Better Player Right Now Today: Kevin Durant or Giannis

[Pachinko_]

He literally outplayed Giannis in their head to head match.

How?
Here's the series stats. Don't just look at the points, look at all of it.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2021-nba-eastern-conference-semifinals-bucks-vs-nets.html

[Lunartic]

It's pretty much Hakeem vs Shaq

KD is the better player and recency bias has clouded poster's minds

[thebigbird]

Durant is definitely the better player when they’re both healthy, but if picking a team I would choose Giannis because he’s younger and healthier and the gap between the two isn’t big enough for Durant to make up the difference.

[danvato]

I gotta laugh when people say winning a title doesn't make you the best ... when Durant has a superteam and has never achieved anything like Giannis did, and no one even had him CLOSE to LeBron before he joined the Warriors, who are you guys kidding? Yeah who knows if they were healthy, that still wouldn't mean he's ever actually led a team "the right way", seems to me that Giannis doesn't have to prove anything.

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ohh but Dhaatyah DeeezVinchenzoes.

[Jabroni Lames]

Most skilled player: Durant
Best leader: Giannis

[Karate Diop]

If I need a player to win me a game against a finals caliber / upper echelon team I'd take KD pretty easily. But to carry a team for an entire season the answer is Giannis. KD needs more rest at his age / post injury and Giannis' weaknesses aren't as problematic during the part of the season when most teams are just treading water...

Durant's had a decade of MVP calibre lead guards and still only won once he found a 73 win team. Giannis won a title the first year he upgraded from Eric Bledsoe. There are levels to this and Durant isn't on this level.

There are levels to this, and you're purposely ignoring the details.

Also to be clear, we are comparing current Durant to current Giannis - not prime Durant to Giannis in which case there is no debate.

[old skool]

If I need a player to win me a game against a finals caliber / upper echelon team I'd take KD pretty easily. But to carry a team for an entire season the answer is Giannis. KD needs more rest at his age / post injury and Giannis' weaknesses aren't as problematic during the part of the season when most teams are just treading water...

Durant's had a decade of MVP calibre lead guards and still only won once he found a 73 win team. Giannis won a title the first year he upgraded from Eric Bledsoe. There are levels to this and Durant isn't on this level.

There are levels to this, and you're purposely ignoring the details.

Also to be clear, we are comparing current Durant to current Giannis - not prime Durant to Giannis in which case there is no debate.

How can two player's primes be compared when one player has yet to reach his prime?

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[BallerTalk]

This place is a joke.

[FreeSpiritNY]

Giannis does everything he needs to win Durant simply can’t do what giannis does on the defensive end

[Tottery]

Best 2 players in the league imo. Both can score at will, but Giannis is a better defender and rebounder. I'd go with him.

[JayMKE]

Besides shooting what does KD do better? KD is an amazing player and HOFer but the run Giannis is on is beyond anything KD ever achieved on his own. Giannis not being a great 3 point or FT shooter are weaknesses he has as a player that he makes up for in other departments, his FT shooting is more of a streaky thing and in the end he made them when he had to. KD has another ring and Finals MVP while being part of the Warriors while Giannis has an extra rs MVP and DPOTY while being 6-7 years younger. Take KD off Brooklyn can they still compete in the east, take Giannis off the Bucks where do you think they fall?

Regardless, hopefully both stay healthy and we can see on the court this season who is the better player.

[Zombiesonics]

I voted KD but its dead even imo, just as the poll shows. giannis is the better defender ,playmaker, and finisher in the paint, but KD is a nuclear scorer and actually proved hes the best scorer in the world @ the olympics. I don't think anyone else is in their tier.

[shza]

I can’t believe even a single person votes Giannis. I don’t think it’s really close. Giannis is a raw athlete. No moves, can’t shoot. He’s the best raw athlete in the league, but he doesn’t compare to a guy who’s also 7’, has handles like a guard, has a ton of slick, skilled moves, and is one of the best shooters in the game.

Does anyone truly believe the Bucks win that series if Middleton and Jrue both get injured, like KD’s #2 and #3 did? Of course not.

Giannis is in tight competition with Luka for most overrated player in the NBA.

haha, Durant has won nothing without a 73 win team at his back. Giannis just dropped 50 to win the finals.

This is like saying Yao > Shaq because shooting. Giannis has a significantly better handle which is one reason why he can run a team and Durant can't. You've confusing fancy crossovers for fundamental handles. Giannis has a tighter, lower handle and has significantly better footwork and off hand dribbling.

Actually there are 5 major skills in basketball. Shooting, dribbling, defense, rebounding and passing and Giannis is already better at 4/5 and also better finisher in >10 feet from the rim.

We could also talk about the minor ones like toughness, awareness, work ethic, attitude, mentality, motor etc.

The gap is huge

Giannis is a better rebounder and defender. That’s 2/5, though I don’t buy your premise that those are “the five major skills in basketball.” Lol at Giannis having a better “dribble” especially. His whole game is being able to bull through the paint in two steps after the gather.

[Jadoogar]

I gotta laugh when people say winning a title doesn't make you the best ... when Durant has a superteam and has never achieved anything like Giannis did, and no one even had him CLOSE to LeBron before he joined the Warriors, who are you guys kidding? Yeah who knows if they were healthy, that still wouldn't mean he's ever actually led a team "the right way", seems to me that Giannis doesn't have to prove anything.

KD was this close to beating giannis while missing his second and third best players. If his shoe size is an inch smaller, are you saying the same thing?

[zimpy27]

Durant is getting style point here

[OfficialRef]

Even Giannis claimed Durant was better both in the middle of the series and after...

[Funcrusher]

I can’t believe even a single person votes Giannis. I don’t think it’s really close. Giannis is a raw athlete. No moves, can’t shoot. He’s the best raw athlete in the league, but he doesn’t compare to a guy who’s also 7’, has handles like a guard, has a ton of slick, skilled moves, and is one of the best shooters in the game.

Does anyone truly believe the Bucks win that series if Middleton and Jrue both get injured, like KD’s #2 and #3 did? Of course not.

Giannis is in tight competition with Luka for most overrated player in the NBA.

haha, Durant has won nothing without a 73 win team at his back. Giannis just dropped 50 to win the finals.

This is like saying Yao > Shaq because shooting. Giannis has a significantly better handle which is one reason why he can run a team and Durant can't. You've confusing fancy crossovers for fundamental handles. Giannis has a tighter, lower handle and has significantly better footwork and off hand dribbling.

you had me and then you said Giannis had a significantly better handle than KD. I do think it's at least arguable who has the better handle (Giannis is less turnover prone) but IMO I think a lot of Giannis's advantage with regards to running a team offensively is his athleticism + inside gravity making it virtually impossible to 100% wall him off on drives. KD's a freak too (probably a tad quicker off the dribble honestly) but not as fast or strong and a tad bit not as long. They're both two of the best 6'10 + ballhandlers in the history of the game, bar none.

[matt6715]

Durant clearly made the right choice piggybacking onto a superteam to get two titles - his legacy is wildly overrated because of it

[jokeboy86]

Today? Durant but it's by the slightest margin. I believe that Durant could be as good defensively as Giannis is similar to how I think that Curry could average 10 assists if he wanted to but if you have a great scorer on your team then that's what you have them spend most of their energy doing. I believe both Kobe and Jordan each had stretches where they were getting triple-doubles which shows they could do more than score which I believe Durant could too.

And all credit must be given to Giannis leading the team that drafted him to an NBA title but in the same way you can't ignore these circumstances:

'20 - Lakers winning in delayed season
'19 - Raptors beating GSW down their 2nd best scorer for rest of elimination game and series
'18 - Warriors beating Hou without their most important player
'16 - Cavs beating GSW without primary rim protector(Bogut) which is important when facing Lebron
'15 - Warriors beat Cavs without their 2nd and 3rd best players

All those examples are significant factors so you just can't ignore that the Bucks beat a team(Nets) who had only one of their 3 best players healthy and that last season was really unprecented as far as teams being down their 1st or 2nd best players cause of health. If Atlanta beats the Bucks I guarantee some would say that Giannis wasn't fully healed from his injury.

[Edrees]

I would take Kevin Durant without thinking about it. Giannis is #2 best player though so fair question