any legitimate shot the LeBron train had at reaching GOAT status.

They know that people will always remember KD abusing and dominating LeBron on the biggest stages and usurping the throne from him.

The Achilles injury literally saved LeBron's legacy


Sorry, but no. You're not excused. You've been parading around this thread spewing absolute nonsense and someone's gotta call you out on it.

KD averaged 29 ppg on 45.5/33/85 splits in the playoffs under Scott Brooks Thunder. You think that is the most efficient high volume scorer ever? How delusional can you be?

You KD stans have to understand that the numbers he put up on GS are not indicative of the player that he truly is. He joined the most stacked team of all-time that perfectly fit his talents and covered up his weaknesses. KD has zero leadership ability. None whatsoever. Who needs that when you've got Draymond in the locker room and Curry on the court? KD as the main playmaker on your team is going to leave a lot to be desired. None of that mattered in GS where they already had one of the best offensive systems of all-time in place.

All KD was asked to do in GS is score. That's it. That's all he had to do. And then he lucks out and faces the 20th and 29th ranked defense in the league during the 2 finals he won. The circumstances are just so ridiculous and so unprecedented that I understand how casual fans get caught up in his pretty box scores. Luckily, we've got 6 seasons of KD in the playoffs as the man without the most stacked team of all-time and well...

Image


It's literally impossible for KD haters to counter with anything that isn't a completely specious narrative. If you look at the box score without context, then you remove all the nuance and relevant details of the series.

First of all, your intended knockout punch comes up woefully short, when the "Mr. Unreliable" moniker, after a surprising loss to the Grizzlies to start that first round series, is what sparked Durant to get his act together and close out a Grizzlies squad that could've given any team fits in the first round.

Honestly? People accuse Durant of riding the coattails of great times, but when we have instances of him battling through adversity, that is used as a negative.

He won that series against the Grizzlies. It went 7 games and in the deciding game, Durant put up 33 points with a literal 80% True Shooting percentage.

When his team needed him, he rose to the occasion. It isn't even the first time he had to do so against this same Grizzlies team.

In 2011, he had an epic 7 game series with a Grizzlies team nobody wanted to deal with, including a triple OT classic with their season on the line.

What did KD do in that Game 7?

39 points on a blistering 67% TS and a 139 offensive rating.

Those are the nuances of the series you try to dismiss using shallow generalizations and asinine narrative.

If you then try to contextualize the data, we would have to look at the offenses Durant played in. More often than not, Kevin Durant was by far the best shooter on the court.

Almost infamously, the only shooters the Thunder ever surrounded Durant with were also huge net negatives on defense. And when he did get reliable defensive help on the perimeter, they were oftentimes awful shooters.

Combine that with the offense being predicated on relying almost exclusively on Durant and Westbrook isolations, and it becomes clear that Durant's statistical accomplishments, in SPITE OF the factors working against him, are even more impressive.

One of the main reasons Durant left the Thunder is because of their system moreso than the just the talent.

Durant joined the 50/40/90 club literally just through his sheer talent, with some of the worst spaced lineups in the most offense with the least passing and worst shooting in the entire league.

He took THAT to the Finals and made deep playoff runs when healthy.

Durant was already historically great before he ever joined the Warriors. If he wasn't, then why were you people so angry when he went there?

Those are all facts, not narratives.

Now we're resorting to retroactively denying the greatness of Kevin Durant on those Warriors teams. What exactly did the Warriors do before KD got there?

2015 champs? But LeBron fans will whine and complain that LeBron's supporting cast was injured and that was the only reason they won.

2016? They LOST. They won 73 games in the regular season but they lost 9 games in the playoffs alone.

Durant took them from great team to one of the best teams ever.

Just like he'll likely do with this Nets team. The Nets team were a great team with Harden and Kyrie. KD steps on the court and they put up the most ridiculous numbers on offense all season.

Durant is the ultimate force multiplier and the most versatile, efficient scorer in the history of basketball.

To me, that's worth more than LeBron's playmaking and it makes him the better player.

And you keep mentioning the defenses Kevin Durant saw in the Finals. His primary defender was LeBron James in three of those Finals matchups. Well, moreso in 2017 and 2018 sparingly. That is not a good pro-LeBron argument in the slightest.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#169 » by YamaChan » Fri Apr 9, 2021 4:10 am

Why do people act like KD's mvp season didn't happen?

Do they think we don't remember the roster KD carried to a top seed in one of the most stacked western conferences we've ever seen?

The Grizzlies, Clippers, Spurs, Rockets, Blazers, Mavericks and Warriors were all extremely legitimate contenders, and Durant dominated them all while being the primary scorer and playmaker for the team.

He didn't even have Westbrook. When Westbrook went down, the Thunder were in contention with the aforementioned teams for the top seed, and I distinctly remember everyone expecting them to plummet in the standings.

What did KD do?



They rose in the standings, and Durant, for the first time in his career, played the "LeBron Ball" style of basketball, and he had one of the best stretches any player has ever had.

He took a starting line up of Reggie Jackson/Jeremy Lamb/Serge Ibaka/Kendrick Perkins to the top seed and top offense in the league during that stretch, but Durant can't be your playmaker and he's just a scorer?

Kevin Durant haters really don't know much about basketball it seems.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#170 » by God Squad » Fri Apr 9, 2021 4:18 am

KD's been my favorite years tbh, But something about his ego or mentality confuses the heck out of me. KD being the best player in the NBA shouldn't be shocking. I don't think anyone could beat him one v one, or even a head to head scoring match up. He's too efficient and long, he'll get his shot off and you gotta hope he misses.

IMO he's not the ceiling raiser LeBron is/was because of his lack of play making. But believe me LeBron doesn't want to guard Kevin because he'll look useless.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#171 » by Impuniti » Fri Apr 9, 2021 4:48 am

Hello Brooklyn wrote:People really blaming KD for not winning a Championship with Russell Westbrick :lol:

That man ruined the Rockets and can't even get the Wizards to .500 in the East with Bradley Beal.

He also routinely took more shots than KD when they played together. Shocking that they couldn't win that way.

The minute he left him it was Championships.

You either weren't watching baskeball then or you're being an embarrassing excuse of a stan. I don't even like Westbrook, but he was a much better player several years ago compared to what he's been the last couple of seasons.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#172 » by triple_threat » Fri Apr 9, 2021 5:10 am

YamaChan wrote:
BoatsNZones wrote:Curry is the best player in the NBA. At the very least the best offensive player in the NBA. Has been for for the larger portion of 6 years outside of peak Lebron moments. I don't care who wins "Finals MVP" in sweeps when one team is focusing all of their attention on the most dangerous offensive weapon since MJ. We all saw who that team was ran by and how they faired with/without each player (definitely no shortage of sample size).

KD is incredible, but he's not a playmaker and has THRIVED with defenses not being able to double him. He has STRUGGLED in other key playoff series when his teammates have gone down. Why do we not mention this more often concerning his skill set? Curry has never known a playoff series where he is not doubled/tripled/box and 1'd, even with KD on the floor. Food for thought.


Huh?

Why do people make up these ridiculous narratives?

2010 Playoffs - KD was a baby and going up against the defending and eventual champion Lakers. He had to deal with Ron Artest, and KD's game, while elite, was far from the peak levels it would reach in the later years of his career.

2011 Playoffs - KD was phenomenal and still growing as a player. He put down an incredibly deep Denver team, rose to greatness against a tough, gritty Grizzlies team that had upset the Spurs and gave the Mavs all they could handle--Dirk was just on another level. However, Durant was still far better against the Mavs defense than LeBron was that year.

2012 Playoffs - KD was incredible the entire run. He hit a couple game winners, upset a seemingly unbeatable Spurs team and then went on to have one of the most efficient NBA Finals in the history of the sport, even in defeat.

2013 Playoffs - In a team that already lacked depth with the departure of Harden, he lost Westbrook in the first round. His best support on offense was Serge Ibaka. Serge freaking Ibaka. AND KD was going up against the best defense in the NBA in the 2013 Grizzlies.

I think we've seen what Curry this year and LeBron in 2019 managed with supporting casts FAR better than the one KD had in those 2013 Playoffs. Durant simply ran out of steam, and again, he still wasn't the player he is today. 2014 KD would've carried that team.

2014 Playoffs - I don't understand the criticism for Durant BEATING very, very tough first and second round opponents. He had to deal with the last great run of the Memphis Grizzlies and the peak LA Clippers, and even if he had one or two bad games, if you remember those series at all, he came through in a big way in the deciding games.

As for the Western Conference Finals, AGAIN, on a team that lacked depth, they lost Serge Ibaka for the first two games and spotted the Spurs a 2-0 lead, not to mention Westbrook was coming back from a knee injury. If the Thunder team stayed healthy, Durant isn't losing the to Spurs. In fact, the Thunder rarely ever lose to the Spurs. See: 2016 Playoffs.

2015 Playoffs - KD was hurt. Hard to thrive when you're not on the court.

2016 Playoffs - KD outplayed Kawhi and utterly demolished what many people were calling a historically great defense. The 3-1 choke was an unfortunate outcome, but it's not like Durant lost to a team he was expected to dominate like LeBron in 2009 or 2011. He lost to the damn Warriors, and it took Klay Thompson having one of the best elimination game performances ever.

The 2016 WCFs is really the only time Durant has truly struggled in the defining moments of a series; the shot simply wasn't falling.

Find me one all-time great player who has never had even one bad series. It definitely isn't Curry or LeBron.

By the way, the most dangerous weapon since MJ is Kevin Durant.

If people are going to interject, READ what's been posted. In the 2017 Finals, Durant's shots were mostly contested and he still averaged 70% TS for the series and 81% TS in the fourth quarter.

Read on Twitter


Put some respect on his name


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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#173 » by Hello Brooklyn » Fri Apr 9, 2021 5:23 am

Impuniti wrote:
Hello Brooklyn wrote:People really blaming KD for not winning a Championship with Russell Westbrick :lol:

That man ruined the Rockets and can't even get the Wizards to .500 in the East with Bradley Beal.

He also routinely took more shots than KD when they played together. Shocking that they couldn't win that way.

The minute he left him it was Championships.

You either weren't watching baskeball then or you're being an embarrassing excuse of a stan. I don't even like Westbrook, but he was a much better player several years ago compared to what he's been the last couple of seasons.


Westbrook has never been a winning basketball player in his NBA career outside of being carried by KD in his younger days before he developed his toxic tendencies.

If anyone is a stan its you.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#174 » by YamaChan » Fri Apr 9, 2021 5:28 am

triple_threat wrote:
YamaChan wrote:
BoatsNZones wrote:Curry is the best player in the NBA. At the very least the best offensive player in the NBA. Has been for for the larger portion of 6 years outside of peak Lebron moments. I don't care who wins "Finals MVP" in sweeps when one team is focusing all of their attention on the most dangerous offensive weapon since MJ. We all saw who that team was ran by and how they faired with/without each player (definitely no shortage of sample size).

KD is incredible, but he's not a playmaker and has THRIVED with defenses not being able to double him. He has STRUGGLED in other key playoff series when his teammates have gone down. Why do we not mention this more often concerning his skill set? Curry has never known a playoff series where he is not doubled/tripled/box and 1'd, even with KD on the floor. Food for thought.


Huh?

Why do people make up these ridiculous narratives?

2010 Playoffs - KD was a baby and going up against the defending and eventual champion Lakers. He had to deal with Ron Artest, and KD's game, while elite, was far from the peak levels it would reach in the later years of his career.

2011 Playoffs - KD was phenomenal and still growing as a player. He put down an incredibly deep Denver team, rose to greatness against a tough, gritty Grizzlies team that had upset the Spurs and gave the Mavs all they could handle--Dirk was just on another level. However, Durant was still far better against the Mavs defense than LeBron was that year.

2012 Playoffs - KD was incredible the entire run. He hit a couple game winners, upset a seemingly unbeatable Spurs team and then went on to have one of the most efficient NBA Finals in the history of the sport, even in defeat.

2013 Playoffs - In a team that already lacked depth with the departure of Harden, he lost Westbrook in the first round. His best support on offense was Serge Ibaka. Serge freaking Ibaka. AND KD was going up against the best defense in the NBA in the 2013 Grizzlies.

I think we've seen what Curry this year and LeBron in 2019 managed with supporting casts FAR better than the one KD had in those 2013 Playoffs. Durant simply ran out of steam, and again, he still wasn't the player he is today. 2014 KD would've carried that team.

2014 Playoffs - I don't understand the criticism for Durant BEATING very, very tough first and second round opponents. He had to deal with the last great run of the Memphis Grizzlies and the peak LA Clippers, and even if he had one or two bad games, if you remember those series at all, he came through in a big way in the deciding games.

As for the Western Conference Finals, AGAIN, on a team that lacked depth, they lost Serge Ibaka for the first two games and spotted the Spurs a 2-0 lead, not to mention Westbrook was coming back from a knee injury. If the Thunder team stayed healthy, Durant isn't losing the to Spurs. In fact, the Thunder rarely ever lose to the Spurs. See: 2016 Playoffs.

2015 Playoffs - KD was hurt. Hard to thrive when you're not on the court.

2016 Playoffs - KD outplayed Kawhi and utterly demolished what many people were calling a historically great defense. The 3-1 choke was an unfortunate outcome, but it's not like Durant lost to a team he was expected to dominate like LeBron in 2009 or 2011. He lost to the damn Warriors, and it took Klay Thompson having one of the best elimination game performances ever.

The 2016 WCFs is really the only time Durant has truly struggled in the defining moments of a series; the shot simply wasn't falling.

Find me one all-time great player who has never had even one bad series. It definitely isn't Curry or LeBron.

By the way, the most dangerous weapon since MJ is Kevin Durant.

If people are going to interject, READ what's been posted. In the 2017 Finals, Durant's shots were mostly contested and he still averaged 70% TS for the series and 81% TS in the fourth quarter.

Read on Twitter


Put some respect on his name


"Last great run" of grizzlies. "Peak lac." Get outta here


Grizzlies were getting old, and by 2015, they weren't the same team they had been from 2011 to 2015.

2014 Clippers had Chris Paul operating at levels we'd honestly never seen any point guard play at. That's the Chris Paul the Thunder had to contend with in that series.

For those who forget the ridiculous tear CP3 was on in 2014:



Before that unfortunate chokejob in this same series, I don't know if anyone had played the PG position better for a stretch of games in the playoffs.

He had a 194 offensive rating in this first game. Let me repeat that.

194 offensive rating.

You can really tell who actually watched basketball during this era and who just looks at box scores so they can justify their blanket statements.

You almost completely missed the true crux of that particular argument, which is to emphasize that it's not like KD was going up against average playoff teams. Those Grizzlies and Clippers squads were very talented, deep and tough outs.

If you look at the rosters on paper, they both had more talented teams overall, but Durant and Westbrook's talent together was simply that overwhelming. Too bad they never ran a real offense together ever.

Find any Thunder thread during the Durant/Westbrook eras and I promise it will be nothing but angry fans bashing Brooks for his lineups and lack of a cohesive offense.
AmIWrongDude
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#175 » by AmIWrongDude » Fri Apr 9, 2021 7:27 am

KD fans need to stop comparing him to Bron and then they wont get so much ****. Nobody in their right mind thinks he's on Bron's level - who knows now because Bron is old and KD never even plays anymore, but it's not close when we can actually compare.

And using KD's years where he joined a team that just won the championship, came back from down 3-1 to beat him, and then BARELY lost the next year in 7 games ONLY because of the greatest overall Finals performance of all time by Bron and a great performance by Kyrie, is ridiculous and you know it. There's a reason KD won back to back Finals MVP's putting up the numbers he did and STILL nobody gave him any credit or love. I know you're just going to try to blame it on narrative or whatever but people aren't stupid.

There's levels to this. And before you even try, LeBron's ring in Cleveland absolutely meant waaaaay more than his rings in Miami but even then, the majority of people still gave him huge amounts of credit for those Miami rings even though he was the most hated player on Earth. KD didn't get that respect after winning because, once again, people aren't stupid and can see the difference.
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Re: Kevin Durant is the best player in NBA 

Post#176 » by AmIWrongDude » Fri Apr 9, 2021 7:31 am

triple_threat wrote:
YamaChan wrote:
BoatsNZones wrote:Curry is the best player in the NBA. At the very least the best offensive player in the NBA. Has been for for the larger portion of 6 years outside of peak Lebron moments. I don't care who wins "Finals MVP" in sweeps when one team is focusing all of their attention on the most dangerous offensive weapon since MJ. We all saw who that team was ran by and how they faired with/without each player (definitely no shortage of sample size).

KD is incredible, but he's not a playmaker and has THRIVED with defenses not being able to double him. He has STRUGGLED in other key playoff series when his teammates have gone down. Why do we not mention this more often concerning his skill set? Curry has never known a playoff series where he is not doubled/tripled/box and 1'd, even with KD on the floor. Food for thought.


Huh?

Why do people make up these ridiculous narratives?

2010 Playoffs - KD was a baby and going up against the defending and eventual champion Lakers. He had to deal with Ron Artest, and KD's game, while elite, was far from the peak levels it would reach in the later years of his career.

2011 Playoffs - KD was phenomenal and still growing as a player. He put down an incredibly deep Denver team, rose to greatness against a tough, gritty Grizzlies team that had upset the Spurs and gave the Mavs all they could handle--Dirk was just on another level. However, Durant was still far better against the Mavs defense than LeBron was that year.

2012 Playoffs - KD was incredible the entire run. He hit a couple game winners, upset a seemingly unbeatable Spurs team and then went on to have one of the most efficient NBA Finals in the history of the sport, even in defeat.

2013 Playoffs - In a team that already lacked depth with the departure of Harden, he lost Westbrook in the first round. His best support on offense was Serge Ibaka. Serge freaking Ibaka. AND KD was going up against the best defense in the NBA in the 2013 Grizzlies.

I think we've seen what Curry this year and LeBron in 2019 managed with supporting casts FAR better than the one KD had in those 2013 Playoffs. Durant simply ran out of steam, and again, he still wasn't the player he is today. 2014 KD would've carried that team.

2014 Playoffs - I don't understand the criticism for Durant BEATING very, very tough first and second round opponents. He had to deal with the last great run of the Memphis Grizzlies and the peak LA Clippers, and even if he had one or two bad games, if you remember those series at all, he came through in a big way in the deciding games.

As for the Western Conference Finals, AGAIN, on a team that lacked depth, they lost Serge Ibaka for the first two games and spotted the Spurs a 2-0 lead, not to mention Westbrook was coming back from a knee injury. If the Thunder team stayed healthy, Durant isn't losing the to Spurs. In fact, the Thunder rarely ever lose to the Spurs. See: 2016 Playoffs.

2015 Playoffs - KD was hurt. Hard to thrive when you're not on the court.

2016 Playoffs - KD outplayed Kawhi and utterly demolished what many people were calling a historically great defense. The 3-1 choke was an unfortunate outcome, but it's not like Durant lost to a team he was expected to dominate like LeBron in 2009 or 2011. He lost to the damn Warriors, and it took Klay Thompson having one of the best elimination game performances ever.

The 2016 WCFs is really the only time Durant has truly struggled in the defining moments of a series; the shot simply wasn't falling.

Find me one all-time great player who has never had even one bad series. It definitely isn't Curry or LeBron.

By the way, the most dangerous weapon since MJ is Kevin Durant.

If people are going to interject, READ what's been posted. In the 2017 Finals, Durant's shots were mostly contested and he still averaged 70% TS for the series and 81% TS in the fourth quarter.

Read on Twitter


Put some respect on his name


"Last great run" of grizzlies. "Peak lac." Get outta here

Don't hate on those 2 great "dynasties" lol. KD was just lucky he didn't have to face the Timberwolves.

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