jlokine wrote:kobe's last year played 66 games scoring 17ppg with team record 17-65..
not sure if that's comparable. granted kobe torn his achilles at a later stage than durant. and load management was less of a thing even in kobe's final years in the league. so maybe they can preserve durant's health a little better moving forward with rest and recovery.
I don't think Kobe is a good parallel for Durant physically or mentally. Physically Durant's extra height makes adjusting for injuries much easier. Mentally, Kobe had probably the worst adjustment to aging/decline of any major superstar in my lifetime. Efficiency wasn't as important to his generation and shot attempts were more. So he chucked to get his numbers up. It was partly the fault of the organization but he was allowed to play like a fool his final few years, logging big minutes.
Durant will never get that treatment. His generation takes pride in efficiency more. And no organization will ever feel about Durant the way the Lakers did Kobe.