The Kevin Durant Thread (2016 - 17 Pt. 1)

[GM Wotsup]

KD was shooting like Harrison Barnes with Kawhi guarding him.

[Prez]

He is FAR better defender than Westbrook, has higher BB IQ and way more efficient than him offensively. He is much better playmaker than Kawhi, better offensively in general and a better rim protector. But yeah, "Nothing" points to him being better than those guys. As if his level in the finals is just a fluke and not a reflection of his talent and how much he improved this seaosn.

And Westbrook is on a totally different planet as a massive volume playmaker, puts much more pressure on defenses as a slasher, dude was literally 2nd in the entire league in ORPM. Kawhi is a more portable offensive player in terms of quick-decision scoring and passing as opposed to Durant's occasional isoball tendencies, and he's a better individual perimeter defender. On top of that all the production and impact numbers put them all on the same level if not giving the edge to the other two. This notion that Durant is "clearly" better than those two is just utter nonsense.

And no one is saying his finals performance is a fluke. Just that it's ridiculous to use this one series to make some sort of definitive statement on him being better than guys that arguably outplayed him for the entire rest of the season, using this tiny sample size as a measure of how good he 'actually' is as opposed to this being him simply stepping up and having a great few games here.

Also, I find the evaluation of Durant's efficiency and overall offensive effectiveness especially in this series to be incredibly skewed by the situation he's in. There's just zero chance he's putting up this kind of efficiency or playing with this much comfort in a similar situation to what Westbrook is dealing with, and to a lesser extent Kawhi. Acting like this is just how good he is in a vacuum and that the circumstances he's playing under aren't playing a HUGE role in how 'easy' he's been dominating is neglecting a huge part of the equation.

[Prez]

viewtopic.php?t=1515862

Durant won the biggest "2nd best player in the NBA" poll this season despite being extremely hated yet apparently me thinking he is better than Kawhi and Russ is just a recency bias. Ok.

He is a clearly a better all-around player than Kawhi and Westbrook as well.

Stay consistent.

[StepBackCrack]

viewtopic.php?t=1515862

Durant won the biggest "2nd best player in the NBA" poll this season despite being extremely hated yet apparently me thinking he is better than Kawhi and Russ is just a recency bias. Ok.

He is a clearly a better all-around player than Kawhi and Westbrook as well.

Stay consistent.

I am. There is a huge difference in votes between Durant and Leonard/Westbrook in that poll. That's a clear difference. And that's when Kawhi and Russ were having their best MVP runs in the season.

[Prez]

viewtopic.php?t=1515862

Durant won the biggest "2nd best player in the NBA" poll this season despite being extremely hated yet apparently me thinking he is better than Kawhi and Russ is just a recency bias. Ok.

He is a clearly a better all-around player than Kawhi and Westbrook as well.

Stay consistent.

I am. There is a huge difference in votes between Durant and Leonard/Westbrook in that poll. That's a clear difference. And that's when Kawhi and Russ were having their best MVP runs in the season.

First off, the difference in votes says nothing about the degree to which he's better than those two. And while we're using RealGM GB threads ( ) as some sort of expert opinion on these players, here's another thread for you where the opinions are almost entirely in Kawhi's favor..from a subforum here I much prefer.

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1563914#start_here

Yes, it is nonsense to say Durant is "clearly" better than Kawhi.

[StepBackCrack]

If this is about the word "clearly" then I don't mind your view. I'm not gonna convince you with my opinion. You are entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine. The word "clear" itself can differ from person to another after all. What's clear to you might not be clear to me and vice versa.

[StepBackCrack]

Stay consistent.

I am. There is a huge difference in votes between Durant and Leonard/Westbrook in that poll. That's a clear difference. And that's when Kawhi and Russ were having their best MVP runs in the season.

First off, the difference in votes says nothing about the degree to which he's better than those two. And while we're using RealGM GB threads ( ) as some sort of expert opinion on these players, here's another thread for you where the opinions are almost entirely in Kawhi's favor..from a subforum here I much prefer.

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1563914#start_here

Yes, it is nonsense to say Durant is "clearly" better than Kawhi.

No, it's not. Kawhi is having a better season only due to Durant's injury. Durant would have been picked for 1st team if not for his injury. Durant is considered the better player when both were healthy and that poll showed that. Otherwise, why many voted for him despite Kawhi having his best year? Doesn't make sense. And it's not like it was small poll. So many voted.

[Prez]

I am. There is a huge difference in votes between Durant and Leonard/Westbrook in that poll. That's a clear difference. And that's when Kawhi and Russ were having their best MVP runs in the season.

First off, the difference in votes says nothing about the degree to which he's better than those two. And while we're using RealGM GB threads ( ) as some sort of expert opinion on these players, here's another thread for you where the opinions are almost entirely in Kawhi's favor..from a subforum here I much prefer.

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1563914#start_here

Yes, it is nonsense to say Durant is "clearly" better than Kawhi.

Kawhi is having a better season only due to Durant's injury. Durant would have been picked for 1st team if not for his injury. Durant is the better player when both were healthy and that poll showed that. Otherwise, why many voted for him despite Kawhi having his best year? Doesn't make sense. And it's not like it was small poll. So many voted.

I'm gonna go ahead and evaluate these players based on games and stats instead of all NBA teams and GB threads.

[StepBackCrack]

First off, the difference in votes says nothing about the degree to which he's better than those two. And while we're using RealGM GB threads ( ) as some sort of expert opinion on these players, here's another thread for you where the opinions are almost entirely in Kawhi's favor..from a subforum here I much prefer.

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1563914#start_here

Yes, it is nonsense to say Durant is "clearly" better than Kawhi.

Kawhi is having a better season only due to Durant's injury. Durant would have been picked for 1st team if not for his injury. Durant is the better player when both were healthy and that poll showed that. Otherwise, why many voted for him despite Kawhi having his best year? Doesn't make sense. And it's not like it was small poll. So many voted.

I'm gonna go ahead and base my evaluations of these players on games and stats instead of all-NBA teams and GB threads.

Good for you. We just agree to disagree on this topic. No big deal.

[StepBackCrack]

Sorry if I sounded too biased. What I said was just my opinion. I have nothing against Kawhi. He is a great player and I don't mind people considering him the 2nd best in the world. I'm never gonna mock people who hold that opinion. He had a great year. Same thing goes with Harden and Westbrook (especially Harden since I think he is my MVP this season). All these guys had such great seasons. I think the NBA is lucky to have that much superstar talent playing at the same time.

[KD35Brah]

Good player but horrible person

Sent from my SM-J700F using RealGM mobile app

lol why? from all I have seen/heard he is actually a nice person. Or is this just regarding the move?

The move, his treatment of his former teammates and organization, and how he suddenly is acting like Mr Tough Guy in the Finals, as if he's doing it all in the face of adversity, when really he's got the cushiest job in basketball

Sent from my SM-J700F using RealGM mobile app

What has he done wrong to his teammates? This is rich coming from a Kobe fan...

He's talked trash and screamed after dunks his entire career. Absolutely nothing has changed. Was he not picking fights with Dwight, Hibbert, Gortat, Morris, etc before 2017? Once again it's clear no one watched much of OKC, atleast when he was there.

Similar to the people who ignore everything that happened between 2012 and 2016 and just scream, "they made one finals".

[Joey Wheeler]

Regarding this Durant vs Kawhi vs Westbrook discussion, I still take Durant as the 2nd best player in the world but it's definitely close and arguable + this season definitely doesn't prove anything one way or the other.

If Durant had stayed on the Thunder and Westbrook joined the Warriors instead, Durant wouldn't have taken OKC any further and Westbrook would still win the title with the Warriors (fit might not be perfect, but they just overwhelm everyone else with talent). Westbrook was better than Durant this season, same could be said about their last 2 playoff runs together (though I'd put them at the same level for both). I'll take Durant out of the two, but it definitely wouldn't shock me if people took Westbrook here.

Same for Durant vs Kawhi, difference is pretty negligible right now, if Kawhi takes another jump next season he might become outright better. I doubt much changes for GSW and SAS if the two swap places.

[KD35Brah]

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This is with Green being in foul trouble the last 2 games as well.

[KD35Brah]

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[Wall34]

You guys ready to put respect on this man name yet?

[TheGOATRises007]

Thought he was too passive all game, but he won the game at the end.

Sensational.

[Bruh Man]

Finals MVP, he looks to be the most determined to get a ring and it's showing on the court.

[CKRT]

You guys ready to put respect on this man name yet?

lol no. Kevin Durant is a nutty basketball player, but doing the things he's doing on a 73 win team is legitimately not surprising. He's playing on the defensive end about as a well as he was last year (being relied upon more now with the Warriors), and on the offensive end he's still Kevin Durant doing Kevin Durant things. Except now he has the luxury of doing the same things he was doing on OKC, but on a team where Kevin **** Durant isn't the best defender or the best offensive player. Surprise, the 73 win team that was one possession away from winning the finals last year that added Kevin Durant is now likely sweeping the playoffs. I really didn't think he had it in him.

[GSP]

Remember when people in the Rs were saying Warriors were better last year, gave up too much for Kd and some saying they were better without KD

Pepperidge farm remembers

He had a good game overall. His defense was great the 2nd half i was surprised by how much he kept Kyrie in check and even blocked him in an iso situation

this was more 2012 Kd than the monster best player on the court he was the first 2 games. Lebron, Kyrie and Klay were better this game

[GSP]

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